Bel Air #11
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How to Pray
How to Pray
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Prayer
Introduction
Prayer is the highest activity that any human being will ever engage in in this life.
There is no higher activity
You will never do anything in your life higher than prayer
Prayer affects the way God moves in the earth
Think about it
People have prayed and changed God’s mind
Scriptures record people who prayed and changed God’s mind
why
because of someone’s prayer
11 And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14 And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
God has kept back evil from cities because of people’s prayer
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
and has destroyed cities because He could not find no one to pray
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Prayer affects the way God moves His heart and His hand
I believe that if more of us believed what the Scriptures taught
we would pray more
and we would pray more intensely
If we really believe what the Scripture taught us about prayer
If we really believed and understood how prayer affects the spiritual world
The world you can not see
And trust me, that is more real than the world we are in
We would pray more
you would pray more
Paul wrote this
17 Pray without ceasing.
What was Paul thoughts here?
That prayer should be like a lifestyle
It should be like breathing
This should be this constant unbroken dialogue
A conversation that you got running with God all the time
Have you ever thought, maybe I don’t have an answer because I don’t pray
The reason you don’t have is because you don’t ask
You don’t pray is why you don’t have
There are some things God will give you or do for you
that He will otherwise not do because you don’t pray about it
What do you think the most valuable thing we get in prayer?
The most valuable thing we get in prayer is God Himself.
It is intimacy with God.
You can not claim to be a follower of Christ and not pray
You can not honestly believe you have a relationship with Christ and not pray
There is no way that I can possibly explain prayer in one message in 50 minutes time
Not possible
No one can cover everything about prayer in that limited time
Although I have been talking about prayer a lot recently
I know we did a sermon on prayer and fasting a few weeks back
I feel the need to cover this some more
Now our text in Matthew 6 is not an exhaustive teaching about prayer
That is not what this is
Let me bring some historical context here
Jesus’ fame is getting huge
He burst onto the scene after John the Baptist
His fame has spread throughout all these different cities
A crowd comes to Him
He goes up a mountain and He calls His followers to Himself
begins to teach them what we call the Sermon on the Mount
He taught them the Beatitudes
We call that kingdom character
then He taught them about being salt and light
We call that kingdom identity
Then He teaches them about the law and the prophets, the Word of God, and the Old Testament
That is our kingdom foundation
Now he pivots to kingdom disciplines
Now what was Christ doing in this sermon?
This is very important for you to understand before we jump into the text
He is contrasting the false religious practices of the religious elite of the day
the Pharisees, the scribes, and their perverted practices of religion
And now He is contrasting that with what pure faith is supposed to look like
So all of this correction is about what they do
As you read, you will see this
“Verily I say unto you”
And in this section Jesus will talk about their giving, their prayer, and their fasting
Today I want to cover what our Lord had taught about prayer
Let us examine our text
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
This is a warning from Jesus to His listeners
Do not be as the hypocrites when it comes to doing good
Jesus has in mind Israel’s religious leaders
He has already shown that their emphasis on outward actions
and not inner attitudes leads to false spiritually
The righteous God desires starts in the heart
Thoughts and attitudes are as much a part of righteousness as words and deeds
Doing good in ways that causes people to praise God is a good thing
What is not good is having a motive of earning worldly praise
You should hide your actions so no one knows but you
that way your only motive is pure devotion to God
Jesus is now applying this teaching towards prayer
Those looking to announce their own spiritually loved to pray out loud and loudly both
We should not seek to pray with an inappropriate concern for how we look or sound to other people
Those who pray for show have received all of the reward they are going to get
The Father will not honor acts of spiritual pride disguised as acts of righteousness
Even in prayer, one can not do good for the wrong reasons
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
For the same reasons, regular prayer should be done in secret, behind closed doors
The Father will still hear and reward you
and He is the only audience that matters
Now this command does not mean public praying is forbidden
It is good for Christian behavior to shine like a light in the world
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
What Jesus is condemning here is for those praying in public to be aware of their motives
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
There is a temptation to simply repeat words and call it a prayer
Or insist on using only certain phrases , languages, or approved expressions when communicating with God
This does not mean all repeated words are wrong
It means that words are not the point of prayer
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Keep this in mind
If we are not sincerely communicating with God, from our hearts, then we are not praying in a godly sense
The words we pray should be expressions of our hearts
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
God does not need
want
or ask for mindlessly repeated prayers
We do not need to use just the right words for Him to understand
What we do need to do is communicate in sincerity and humility
God knows what we need before we even ask
look at this
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We can speak to Him simply and openly, and He will hear , understand , and respond
To clarify these teachings even further, Jesus will offer a model prayer
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
This is an example of how to talk to God in an effective and meaningful way
Believers should address God as God the Father
Jesus came to make it possible for us to have a relationship with God the Father
To resist a relationship with God the Father is to resist Jesus’ will for His followers
The next phrase is expressing praise for something true about God.
