Matthew 6:5-15 "Practicing Righteousness Through Prayer"

Good morning CCLC! Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew Chapter 6, verse 5. Jesus transitioned in the Sermon on the Mount from what the disciples heard from the Religious leaders, now to what they had seen. And, both what was heard and what was seen was done in hypocrisy, and Jesus is letting everyone know...don't be like the hypocrites. He warned in Matt 6:1 "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." This warning and command overshadows all of Matthew 6:2-18 as Jesus gave three ways of practicing righteousness- through giving, praying, and fasting. These are spiritual disciplines that we still practice today, not to be saved, but because we are saved. We are now looking at the second of these disciplines- Prayer... picking up in verse 5. Today's message is entitled, "Practicing Righteousness through Prayer." Let's Pray. Matt 6:5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." 1. Jesus addresses His disciples, and us today, here in verse 5 "when you pray..." Like giving, it is also assumed that followers of Jesus will pray. Prayer is a privilege we have to talk to God, and we should not shy away from it. Heb 4:16 declares "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." 2. Jesus is our Great High Priest and has made a way for us to have access to the Father directly, so take advantage of this gift and pray often, or as 1 Thes 5:16 states "...pray without ceasing." 3. But, when you pray, Jesus instructed to "not be like the hypocrites." The religious leaders took the private conversation of prayer, and broadcast it in the synagogues and on the street corners for all to hear. 4. The issue was not the location...this is not a prohibition from public prayer. 5. Nor was this a prohibition from the position of praying while standing...as Jesus said the hypocrites "stood in the synagogues..." There are biblical examples of people praying while standing, sitting, kneeling and even lying prostrate. There is not a correct posture to prayer, except the posture of the heart, and that was the issue with the religious leaders... 6. ...because they were pretending to be talking to God...they were pretending to pray, but in reality they just wanted to be seen and heard by men. They loved the admiration and praise from other people for their prayers, and thus they received no divine reward. Jesus said, "they have their reward." 7. And, it wasn't just that these hypocrites were audibly projecting their prayers, they were also over-emphasizing their garments of prayer. 8. In Matt 23:5 Jesus spoke about the religious leaders hypocrisy, even specific to their prayer garments He said, "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments." 9. Observant Jews today, still bind Phylacteries or Tefillin to their heads and arms for their morning prayers as a reminder to follow Jewish law daily. Tefillin are small leather boxes that contain strips of parchment with OT verses. One box is bound to the head, and another to the bicep area of the left arm, and leather straps hold them in place. The straps wrap all the way down the left arm, hand and middle finger of the Jew. 10. Dt 11:18, and other verses, read "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes." So, there are biblical references to this practice, but, Jesus rebuked the Jews for making their phylacteries broad. They are very conspicuous. 11. Jesus also rebuked them for enlarging the borders of their garments. The idea of a prayer shawl with tassels was biblical as seen in Num 15 12. Num 15:37-39 reads, "Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined..." 13. So, the tassels were meant to remind the Jew to remember God's commandments and not follow other Gods. But, the Jews were enlarging the borders of their garments which was drawing attention to themselves. 14. Prayer, and the garments of prayer, were intended to be a sincere conversation between people and God, but it became a religious show. 15. Some Christians today fall into a similar show when they pray in groups. Their prayer may become long-winded, or they may start praying in loud thunderous tones, or pray in Old English, quoting scripture after scripture. Look...just ask yourself...who is in my mind when I pray? Am I really talking to God, or am I just projecting words to be seen by men? 16. Jesus warns there is no reward if you just want to be seen by men. In verse 6-8, Jesus tell His disciples what honest and sincere prayer looks like, and contrasts those prayers with the prayers of heathens. Matt 6:6-8 "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." 1. Now, in contrast to the hypocritical religious leaders who prayed publically for man's praise, Jesus tells His disciples to "go into your room" (def. inner chamber) and essentially pray to Father God privately. 2. A good private prayer life is a good indicator that one's heart is truly set towards God. Often times, we read how Jesus would find a solitary place to to pray alone to the Father. 3. Your prayer room can be anywhere...a bedroom, a closet, your car, a solitary place...the idea is getting alone with God. 4. It is good to pray with other people. Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Mt 18:20. 5. But, it is also good to pray in solitude...just you and God...a personal relationship. 6. We see that God is pleased with these private and intimate conversations...Jesus said "your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." 