(PRAY) A Devoted Disciple Prays

INTRO: Have you ever watched someone make their coffee and thought, “Is that even coffee anymore?” A little sugar… okay. Some cream… sure.

But then comes the caramel swirl, the whipped topping, the oat milk foam, and the chocolate drizzle… and suddenly, what started as coffee is now a dessert in a cup.

Now, here’s the question: At what point did it stop being coffee? At what point does prayer stop being prayer?

We can dress it up with fancy words, public performance, or routines that look holy… but if it’s not built on the right foundations —is it still genuine? We struggle with prayer sometimes because it doesn’t always feel like it has the right amount of kick and jumpstart, so it’s easy to toss aside and leave out of daily practice.

That’s what Jesus is getting when He instructs His disciples how to pray. He strips away the additives, the distractions, and teaches us what genuine, effective, transforming prayer looks like. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing,” — that's a tall order! BUT…just like breathing is constant and necessary for physical life, prayer must be constant since it’s vital for spiritual life. Prayer is effective and essential in the life of a devoted disciple.

Paul tells Timothy its of first importance in 1 Timothy 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers (adoration), intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,”

How can I pray effectively?

One of the best ways to learn how is to study how Jesus taught His disciples. (Matthew 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher...”)

In Matthew 6 is one of the most famous passages in scripture, and it’s about how we communicate with God. In this context of Matthew 6, there is a lot of compare and contrast between “religious folk” who are doing good things BUT with the wrong motivation VS the ones seeking to do good things out of the right motivation. Jesus is correcting those who know about the law and godly practices — but they don’t know God. And the proof is when God in the flesh shows up and they reject Him. Not only did they not recognize him, they weren’t even drawn to Him. Why? Because their religion was only ritualistic and shallow habit.

I won’t be drawn to God either if I’m not devoted to the right actions in the right way. Prayer CANT Be Mere Ritual

Matthew 6:5-15

V.5-8

God Centered VS Self Glorification

He sets the stage for how to by telling us how not to (v.1)

And not just in prayer, but in how to be a well rounded disciple instead of a religious habit keeper

V.6 - “reward” literally means to give back or restore. Same word used in Luke 9:42 when Jesus a demon possessed boy and gave him back to his father. What’s the point? The point is that reward or restore means for us to be given back or restored what we are desperately missing and it’s something only God can give back to us.

No, it’s not meaning the $100 you lost or anything like that.

As we study prayer, we’ll see what he promises can be gained.

V.9

First Important Step that sets up the rest — “OUR FATHER”

If you don’t get that right, you will forever struggle with prayer!

Prayer is relationship.

It’s both talking to and listening for God… “but He doesn’t speak back” - and there’s our struggle. We like an immediate response from someone, we seek immediate results, because of that prayer is both frustrating and challenging to us.

“Does God of the whole universe even hear? Why waste my breathe? If God is going to do whatever His cosmic eternal will is anyway, why should I pray?”

Remember Acts 2:42, how they were DEVOTED to prayer! But WHY? Because They had come to know God now also as FATHER.

He’s not just some far away judgmental being! He’s not someone that is too busy or incapable of taking time to give YOU attention. He’s not only the God over all time and eternity who keeps everything held together and moving, He’s also our father. That’s the FIRST thing that Jesus teaches here, the first two words of His instruction to pray effectively and transformatively! To be a devoted disciple, and to be devoted to prayer means that I must understand the relationship I have - that I’m supposed to have with God, the father! Galatians 4:5 Jesus came “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

I have to understand the right relationship for the right beginning otherwise, the rest falls flat and shallow. There won’t be the right following, there won’t be the right transformation, there won’t be the right heart and devotion. So Jesus make sure we know to start there. He is God. He is King. He is our Father.

It matters because it changes how we do things from just ritualistic. From just shallow actions — it adds depth because there must be relationship there!

Prayer helps you wake up to God! To re-awaken a lazy and dormant devotion!

So we pray because of WHO God is and how He has revealed Himself as our father! A good father pays attention to His children - and God is the best father.

