Text: Matthew 6.5-8

Matthew 6:5–8 ESV

5 “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. 6 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. 7 “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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

How NOT To Pray

OPEN:

Someone wrote: Prayer is a universal human activity. However, no one really agrees about how or what we ought to pray. Prosperity- Addicted-Televangelists tell us to pray for health and wealth. Monks urge us to repeat sacred mantras. Muslims suggest prayer five times a day. Animists pray to unseen spirits. Sports fans pray for their team to win.

The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how to pray.

He gives a one model that we know as the Lord’s prayer.

That’s what we’ll work through over the coming weeks, as we cry out, “Lord, Teach Us To Pray.”

That cue is taken from the model prayer shared in Luke

Not only did Jesus teach us how to structure our prayers, he modeled a life that was devoted to prayer.

But before that, he helps us know, HOW NOT TO PRAY.

(PAINTBALL RULES) A couple of weekends ago, JT and I and 2 friends went “paintballing”. A family member had given JT a gift card which included much of the costs of the day like the rental of equipment. Our Referee was great to walk us through everything since it was our first time.

But he said, right up front, before he showed us how to do anything…here are the 2 things you can’t do!

Once we cross the LINE to go in - you cannot remove your face shield / mask.

Once we cross the LINE to leave - you cannot have your muzzle (end of your paintball marker) uncovered.

Everybody makes mistakes - but if you forget break these 2 rules - you won’t get to play. If you keep breaking them - you won’t get to engage at all today.

The concern was for our safety. It was said multiple times throughout the day…before each new “game”.

These were safeguards. Before I tell you what TO DO…let me clearly show you what you can’t do!

OBSERVATIONS

It flows right out of the context of Matt 6.1-4

Matthew 6:1–4 ESV

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Seek secrecy for your good deeds. Do not even see your own virtue. Hide from yourself that which you yourself have done that is commendable; for the proud contemplation of your own generosity may tarnish all your alms. Keep the thing so secret that even you yourself are hardly aware that you are doing anything at all praiseworthy. Let God be present, and you will have enough of an audience. He will reward you, reward you “openly”, reward you as a Father rewards a child, reward you as one who saw what you did, and knew that you did it wholly unto him.

Lord, help me, when I am doing good, to keep my left hand out of it, that I may have no sinister motive, and no desire to have a present reward of praise among my fellow-men.

C. H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1893), 33.

Matthew 6:5 ESV

5 “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.

1. WHEN YOU PRAY

Jesus assumed His disciples would pray. He had no category a for prayerless disciple.

Jesus modeled that life of prayer:

Scripture records that Jesus was a man of prayer.

Process that: the Son of God, the Word of God with flesh on, had a prayer life that the disciples wanted to know more about.

Though we don’t have record of the content of many of his prayers…we know that they moved the disciples significantly…so much so that one of His disciples asks the astounding question, “Lord, would you teach us to pray.”

(Luke records) they had seen him pray...

at his Baptism (Luke 3:21)

at the choosing of His disciples (Luke 6.12)

alone (Luke 5.16, Luke 9.18)

with people around (Luke 9:28-29)

Later, he would pray

for Simon (Luke 22:32)

before his betrayal in the garden (Luke 22:40) o

n the cross Luke 23:46)

When the disciple made this request, I don’t think it’s because he had never prayed before. Prayer was a regular part of Hebrew tradition and expressions of worship. But there was something so distinct, so personal, so kingdom-oriented about the way Jesus prayed, he knew he didn’t have the fundamentals down from Christ if he wanted to touch Heaven like Christ did.

By the way - If you see someone disciplined in an area that you need help in, you should go to that person and say, “hey, can you teach me anything about that?” That’s the beauty of this multi-generational church we call West Cabarrus.

Stephen Hooks writes, “A surprising number of Christians never do develop a healthy prayer life. Prayer is often reduced to little more than a polite formality before meals, or a hasty word at the end of the day, or a last resort, when they have nowhere else to turn.”

Transition

We have a command from God to pray.

Even under the old covenant, the people of God would cry out to their Father in Heaven.

