When We Pray

Recap The last couple weeks:

Two weeks ago we started this series, where we opened up with not letting our righteousness being shown to the other people.

And last week we talked about giving, and what is our true intentions when we give.

The reality of both those messages were it comes down to our heart.

What is the desires of our heart.

If we are not seeking after God with our actions, if we are not trying to point people to Christ, we are doing it out of selfish ambitions.

This will not be tolerated but our creator, who loves us so greatly and has called us to humbly seek His face.

To know him personally and desire to make his name known.

That has been the last two week and I am really excited to talk about prayer this week and next week as we finish this series up we will be looking at fasting.

Tonight we are looking at prayer.

If you are new, and not just new to the Christianity but new to a church setting and you may be aware of what prayer is, I am so glad you are here tonight.

Prayer is very simply communicate to God.

Through prayer this is how we communicate to God.

We just talk, we open our mouths, some may fold their hands, others may just leave them at their side.

Some many close their eyes, while others may have them open.

Some may stand, while others may kneel, or even lay face down.

No matter the posture we need to acknowledge that prayer is vital for our relationship with Christ.

It would be as if we had a best friend that we never talked to.

How long would that person really be our best friend? Probably not to long right.

Of course we have have friends that we have that we can pick up a conversation with them no matter how long we have been apart.

But mostly everyone in here knows that you may have that kind of relationship because of how much time and energy you poured into the beginning of it.

You probably hung out a lot, talked a ton, spent a lot of time together and depending on what separated you, moving away, different jobs, going to a different school whatever, it may be that relationship was great.

But we all know what is looks like when you have a best friend that is currently in your life, where if you go a day without talking you worry that they are mad at you.

You fear they moved on from you.

You need to hear from them, you need to spend time with them, you desire to be in the same company as them.

And when this cannot happen our minds run wild, with thoughts that they hate me, they don’t like me, they found a new friend, and yes they clearly are mad at me.

If we feel this way, how much do you think God feels when we do not communicate with him?

I haven’t heard from them in awhile.

We don’t talk like we use too

I miss having a conversation with you

Have you moved on to something else?

Is there someone or something else that is taking your time from me?

I miss you

I’m not going anywhere, I am here when you are ready to talk.

So maybe this is where you are, maybe prayer isn’t consistent nor is it valued by you.

I can say convidently that God values prayer.

To Jesus Prayer is normal.

Prayer is normal (5)

Matthew 6:5 ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Jesus keeps coming back to this over and over again.

It is not a matter of if but when.

Prayer was normal to the people before Jesus, while Jesus was on earth and it is normal now as well.

Prayer is a standard, its not abnormal, its regular, it’s natural.

conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

Prayer is standard.

Jesus is giving almost the same instruction that he gave about giving right here when speaking about praying.

serving to establish a standard.

He is saying look when you pray, do not be like those hypocrites.

Those people, these hypocrites they are praying to be noticed by others.

They are practicing their righteousness in front of others, which is what Jesus was warning about in verse 1 and 2.

Same as last week, Jesus was not discouraging them from not giving, same as he is not tell them to not pray.

Praying in the public is very appropriate when it is practiced with the right motives.

Pray was very common here, and people would stand to pray,

The New American Commentary: Matthew 2. Paradigmatic Preaching: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29)

But public orations should represent the overflow of a vibrant personal prayer life. What is more, prayer ought not to be used to gain plaudits, summarize a sermon, or communicate information to an audience but should reflect genuine conversation with God.

Jesus again says, look those people the hypocrites, the ones who are practicing their righteousness they have their reward, and it is nothing.

ZERO— They get nothing.

It may look like they have a reward now, but soon those people will know that they missed it.

Our reward is not here on this earth, those who are like the hypocrites, and we have people like that right now this earth.

We have people who use the bible, they use Jesus to make themselves look great, I promise you those people will have no reward when they meet Jesus face to face.

When you pray or talk to God what is your intention?