We can pray and know for sure God hears us and listens. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I like what said in Luke 11:1, where his disciples say “ teach us to pray”. I know what it means is “how to pray”. But we can easily see in Jesus is teaching here that he’s also teaching not just how to pray, but giving us the right teaching “to pray”, supplying the desire we ought to have “to be praying”! A good preacher instructs and motivates. Jesus is certainly doing that.

Notice what Jesus instructs us to pray for.

The Subjects:

3 Request For God

Your name be revered - holy not common

Your rule and reign be here with all in submission to - reign in an uncontested way

Will of God being done and known that it’s done

3 Request For US

Bread - not a weeks worth of bread but OUR daily needs (PRESENT)

For forgiveness, it’s rooted in the fact that we’ve already forgiven those that trespass against us (PAST)

Deliverance (FUTURE)

Why is this a helpful model of prayer?

Because I’m trusting My FATHER with the sum total of my life. The past, present, and the future. I’m asking God to take control and I’m stepping aside to make sure I’m not in my own way. To pray this prayer is to acknowledge that our God as Father, and the authority is yours, the kingdom is yours, the plan is yours and my life is yours. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Prayer requires Humility.

We struggle being humble. To pray is to admit “I CANT!” — I cant handle it, I can’t do it on my own, I can’t fix my problems, I can’t fix other people’s problems — I CANNOT...but God CAN!

All of us tend to pray hardest when we’re desperate. But Jesus teaches us to approach God with that same dependence all the time. In difficult seasons, we realize just how little control we actually have — but when life gets easier, for some reason we fool ourselves into thinking we’re back in control. The truth is, we were never in control to begin with.

It requires humility to pray. And Jesus teaches us to pray for the things that we usually think we can handle ourselves - “our daily bread”. You and I may stare into a fully packed pantry or refrigerator thinking “I can’t find anything to eat in here”, even though we have an abundance, and He is reminding us “You’re still dependent on God for that”! It all comes from Him, and I could lose it all at any point. Remembering that helps us to have the humble spirit necessary to pray effectively.

To be DEVOTED to prayer means to be so in the right motivation, but also - you guessed it - in consistency. Prayer Requires Consistency. It Has Effective When Your Consistent.

And we do better at consistent communication with God when we’re constantly aware of His presence. Jesus exemplified this. Luke 5:16 “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” Jesus was busier than any He was more successful than any of us. But he never let the pace of life deter him, he never allowed the people in the ministry to become a wedge between him and God. He always made time to exercise crowd control, and push the pause button, to get away and be alone with his father. If Jesus needed that, how much more we? And you can’t say that you can’t do it, because He was busier with far more important things and He still did.

Prayer requires TRUST.

Not just trusting God hears, not just trusting God can - but also trusting that God WILL do what is best in a situation. God is all knowing, all present, all powerful, all good - then I ought to trust that God will take care of something in the best way possible even if I don’t understand it or agree with it. I’M NOT GOD, I don’t know what’s best and I’m not all wise and understanding. I’ve got to trust in the nature of God. There is no unanswered prayer. God can be trusted to do what’s best even if it doesn't seem to be the right answer to me...talk about trust and humility.

He said we would be rewarded/granted/given what we lack in verse 6 remember!

Prayer is to to say “I CAN’T can’t give myself what I lack but I’m trusting God to do it instead!”

What is it you lack that you need from God?

Is it that right relationship with Him?

Is it the guidance you need? The growth only He can give? A more devoted spirituality as a disciple?

We might be saying “YES! But I still don’t exactly know what it is I’m lacking, I just know that I am...” - if that’s you, you’re not alone. You’ve admitted what everyone else hasn’t.

We don’t always know exactly what needs to happen in our own lives, do we? We pray to God about those things because we trust that He knows, and that He will work on us. Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

So finally, Prayer Is Transformative. Time spent with God changes us!

Humility deepens our trust;

Consistency deepens awareness;

Being aware and submitting keeps us open and willing to permanently change (transform) our lives.

You don’t learn to pray by studying prayer...you learn by praying.

Pray the prayer Jesus gives, pray the ones you read in scripture including Psalms. Doesn’t get much better than inspired prayer! As you do this you will learn to pray and you’re devotion will lead to real transformation as a disciple of Jesus.