Isaiah 64:8–9

Isaiah 64:8–9 ESV

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. 9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.

We have a need to pray to spend time with our Father, and petition Him for the things He’s told us to ask for.

Jesus has the prescription. He has given all the components necessary

to transform our prayer life,

to remold our minds,

reshape our worldview,

to set a watch over our lips and a guard over our tongue,

to set the stage for revival…

Are you intrigued? Cry out with me, “Lord, Teach Us To Pray!”

Mom / Dad - does your prayer life need life? “Lord, Teach Us To Pray!”

Student - do you want to be a part of something bigger than what you currently know now? “Lord, Teach Us To Pray!”

Brother / Sister - if every prayer you prayed in the last 30 days was answered,

would God’s Kingdom be advanced any?

would there be any new Christians?

would our missionaries be strengthened and fruitful?

would there be less unreached people groups?

would Jesus have come back?

OR would just have more stuff, less stress, no suffering, and an even better lot in life?

I’m not saying that to be harsh…but church, we need to pray together.

One of our most desperate needs and most fervent cries to the LORD should be, Lord Teach Us To Pray!

The fact that we even pray is a GRAND display of dependence on our creator and King.

But he immediately addresses the temptations that he knew all the disciples would face.

praying with others in mind - trying to impress those who might be listening.

warned them not to fall into this trap of being like the pagans and the hypocrites.

2. Don’t LOOK like hypocrites!

[God is not in the boxseats looking for GRANDSTANDING.]

Matthew 6:5–6 ESV

5 “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. 6 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.

Standing is okay - it was a normal posture of prayer

Praying in the synagogues was more than okay

Praying on the street corners is/was okay. Even with the Pauline epistles, we are commanded to pray without ceasing.

…but it all goes to pot when it’s done to be seen of others.

THERE IS A STRONG CAUTION HERE FOR US ENGAGED IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD - WE HAVE BEEN DUPED INTO LIVING OUR LIVES…PUBLISHING OUR FEEDS…FOR OTHERS TO SEE, FOR THEIR APPLAUSE!

We need to get a handle on this.

We need to be aware of how subtly this can creep into our prayer lives.

RESULT - THE EARTHLY ATTENTION / APPLAUSE IS YOUR REWARD…You shortchange your Heavenly reward when you perform for others instead of pray to our Creator!

So, one of the basic principles of good habit forming: STOP DOING THAT…AND DO THIS INSTEAD.

SOLUTION - DO THIS! When you pray alone.

Go be alone with God…in His presence. Don’t broadcast it.

Peterson paraphrases the solution this way:

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.” (MSG)

When Jesus says we should pray privately, with the door shut, He is not speaking against public prayer. He is speaking against prayer that is offered for the sake of being noticed.

Miles Custis, Sermon on the Mount: Living for God’s Kingdom, Not Your Average Bible Study (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), Mt 5:1–7:29.

You’ll recall Jesus praying out loud at Lazarus tomb,

John 11:41–42 ESV

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

He’s not breaking the rules - He’s illustrating it properly.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. Christian Praying (5, 6)

What he says of the hypocrites sounds fine at first: ‘They love … to pray.’ But unfortunately it is not prayer which they love, nor the God they are supposed to be praying to. No, they love themselves and the opportunity which public praying gives them to parade themselves.

-Stott

3. DON’T SOUND LIKE PAGANS!

Matthew 6:7–8 ESV

7 “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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“meaningless repetition” - NASB

“vain repetitions” - KJV

“keep on babbling like Pagans” NIV

“ …like Gentiles” CSB

Do we think God is hard of hearing?

Do we think He’s playing prayer bingo? Waiting for certain phrases to be said a certain amount of times and then He’ll listen?

No doubt, the picture of Elijah and the prophets of Baal come to mind.

Glance with me at 1 King 18:25-29

1 Kings 18:25–29 ESV

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

Our Father knows what we have need of, before we even pray!

