Prayer (Matthew 6:5-8)
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Sermon
Sermon
Key Passage
Key Passage
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Introduction
Introduction
Sermon on the Mount
To this point in this series, there has been one massive theme in every sermon: the heart
The law is not about following the rules, the law is about our hearts
It is out of our hearts that all evil comes
It is out of our hearts that all of our words are spoken
Jesus wants to give us a new heart. It is a growth process in our lives
The growth process comes from the journey of discipleship that He brings us on.
We follow Him, we are changed by Him (hearts), we invite others to this journey of discipleship.
Last week we talked about one of the most difficult topics that strike right at the core of our hearts: money
Generosity is one of the greatest places of surrender Jesus calls us to.
Our generosity will show the depths of the heart change that God has begun to work within us.
This week, we are talking about prayer.
This week and for the next three weeks, we will introduce prayer, then walk through the Lord’s Prayer.
As we address our hearts, prayer reveals our dependence on God.
What we will discover about prayer today is that prayer is not about:
fancy words
manipulating God to do what I want
outcomes, miracles, and power
Prayer is about an intimate relationship with God where we allow Him to change, develop and grow our hearts
Preaching
Preaching
Jesus’ Prayer Context
Jesus’ Prayer Context
I would like to set the stage for us in this passage.
The audience that Jesus is talking to knows about prayer. They see prayer every day from their leaders. They had been taught to pray by rabbi’s. There were rules and laws about how to pray and how often to pray.
It wasn’t like there was a lack of teaching and understanding about prayer in their culture.
This was the circumstance for the disciples at this point.
Jesus had just called them to follow Him.
He then immediately went up onto the mountain and preached this sermon.
There was likely so much information that they were taking in, that they weren’t able to pick up on all of this right away.
But, as they continued to follow Jesus, something stood out as they watched Him.
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
I love that Luke highlights these details about Jesus’ prayer life
It was at this point that the disciples approached Jesus and asked the question:
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
These disciples knew what prayer was. They had seen it all of their lives.
They didn’t ask Jesus:
Lord teach us to do miracles
Lord teach us to cast out demons
Lord teach us to preach
Lord teach us to perform signs and wonders
They asked Jesus to teach them to pray.
There was something different about how Jesus prayed and how the people around them prayed.
There was something different about how Jesus prayed and how they had been taught to pray.
What had they seen?
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
The model of prayer that they had seen was performative. It was done in a way to impress others.
What Jesus did brought about something completely different
The disciples saw that it wasn’t just a habit in Jesus’ life
Prayer was Jesus’ lifeline.
Now, it is reasonable to ask the question, “Why would Jesus need to pray? Isn’t He God?”
You are right. Jesus is God. Also, as we will find in our text today, that God the Father already knows our needs before we ask.
So, what is the point? Why pray?
Let’s look at what Jesus says:
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Here is what Jesus is saying:
No one comes to the Father except through Him. Good to go.
Then he says, “If you know me, you will know the Father as well.
Then Philip says, “Show us the Father.”
Jesus says, “The Father is doing His work through me.”
Here is a question, “What did Jesus do that was separate from the Father?”
Absolutely nothing.
Jesus was absolutely dependent on the Father for everything in His human life.
In both of these instances, Jesus is sharing the deep intimate relationship that He has with His Father.
They were inseparable in will, word and action.
This was because they spent time together in relationship.
Prayer was relational to Jesus
Jesus modeled this for the disciples and they took note
If Jesus was completely dependent on the Father, how much more do we need to be dependent on the Father?
The disciples figured it out!
They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
I’ll stop here, but I can keep going.
The early church didn’t just have a habit of prayer.
Prayer was the lifeline of the early church
As we begin to talk through this topic, by defining and discussing prayer, I want us to come to the same place as a church:
Real Life Selkirk can do nothing without God. Nothing.
This is why we pray.
My fear is that what was fundamental for Jesus, and what was fundamental for the early church, has gradually become supplemental in our modern church.
It is my hope that as we approach the Scriptures today and over the next few weeks, that our hearts would see this and ask of our King, “Lord, teach us to pray!”
Prayer is Personal
Prayer is Personal
We will now navigate through our text today as Jesus begins to teach us about prayer.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Notice it again says, “When you pray”
The expectation is that we pray. This is not up for discussion.
If you don’t pray, then may this be your encouragement to look into this topic and discover what prayer is all about.
He issues the warning not to pray with the intent to be seen by others.
Again, Jesus says, “You have received your reward in full.”
In one regard, we can see this: there is a reward in prayer.
We cannot go fully into the reward, but rather, we trust that the reward is beyond all that we can process in this regard.
But here is Jesus’ instruction for us:
Go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen.
God doesn’t just listen, He responds.
We might take from this that prayer needs to be secret and private.
I feel that this is more the “law” of prayer, rather than the heart of prayer.
If you go to your room and the door is open, will God not be pleased with your prayer? This isn’t what Jesus is saying.
Rather, I want to approach this in a different way: Prayer is personal.
It is a special and unique conversation between God and you.
Many of us have spouses in this room. There are times that you communicate publicly.
But depth in your relationship must be found when your conversations are personal. They aren’t to be seen by others. They aren’t to be shared with others.
They are personal between a husband and wife.
