Untitled Sermon (4)

Shut Your Door and Pray

Matthew 6:5–8 LEB

5 And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 6 But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “But when you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard. 8 Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Did it ever occur to you that there is a reward for prayer? And there are two ways to be rewarded. That is what Jesus said in "whenever you pray" is how he starts.

- Then he says, "they love to stand and pray ... in order that they may be seen by people". For these he says, "they have received their reward in full!" and it is the praise of men.

- He also says, "pray to your Father who is in secret". When you do this, he says, "Your father who sees in secret will reward you".

But in this short introduction, Jesus doesn't say anything about the content of the prayer or the answer to the prayer. His first and foremost distinction is that "The essence of prayer is the communion of the disciple with his Father"

France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 137). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

And it might be enough simply to be in God's presence because as it says in

(LEB) You will make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forever.

Jesus doesn't say what the reward is, but that the Father "will reward you" which may also mean to pay back, to render what is due, to cause to happen.

Now, at the end, Jesus gives us a glimpses of the content of the prayer he is speaking about in "your Father knows what you need before you ask". So, these prayers are for our needs. And our Father wants us to ask him and when we do, Jesus says He will reward us, He will answer us as He said in

(LEB) ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great things and inaccessible things that you have not known.’

Prayer is not an activity to undertake lightly. Prayer is spiritual warfare as described in .

(LEB) with all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and to this end being alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,

Pray In This Way

Matthew 6:9–15 LEB

9 Therefore you pray in this way: “Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy. 10 May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

Many people have heard the Lord's prayer and this is it in . It is a simple prayer that covers the needs of our life right now and for today. It begins though, by acknowledging that God is Holy, it honors God for who He is. Then there is a request for God's kingdom on earth. And if you haven't noticed, God's Kingdom is in heaven and the earth has not yet been subdued. This is the place where spiritual warfare takes place. Then there are the three things we need, our daily bread, forgiveness, and protection as he say, deliverance from evil.

Your Father Who Sees in Secret

Matthew 6:16–18 LEB

16 “Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full! 17 But when you are fasting, put olive oil on your head and wash your face 18 so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Next, Jesus speaks about fasting. Not, in "like the hypocrites ... that they may be seen fasting by people". Jesus says in "when you are fasting" do it "to your father who is in secret, and you Father ... will reward you". These statements could easily be from

(LEB) Is the fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate himself? To bow his head like a reed, and make his bed on sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?

And the fast in secret is the works of feeding the poor, taking in the homeless as it continues here

6 (LEB) Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice, to untie the ropes of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and tear every yoke to pieces? 7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring ⌊home⌋ the poor, the homeless. When you see the naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your relatives. 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’ If you remove from among you the yoke, the finger-pointing and evil speech,

Store Up for Yourselves Treasures in Heaven

Matthew 6:19–24 LEB

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and consuming insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor consuming insect destroy and where thieves do not break in or steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is sincere, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.

Do Not Be Anxious

Matthew 6:25–34 LEB

25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body more than clothing? 26 Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather produce into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? 27 And who among you, by being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin, 29 but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. 30 But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, although it is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not do so much more for you, you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?,’ 32 for the pagans seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Do Not Judge

Matthew 7:1–6 LEB

1 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you. 3 And why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam of wood in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam of wood is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye! 6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around and tear you to pieces.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7–12 LEB

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you, if his son will ask him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or also if he will ask for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 Therefore if you, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? 12 Therefore in all things, whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.