“We do not pray to inform God of our wants. Omniscient as he is, he cannot be informed of any thing which he knew not before: and he is always willing to relieve them. “ -Spurgeon / Explanatory Notes on Matthew

“God not only has spoken clearly and powerfully to us through Christ and the Scriptures, He also has a Very Large Ear continuously open to us. He will hear every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake.” Don Whitney (Spiritual Disciples For the Christian Life, 80).

THE PERFECT ILLUSTRATION

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

THE BIG PICTURE:

In Matthew 6, Jesus is addressing 3 major pillars of Judaism: Giving, Prayer, and Fasting. And, forgive the cliche, but He’s getting to the heart of the matter…Motive matters. The WAY you do it matters.

Dr. Al Mohler reminds us:

“Prayer is not a matter of creative self-expression.” This means we don’t get to pray in any way we see fit.

“Prayer is not an act of therapy.” This means prayer is not designed to make us feel better about ourselves.

“Prayer is not an act of manipulation or persuasion.” This means prayer is not intended as a means of getting our way.

“Prayer is not a news report to the Creator.” This means prayer is not our attempt to bring God up to speed.

“Prayer is not an act of bargaining.” This means prayer is not a negotiation where we barter with God.

Final APPLICATION

When You Pray, Don’t Look Like a Hypocrite and Don’t Sound Like a Pagan!

It’s easy to appear righteous, do good deeds for all to see, and claim allegiance to the Lord (see Matt 6:1–8; 7:21–23). But if we’re after a real Christian experience that will bring glory to God (5:20, 48), we must discipline our thoughts, not just our actions (5:21–30). We need to shift our focus from the paths of earthly kingdoms to the ways of God’s kingdom (6:19–24).

Jesus describes the road of discipleship as difficult, and it’s littered with hypocrites and false prophets. Ultimately, we need faith and reliance on God as we walk this path of discipleship (6:25–33). Following Christ means following His example of selfless love. It means pointing others toward Jesus, the source of our righteousness (5:16).

If that’s bad posture, here’s the guide to good posture!

Remember, you are the creature speaking to the Sovereign Creator!

In his book, The Prayer of the Lord, RC Sproul writes:

...You should remember who is being addressed and who is doing the speaking. That is, the first thing you are to remember in prayer is who it is you're talking to, because nothing will condition your prayer life more deeply than remembering that you're in conversation with God, the sovereign Creator and Ruler of the universe.

Second, you are to remember who you are. You are not God. You are a creature. So prayer is not a conversation between peers; it is not a fireside chat among equals. This is the creature speaking to his sovereign Creator.

R.C. Sproul. The Prayer of the Lord (Kindle Locations 172-177). Kindle Edition.

So…as we take our BABY STEPS toward and through this prayer, we are reminded that this model prayer, called The Lord’s Prayer has been aptly described as...

dangerous, as it overturns the kingdom of the principalities and powers of this world.

hopeful, expecting the kingdom of God to come in fullness with Christ on the throne.

compassionate, teaching us to call God our Father and depend on him for our every meal.

reverent, showing that nothing is more sacred than the name of God.

good news, reminding each of us that God forgives sin and delivers us from the powers of darkness.

(adapted from Mohler, R. Albert. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down (pp. 170-171). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)

Here is a good exercise for you:

Reflect upon your actions today and in the past week. Which was more important to you: people’s praise or God’s reward?

Make a list of ways you find yourself pursuing the praise of others more than God. Doing so will help you become more aware of your motives.

Then, list ways you can live faithfully for God, and pray about these things.

THERE IS A READING PLAN IN THE BIBLE APP THAT YOU CAN CLICK TO ADD THIS WEEK. IT TAKES SOME MEATY NUGGETS FROM E.M. BOUNDS AND PUSHES US TOWARD PRAYING ON GOD’S TERMS.

CLOSE:

“Just as nothing destroys prayer like side-glances at human spectators, so nothing enriches it like a sense of the presence of God. For he sees not the outward appearance only but the heart, not the one who is praying only but the motive for which he prays. The essence of Christian prayer is to seek God. Behind all true prayer lies the conversation which God initiates.” -John Stott

LET’S PRAY!