7. In verse 7, Jesus prohibits prayer that consists of "vain repetitions." This type of prayer is prayer of the heathens...the Gentiles...unbelievers. 8. They pray with vain repetitions, which by def. means "to stammer; to keep on babbling; using meaningless repetitions." 9. Like in Acts 19 when the Ephesians "...cried out for about two hours "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" Ac 19:34. 10. Repeating a phrase over and over, even if it was a good word like "Glory," "Hallelujah," or even the 'Lord's Prayer' which is recited mindlessly so often...all can be vain repetitions. Jesus spoke of this practice stating, "For they think that they will be heard by their many words." And the implication is they are not heard. 11. Spurgeon said, "Christians' prayers are measured by weight, and not by length. Many of the most prevailing prayers have been as short as they were strong." 12. Some people misinterpret this as you cannot pray more than once per request to God. That's not true either. 13. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will teach "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Mt 7:7. "Ask, seek, and knock" are all present imperatives emphasizing a command to be persistent in prayer. 14. In Luke 18, the Parable of the Unjust Judge. The Judge gave in to the persistent requests of the widow, and he was just a man and unjust at that. In contrast, Jesus says of God, who is just,... "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?" Lk 18:7. He shall! God will hear the prayers, and the prayers are raised day and night. Their is no condemnation for repeated prayers. 15. Regarding his thorn in the flesh, Paul wrote, "Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Co 12:8-9 Paul was not rebuked for praying 3x. His prayer was heard and God answered. 16. In Matt 26, Jesus prayed 3x for the cup of judgment to pass from Him, and for the Father's will to be done. 17. There is not problem with praying to God, and coming back and praying for the same things again...so long as it is not empty words, but sincere requests. 18. Also, the length of prayer is not as important as the sincerity of prayer. 19. in 1 King 18, Elijah told the prophets of Baal "...you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God." 1 Ki 18:24. So, from morning until evening the prophets of Baal prayed "O Baal, hear us!", they prophesied, leaped around the altar, and even cut themselves (a pagan practice). And, scripture declares, "But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention." 20. The pagan prayers were not heard because no one was there...there is no Baal. If you prayer fervently to the wrong god, you will get no answer. Vain repetitions all day long, even accompanied by a big show does not make God bend His ear. 21. But, Elijah, a man who had a sincere relationship with God prayed a short two sentence prayer, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice... 22. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." Jas 5:16. The 8 hour or longer chanting and frenzied prayer of the pagans was nothing more than physical exercise. Jesus said, "Therefore do not be like them." 23. And Jesus also says in verse 8, "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." 24. God is omniscient. He knows all, and knows exactly what you need. 25. In Matt 7:11, Jesus will contrast our earthly fathers to our heavenly Father and say, "...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" God knows what we need, and wants to give good things to us as we pray and ask. 26. And, you can be certain that God hears your prayers...1 Jn 5:14 "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." 27. Notice the caveat...our prayers are heard "if we ask anything according to His will..." 28. Sometimes our prayers are not according to His will. The issue is not God...it's us. Our prayers fall out of alignment with God's will. Our requests to God are not what we actually need...sometimes it's just what we want. Jam 4:2-3 "Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." If our prayers are self-centered, they likely will not be heard or answered. 29. Some of our deepest prayers are raised when we or a loved one is sick, in pain, or dying. Paul wanted a healing and asked three times, and God answered, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." God always answers the prayers of His children... He responds, "Yes, No, or Wait." You may not like His answer, it may not be according to YOUR will, but He always answers. And, sometimes when we don't get what we want, like the healing of a loved one, it can shake our faith to the core. Many people walk away from God during these times. But, God is good...God is love and He knows the things we need. And, as difficult as it is to understand, not all our prayers line up with His will. 30. When Paul was not healed, how did he respond? He said, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Co 12:9-10. 31. As the disciples traveled with Jesus, they witnessed His preaching and teaching, miraculous healings, prophetic sayings, and so forth but, scripture only records them asking Him to teach them one thing... in Lk 11, later in Jesus' ministry, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray..." Of all the things the disciples could have asked to be taught, scripture only records that they asked to be taught how to pray. 32. Certainly a challenge for us to increase prayer in our lives. Jesus' responded to His disciples request, Lord, teach us to pray," with The Model Prayer... the same starting here in verse 9. Matt 6:9-13 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On 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 do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." 