How do you go to Him, I mean maybe this isn’t even a struggle for you.

I think if we can be real, most of struggle with not praying out loud at all, right?

That asking for a volunteer to pray is more stressful to you then deciding on what you want you want to do when you grow up, what college you will attend, and who you are going to marry, and how many kids you will have, and if you should or should not get a puppy.

Yeah for some praying in public is terrifying.

For some it can be stressful, if we can be honest, and you don’t have to agree with me, but i know that when i am stressed about praying out loud in public, it was 98% of time because i wasn’t praying in private.

It is hard to do something out loud in public, that you are not doing on the regular.

I promise that if you make this a normal part of your life you will see that praying in public is nothing to be stress about because you are just talking to God, and because it is normal, it is simple to do.

I hope that we can make this normal in our lives.

I hope that prayer time is real and consistent in your life.

And when it is normal in your life, seek to pray at times in the secret.

Prayer is secluded.

Prayer is secluded (6-8)

Matthew 6:6–8 ESV

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6

Go into a room and shut the door and pray in seclusion.

Secluded means:

sheltered or screened from general activity, view, etc.:

withdrawn from or involving little human or social activity:

I really like that term social activity, it means leave your phone outside that room, it is literally just you and God talking.

This was nothing new that Jesus was talking about here as well.

When you read the Old Testament you see people who God used consistently seeking God in quite places.

For Jacob it was at Bethel— Where he wrestled with God.

Moses did this with the burning bush, when he went up to Mt Sinai.

For Elijah it was Mount Carmel

For Jonah it was the belly of the whale.

For Jesus himself, he commonly sought seclusion.

Most famously when Jesus left behind his inner three disciples and prayed alone at the base of the mount of olives in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He did this as the hours drew near for him to be handed over and go to the cross.

I want to tell you about this book i recently just finished listening to, thats right i listened to a book.

Its called Whisper by Mark Batterson.

Its a pretty good book on prayer.

In this book Batterson talks about finding whisper spots.

He calls this whisper spots because of how God answered Elijah in

I am not going to read the passage, but I will just give you a brief overview.

Elijah is fleeing people who want to kill him, and he has found safety in at Mount Carmel in this cave.

While he is in this cave, God shows up to him.

First God sends wind so powerful that it breaks rocks, and then an earthquake, and then a fire and all three of this God sent he was not in them.

Meaning that even though God sent them, that wasn’t how he communicated with Elijah.

But after the fire had come and gone, God came to Elijah in a whisper.

1 Kings 19:12 ESV

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

The thing about hearing a whisper is that you can be talking, you have to listen very closely and you have to be near to hear it.

Far to often, we do not seek to pray to God in the secret.

We allow other things to distract us and as we allow other things to distract us from seeking God in secret, we miss chances to hear him speak.

This is the heart of Batterson’s book.

He challenges us to find whisper spots.

I would say he stole this idea from Jesus who is literally saying that right here.

Go to a room and shut the door and pray.

This room can be any room you want, it doesn’t have to be special, but it just needs to be consistent.

I do want to be clear that God can show up anywhere, anytime.

However, I believe that we are to also go to God in the secret and not hold anything back.

Verse 7 says to not lift up empty phrases, don’t babble!

That term like the gentiles--

It means that the gentiles when they would pray, would make them long and they would just babble to babble.

The idea to them was that the longer they prayed the better chance of their prayer being heard.

Don’t do this, God wants you to be real with him.

Some would call this being a prayer warrior, that we are to make war, allow God to see you how you are.

Because let me tell you something you may not know.

God already knows you are messed up, and broken, but he still loves you and wants to meet with you.

And he already knows what you want and what you need to ask for.

Prayer is candid

Prayer is candid (9-16)

Matthew 6:9–16 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

frank; outspoken; open and sincere:

informal; unposed:

honest; impartial:

free from reservation, disguise, or subterfuge; straightforward:

Be real, seek God, and be honest, no need to be formal, prayer is a conversation with God.