In the same way, there is a personal aspect of our relationship with God.
It isn’t to be seen by others. It is personal between us and Him
This is the expression of what Jesus created for us.
We were created holy, intended to be in a perfect relationship with God
Adam and God in the garden. It was very good.
If this is what God created, then this is what God intended.
God created Eve and there was perfect relationship with God and perfect relationship with each other.
Sin broke both relationships between God and man, and person to person.
God’s purpose for humanity was never changed, even though relationship was broken between us and God.
God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty of separation/death through His sacrifice on the cross.
Because of this, we have the opportunity to have restored relationship with God.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Through Jesus, we have the opportunity to approach the throne of the Father in prayer.
Not to get stuff. Not to see signs and wonders. Not for outcomes.
Rather, to personally be with Him, to see Him (doctor office metaphor).
Prayer to a holy God is an expression of the greatest blessing bestowed upon man, through Jesus Christ.
Prayer is Relational
Prayer is Relational
We will move on to our next passage:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
We read this passage and come to a few conclusions:
Again, Jesus says, “when you pray”
The expectation is that we would pray
Jesus’ warning here is not to look like the pagans, who babble on and on and on, thinking that they will be used by their many words.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus says, “It isn’t the quantity OR the quality of the words you say.”
What can you say that God will be, “Oh wow, I didn’t know that!” or “Amazing, look what skill in prayer this person has. They even pray in KJV!”
Rather than looking at the words of our prayer, let’s look at God.
God is all-knowing. Omniscient. We talked about that last week.
What are you going to tell God that He doesn’t already know? Nothing!
If this is the case, why would we go to God in the first place?
If that is the question you are asking, you are halfway to finding the answer.
If God already knows what we need, then God doesn’t need to be informed.
If providing God the information of our situations is not the purpose of prayer, than what is the purpose of prayer?
Prayer is our opportunity to open our hearts before our Father.
Prayer is less about the outcome and more about trusting God with our hearts and lives.
This is deeply relational.
I know my kids struggle in life. I’m not all knowing, but I know that being a teenager is hard in this world.
They don’t need to inform me that life is difficult.
But when they come to me with concerns and problems that I know they are having, it less about solving their problem and more about their trust in me. They trust me enough to come to me with their lives.
Our lives are the blessing that God gives us that reflect His very nature.
What joy of God and fulfilment of us to go to our creator with the situations that trouble us, but are known to God.
The size and complication of our problems are not problems to God.
The relationship with Him is most important
Did you know that your relationship with God is more important than any request you would bring before Him?
It kinda makes me wonder why I spend most of my time praying for things and not spending time with the most important relationship with God.
God Gets the Glory through Prayer
God Gets the Glory through Prayer
One common thread about every topic in this series is that everything in the Kingdom of Heaven reorients our lives to the glory of God.
God gets the glory because we bow our hearts and bend our knees.
I want to be transparent here.
For much of my life, I have approached prayer as an “outcome for me” practice.
Prayer is meant to convince God to do something miraculous
Prayer is meant for me to adjust my heart
Prayer is meant to give me good luck throughout the day.
But as I have studied and learned about prayer, it is first and foremost for the joy and glory of God.
Prayer fulfills God’s purpose in humanity. A holy God in relationship with holy people, through Jesus Christ.
For me to go to God in prayer, and to know His joy, love and His heart is purpose enough in prayer.
I’m going to say something about prayer that may sound contrary to everything I’ve preached about.
I don’t mean to be controversial, but I want to make a massive point with this:
The power of prayer is useless
Here is my point
Buddhists pray, Muslims pray, the Pharisees prayed.
We live in a world where everyone has “thoughts and prayers”
The God we pray to is powerful
I believe this is the point Jesus is making in our text today.
Prayer is not about the practice of praying.
Visible or invisible
Lots of words or few words
The right words or the wrong words.
Prayer is about a redeemed person touching the heart of God.
This is the heart of prayer.
Prayer is not about begging God for outcomes
This becomes a prayer life that is all about me and what I get.
If there were no outcomes to prayer. Like it served no purpose in our world, except to know God, it would still be the most important thing a human being could do.
Prayer is about intimacy with God, not outcomes from God.
At no point am I saying that prayer will produce no outcomes.
The outcomes of prayer are tremendous!
However, the outcomes must be entrusted to an all-knowing, all-loving, eternal God.
Conclusion.
Conclusion.
As we close, I hope that our hearts were challenged today to approach prayer in a different manner.
Prayer is personal
Prayer is relational
Prayer is special between God and us and no one else.
May we embrace prayer, and know God more.
Gospel
Jesus came, died, resurrected, to have relationship with the Father
We must know who He is from the Scriptures, surrender to Him as Lord, acknowledge our sin and obey Him.
Hurting
You might be broken or hurting. You may be asking, “So can I ask God for help?”
Yes! We ought to go to God with our circumstances. However, we must trust that God will move and act according to His will.
We are not in authority over God. He is in authority over us.
The greatest place you can be is to know God and be with God and allow Him to change your heart.
You may become a light of hope and love in the darkest places in our world.
Real Life in Action:
Head- What is my intent when I go to God? Myself? or Him?
Heart- Approach God humbly. He is God, we are not.
Hands- Pour out your heart, love, fears, and joy to Him.