1. This prayer is commonly called, "The Lord's Prayer," but it's more appropriately titled "The Model Prayer for the Disciples." Even Wikipedia does not list this as a "Recorded Prayer of Jesus in the Bible." Wikipedia lists 6 occasions Jesus prayed, and "The Lord's Prayer" did not make the cut. It couldn't be the Lord's prayer...Jesus was sinless, and this prayer asks for forgiveness. Truly, The Lord's Prayer is John 17...what we call "Jesus' High Priestly Prayer." 2. Now, what's fascinating is contained within this model prayer you can observe the heart of the law- The Ten Commandments. I won't have time today, but I encourage you to compare The Ten Commandments, in Exo 20, Deut 5 to The Model Prayer, here in Matt 6,...there is a Harmony between the two....and this focus on the law flows with the context of Jesus' sermon. In Matt 5:17 Jesus stated, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." And, He Jesus used examples from the law to expose the faulty teaching of the religious leaders, and He provided the true intent of the law. And, now in Matthew 6, as Jesus gives this Model Prayer, He is not only teaching us to pray, but, in some sense, He is praying the Ten Commandments. 3. Jesus begins this prayer stating "In this manner..." or pray "like this." This is 'how to' pray, not 'what to' pray. And, how Jesus teaches us to pray greatly contrasts from the vain repetitions of the heathens and the religious leaders, the hypocrites, who recited rote prayers 3x daily- morning, afternoon, and evening. 4. Jesus gave them a model...not a formula to pray in vain repetition (like it is today)... but a model to pray in this manner. 5. This pray begins with 3 petitions vertically focused (His name, His kingdom, His will), and then shifts to 3 horizontal petitions (Our needs, our sins, our temptations). The pray begins: 6. "Our Father..."- This prayer begins with relationship. Prior to accepting Christ, an unbeliever may throw up a prayer to 'the big man upstairs,' or to 'their higher power,' or just to 'God' in general, but after accepting Christ and being reconciled to God, a tender relationship begins...intimacy formulates, and we begin to understand God is Our Father. 7. To speak to God this tenderly, to call Him Father was foreign to the Jews. There are relatively few places in the OT where God is referred to as Father, and in those instances Father comes by way of analogy. In contrast, in the Sermon on the Mount alone, Jesus refers to the "Father in heaven" 17x...all a direct address...not an analogy. The Jews knew God as Yahweh...the Great I AM...Jehovah-Jireh...and so forth, but to call Him 'Father' was an intimacy and a closeness they did not know. 8. And, I love that Jesus teaches us to begin your prayers with 'Our Father'...relationship. 9. It bothers me when I hear my kids begin their prayers with, 'Dear Jesus...' namely because of what Jesus teaches here...pray "Our Father." Listen to who Jesus addresses in His prayers that are recorded: 10. In Matt 11:25 and Lk 10:21 Jesus prayed "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 11. Before raising Lazarus, He prayed, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." Jn 11:41 12. John 12:28 Jesus instructed His hour had come and prayed, 28 Father, glorify Your name." 13. Jesus begins His High Priestly Prayer, Jn 17 with "Father..." 14. Three times He prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, something to the effect of "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." beginning in Mt 26:39. 15. On the cross we have 3 recorded prayers... 16. He prays, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Lk 23:34 17. Matt 27:46 and Mk 15:34 records "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" A direct quote from Ps 22:1 and notice how this is the only recorded prayer where Jesus does not address His Father in prayer, but His God. Why? Because this is when He was taking on the full weight of sin and drinking the cup of God's wrath on sin. And, sin separates us from God. Thus, in this moment, Jesus prayed to God the Judge, and not to His Father. 18. Lk 23:46 just before He breathed His last breath He prayed "Father, 'into your hands I commit My spirit.'" Once again Jesus could call upon His Father, because just prior Jesus proclaimed, "It is finished." The price of sin was "paid in full." He conquered sin and brought man back into relationship with the Father. 19. When you pray, feel free to address God however you want, so long as it with reverence and authentic. But, based on Jesus' example, when I pray, I begin with "Father." 20. Next, Jesus says "in heaven,"- Our Father in heaven..." This recognizes God's authority, His sovereignty...He is seated in glory on His throne in heaven, and is over all. He is worthy of our worship and prayer should begin with an element of worship. We are really good, in our prayers, of giving thanks and lifting up requests, but we should be more cognizant to also worship and God in our prayers. 21. "Hallowed be Your name."