That His name is hallowed
That means God’s name is holy
Proclaiming to God that His name is holy is to acknowledge His absolute greatness
We need to understand the importance of submission to God’s will
and speak to Him in a way which acknowledges that
Praying for what God wants to happen
is to accept that His plan is right and good for everyone
Jesus also implies that this includes all possible times and places
To pray this in sincerity is to ask God for the very thing Jesus was going to accomplish
bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth at some point in the future
only after submitting to the will of God does Jesus introduce His first request
Bread is a shorthand for reference to a person’s most basic and important need
The point Jesus makes here is this
we should pray in dependance on the Father
to ask Him to meet the needs of each day
Jesus destroys the idea that believers should be mostly self reliant’
checking in with God only when faced with a critical need
Jesus shows that every child of God must be God-reliant for every need every day
We are reliant on God for all things at all times
Look at this
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Every good gift we receive comes from him and not from ourselves
The second request is this
We should ask God to forgive us as we have forgiven anyone who wronged us.
Jesus is instructing believers to pray for forgiveness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
He is also declaring the necessity of extending forgiveness to other people
both are critical needs for every person
to be forgiven of sin by God
and to follow God’s example by forgiving others
the third request is for the well being of the person who is praying
Jesus instructs His followers to ask God the Father for deliverance from the temptations of Satan
We should ask God to lead us away from temptation
God has the power to lead His people away from tempting circumstances
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God always provides us a means to avoid sin.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
What Jesus is teaching here is forgiveness is conditional but only in a very specific sense
if you forgive the sins of others against you
Jesus says your heavenly Father will also forgive you
If you don’t forgive, you won’t be forgiven
Jesus repeatedly emphasizes that God is displeased by those who refuse to forgive others despite being forgiven for much greater wrongs
unforgiving attitudes are sinful
Keep in mind, Jesus is speaking before His own death as the final sacrifice for human sin
His blood
His loss of life
is the payment for sin
including the sin of unforgiveness
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
God takes Jesus’ death as payment for the sins of those who trust in Christ and gives to them credit for Jesus’ sinless life.
None of us will be accepted into eternity by God based on our ability to forgive others
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
But on the basis of Jesus’ perfect righteousness
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Paul describes it this way
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
taken together with the rest of the Bible, we see that salvation
forgiveness from God
is based on faith and it is permanent
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
However there are signs and symptoms one would expect to see in a person who is truly born again
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Forgiveness towards others is a common sense expected indicator of someone who has been saved.
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Does this mean those who refuse to forgive others can still be saved?
That is the wrong question to ask
God’s intent is for all true Christians
those who are born again
who have been forgiven by the death of Jesus for their offenses against God
To turn and freely forgive anyone who has wronged them
so in other words
this verse speaks to the evidence of salvation
not a requirement of salvation
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
unforgiveness is contradictory to godliness
Conclusion
Jesus says when you pray
so He assumes you have a prayer life
He says go into your room and pray to your Father who is in secret
Jesus is teaching us to pray the majority of our prayer life when we are alone
You might say
I prayed when I was with my friends
I prayed when I with my wife
But did you pray this week alone?
The secret place is your personal time with God
just you and God alone
This teaching also gives off vibes that you should have a place to pray alone
You should have a regular place where you go and you meet with God
So when you come into that place,
you start to sense that god is already waiting for you
That room does not have to be a physical room
It could be a room
it could be a car
it could be your office
a basement
a park
outside your house
even a bathroom
it doesn’t matter
But Jesus teaches that you should do the majority of your praying alone
you need to be undistracted and undivided from the stimulus of the world
You need to know how to go away and be alone with God
Jesus prayed alone in the wilderness and on the mountain tops
Jesus had designed places to pray
Issac prayed alone in a field
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
Daniel prayed alone in front of a window
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
He would open it and three times a day he would pray to God in front of that window
Peter prayed alone on a rooftop
9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
and God gave him a vision that changed his life
How do you think God wants you to pray?
How often do you believe God wants us to pray to Him?
Ask yourself, would you prefer your child coming to you in private to talk or would you rather you only talk in a public place
How would you feel if your child would only talk to you only at their convenience?
If we would not want our children to do that, why would we expect God to be ok with that?
Our priority should be relationship building
is your priority focused on building your relationship with God?
let us pray