The best part about prayer, is that God hear you.

You may think you are not being heard, you are talking to a wall, or this feels like you are just chatting with an imaginary friend, but i can assure you he hears you and he already knows what you need before you ask.

Meaning you probably should just tell him, don’t keep it in, tell God.

James 4:2 ESV

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

You do not have because you do not ask.

God wants to know what you need

He wants you to be honest with him and real with him.

If there is one person on this planet you can be yourself with it is God.

No need to put on a mask, or pretend to be someone you are not.

God knows you, he knows every though secret or not, deed, action, he know literally everything about you.

AND HE STILL LOVES YOU!

There is no friend on this planet that would still be your friend if they knew all the stuff you did and thought.

BUT GOD DOES

He just wants to meet with you.

This is how Jesus instructs us to pray.

Maybe this will be new to you, others it may not, but Jesus gives us an order, or a standard here that I don’t think we should just ignore.

This passage here that Jesus is saying is what Christians call the Lord’s prayer

This is a prayer that we would do before every football game, I went to a public and not Christian at all high school and we did this, we said this prayer.

No on the team knew what we were saying, but everyone had it memorized.

So let us tackle this, we are going to move quickly through them.

1. GOD YOU ARE HOLY

Matthew 6:9 ESV

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

1. GOD YOU ARE HOLY

We are to give God the proper respect he deserves.

God is holy and there is no one like him, give him honor and praise that only he deservers.

2. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO

Matthew 6:10 ESV

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

It is God’s will not mine.

Jesus spoke like this to his father that fateful night when Jesus was in the garden.

Luke 22:42 ESV

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

It is not our will God but yours.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Matthew b. Prayer, 6:5–15

In heaven God’s will is perfectly done now, for there is nothing in heaven to hinder it, and the prayer looks for a similar state of affairs here on earth.

3. TAKE CARE OF ME

Matthew 6:11 ESV

Give us this day our daily bread,

Matthew

God just take care of my basic needs.

Provide food, and shelter, and water for me.

Give me just my needs.

For some of us that means swallowing your pride and understanding what need are and what wants are.

They are very different.

4. FORGIVE US AND HELP US TO FORGIVE

Matthew 6:12 ESV

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

God we mess up daily.

We sin, against you, we put ourselves in the wrong day after day.

Lord will you forgive me.

Lord I am sorry.

AS God forgives you, you are to forgive others.

YOU, WE, US do not get to hold forgiveness over someone.

We have no right to go to God and ask for forgiveness if we are with holding forgiveness.

5. PROTECT US

Matthew 6:13 ESV

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

God will not lead you into temptation.

You may be tested yes, BUT God will never entice you to sin.

LORD protect us

God do not give us over to satan but keep us protected.

This world is full of evil and I am tempted daily, God will you help me fight my temptations.

God give me ways outs, God guide me, protect me.

Jesus goes on to end this in the last two verses by talking about forgiveness, and we talked about that in the point number 4.

It is interesting that Jesus would go back to that point besides other ones.

It shows us how important forgiveness.

We will pick up here at verse 16 next week, but before we go, I have just a few things to close with about prayer.

Make prayer a part of your daily life.

Don’t make excuses anymore, just do it.

We can come up with 1 million excuses but the real answer is just do it, put it in your phone, set a timer, until becomes normal.

Pray every hour on the hour.

Pray in your car.

Find a whisper spot

Use the church.

and WHEN YOU PRAY

Be real, be open and be honest.

God will respond to you, it may not be that day, nor that year, but God will respond

As you go to breakout tonight, I want you to be thinking about this question:

HOW IS YOUR PRAYER LIFE?

Let’s pray

Questions:

How do you view prayer?

What are some quite/whisper places that you can go to and pray?

Is prayer consistent in your life? What does this look like?

Why should prayer be a normative in our lives?