Sermon Tone Analysis

*INTRODUCTION*

 

          I heard an old story about a guy who angrily brought his new chain saw back to the hardware store for a replacement.

He stormed through the door and flung his purchase onto the front counter.

It lay there, rocking slowly for a minute, bent and beat up, much of the paint chipped off and the teeth at all angles.

“I’ve been using this thing all day,” he yelled at the first face within shouting range, “and I haven’t cut even a handful of firewood!”

The young sales clerk, trying to remain cooperative, assured the man he’d be glad to take a look at it and do what he could.

The saw was a mangled mess.

And trying to see if it might start in this condition seemed a foolish waste of time.

But not knowing where else to begin, he took a chance and yanked hard one time on the rip cord.

Sure enough, after several gasps and coughs, the motor somehow rattled its way to full throttle.

The red-faced customer suddenly went white, backing two full steps away from the counter in stunned confusion.

“So that’s what that string was for!”

 

Here’s the point: before concluding that prayer doesn’t “work” you need to ask yourself how you’ve been trying to use it.

*What’s The Point Of Prayer?*

* *

          Here are some questions that need to be answered:

·        What have you been expecting prayer to do for you?

·        And what would it look like to you if it were “working?”

·        In fact, is prayer actually supposed to “work” at all?

·        Does it perhaps have a purpose far more significance than the shallow practicality we expect of a gas-powered lawn tool?

·        Would it be asking far too little of prayer – and far too little of God – to demand that it, and He, perform just the way we want them to?

The answers to most of these questions are found in the sixth chapter of Matthew, in the middle of what we call the Sermon on the Mount.

This teaching of Jesus, which covers three solid chapters of the Bible, contains instructions that are absolutely basic to understanding what it means to be a follower of Christ.

And imbedded among them is a clear pattern of what God says prayer is */supposed to be and do./*

This is how prayer works.

*(Read Mt. 6:6)*

 

I have frequently heard people despair that their prayer wasn’t answered.

Perhaps someone they loved was sick, and they prayed asking God for healing.

But instead of getting better, the person died.

They had asked for one thing, but they had received another.

Therefore, their prayer didn’t “work.”

Don’t misunderstand me.

*/God does answer prayer/*.

I know it from experience.

Besides that, the Scripture is full of instances where God’s people prayed and He responded exactly as they had asked.

*/However, having our requests granted is not the primary goal of prayer.

/*Prayer is not simply the process of giving God our wish list.

Many times we ask for things that seem to be what we need, but we later recognize that – had we gotten them – they would have been far from our best interests.

God does not exist merely to give us what we want.

*/Neither is prayer a way to alert God to our needs./*

As we’ll see later in this passage, God knows our needs even better than we do, and He needs no formal reminders about where we are and what we’re up against.

Prayer is not something designed to manipulate God into remembering us.

One of the most primary purposes of prayer is to spend time in conversation with our Father.

And when that is our goal, we can pray at all times guaranteed that it will be rewarded.

Will it be answered the way we want it to?

Maybe.

But will it be rewarded by bringing us into the Father’s presence?

Absolutely!

 

Illust.

What did you bring me?

I had to go to Ft. Worth to take several classes and I got in the habit of always bringing home a small gift for my daughter.

As soon as I got home and opened the door to my house, she greeted me with the tender address, “Hi Daddy.

What did you bring me?”

She would search my pockets and suitcase looking for the gift she knew was hidden somewhere in my belongings.

After one particularly long and exhausting trip, I arrived home only to be greeted by the same predictable welcome.

But for some reason this time, I just wasn’t in the mood for giving gifts.

So instead I gave my little girl a short but strong lecture.

I knew she wouldn’t be able to relate entirely, but I explained how hard it was to be apart from her and how tired I was when I came home.

Just once, I said, it would mean so much to me if I knew she were simply glad to have Daddy home – not just glad to have a gift.

A few months later, I had just returned from another long class.

When I got to the door, Sarah Beth leaped into my arms, gave me a big hug, and said in the sweetest voice, “I love you, Daddy.

I’m so glad you’re home.”

Ahhhh.

My heart melted within me.

With her next breath of course, she asked, “Now … what did you bring me?”

 

My daughter’s behavior made me realize that my own prayers to my heavenly Father often began like that – with little more than requests, requests, requests.

I’m sure my words often sounded just like my girl’s refrain: “What did you bring me?”

When I finally comprehended the fact that prayer permitted me to come into the presence of my Father, to express my love for Him, to thank Him for His constant provision, and give Him the honor He is due, I discovered a new passion for prayer.

Communicating with Him is reward enough.

And if that is the purpose, there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer.

There is, however, such a thing as mistaken prayer – prayer that gets a different kind of reward.

Let’s look at Jesus’ description of three most common problems we often introduce into our prayer habits.

They are misguided motives that ensure we’ll become empty, discouraged, and spiritually out of sorts with God.

And apparently these three conditions are universal across the generations because they are just as prevalent now as in the days when Jesus first spoke these words.

The Phantom Prayer:

“When you pray …” (Matt.

6:5a)

 

The first reason prayer doesn’t seem to connect people with God is so obvious, I almost hesitate to mention it.

In fact, I wouldn’t have brought it up except that it is so pervasive and widespread.

One of the main problems with our prayer is we don’t pray.

Now this is despite the fact that Jesus speaks repeatedly in these verses with the understood assumption that “when you pray” means there is no question that the follower of Christ will invest himself in prayer.

“When you pray” says a lot more than “if you pray” or “whenever you feel like praying.”

But unfortunately, “when you pray” begins at a basic starting point that too many people rarely achieve.

A recent national survey conducted by a mainline Christian denomination indicated the 25 percent of its members admit that they never pray.

Never!

Add this to the number of people who’d be honest enough to tell you that their prayer life is sporadic at best, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that one glaring reason people are so dissatisfied with their prayer life is simple: They don’t pray.

Think of the ridiculous analogies: a football team that never practices, an orchestra that never tunes its instruments, or a farmer that never plants any crops.

To never do something is the worst way to get better at it.

But we’re too busy, we say.

Our schedules stay overlapped with nonstop activities.

And yet we still expect prayer to work on demand when the wheels come off or the kids get sick, we resort to pleading with God, whom we largely ignore during the normal routine of life.

Prayerlessness makes absolutely no sense, yet just about all of us have been guilty of it – and of foolishly putting the blame on God for not answering prayers we never pray.

The Phony Prayer

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.

Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

(Matt.

6:5)

 

Soon after I dedicated my life to the ministry, I was visiting a church with my wife.

During the service, the pastor called on me to pray.

Suddenly feeling myself the focus of attention, I took a deep breath, intoned my best preacher’s voice, and wowed the crowd with all the spiritual jargons and theological rhetoric I knew.

After I finally reached the “amen” and took my seat, my wife elbowed me in the side and whispered six sobering words in my ear: “Who were you trying to impress?”

I got the message.