- "May your name be kept holy." Holiness is the very nature of God, and as such people should give reverence to His name. Notice Jesus teaches reverencing God first prior to making our requests. We so often have the order reversed...or we just skip the reverence part of prayer all together and jump right to requests. Lord forgive us and help us to remember to give you reverence before we pose our requests. 22. "Your kingdom come."- This looks forward to Jesus' 1000 year rule and reign on earth. We should pray for and desire Jesus' return. I do. I long for a truly righteous leader and a truly righteous government. The Jews look forward to Messiah coming on a white horse as well to fulfill His covenantal promises. 23. "Your will be done..."- This is a statement of surrendering our will to His will and expresses our longing desire to see His will accomplished throughout the world. He is Lord. We are the doulous...the slave. The slave submits to the Lord...the Master. And, God knows what is best for us. Jesus just taught in verse 8, "For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." If we trust Him, we should be content to pray "Your will be done." In His hour of trial, even Jesus submitted to the Father, and prayed these exact words in the Garden, "Your will be done." Matt 26:42 24. "On earth as it is in heaven."- In heaven, God's name is Holy, His kingdom is present, and His will is done. Our prayers should include petitioning God for the heavenly conditions to become an earthly reality. In heaven, the angels and saints willingly offer praise and submit to His authority and our prayers should reflect a desire to see that scene on earth...that all would reverence His name, that His kingdom would come, and His will be accomplished. 25. His name, His kingdom, and His will... the first three petitions are centered on God... 26. As a point of application, ask yourself, "Am I committed to this course? Do I reverence God's name and desire His kingdom and will consummated on earth?" If not,... it's impossible to pray this prayer in full sincerity. 27. "Give us this day our daily bread."- Now, once God is reverenced, Jesus models we present our personal petitions to God...and He give us three examples. The first, is to ask for those things we need for today. Needs not greeds. What do you need today for your daily sustenance? It's lost on us a little bit as we have refrigerators and freezers, but in the first century many people bought their food and were paid daily. In many parts of the world, people still live this way. The idea of daily bread reminds me how God provided manna daily in the wilderness to the Jews, and very much this petition centers on trusting God to be our daily sustainer and provider. 28. Do not allegorize bread to mean something other than bread. This is not a reference towards Jesus being the bread of life, or communion. Bread is bread, and Jesus is teaching us to pray about our everyday needs, because God cares about them. 29. "And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors."- Observe that these petitions look to our past (forgive us our debts), our present (give us this day our daily bread), and our future (lead us not into temptation); and unlike the first three vertical petitions which stand independent from one another, these last three personal petitions are all linked by the word "And." 'And' forgive us our debts, 'and' lead us not into temptation. Carson observes, "...almost as if to say that life sustained by food is not enough. We also need forgiveness of sin and deliverance from temptation." 30. Our debts should be understood as sin...a moral debt, as clearly seen when Jesus teaches this prayer the second time in Luke 11:4...the parallel verse states, "And forgive us our sins..." Some scholars want to make debt something other than sin, like debt as a loan, but it's best to understand debt as sin. 31. As the Lord has forgiven us, we too much exercise grace and forgiveness to those who have sinned against us. Jesus taught the importance of forgiveness repeatedly in His ministry, and many ways in this sermon. In verses 14-15 of Matt 6, He will come back to forgiveness and expand on verse 12. 32. "And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."- In James 1, the word for temptation and trials is the same Gk. word... which varies between 'temptation' and 'trial' depending on the context. Matt 4:1 states, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Jesus was tested by God, but tempted by Satan. We could say the same about Job. But, as James 1:13 clearly indicates "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone." 33. God will not lead you into a temptation to sin. But, God does test you or try you, with the good purpose of producing a good result in you. So, in this verse we cannot understand this verse to imply that God is leading us into temptation, rather this is a petition for strength and deliverance in the hour of temptation by Satan...a cry to God "And don't let us yield to temptation..." as the NLT translates. 34. And, if we pray this prayer, it is also important that we do our part not to put people, places, or things in front of our eyes and tempt our flesh to sin. The alcoholic who prays, "Lord, help me not to drink" while walking through the liquor isle is not doing their part. Walk down a different isle. Avoid that temptation. 35. "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."- 36. This beautiful doxology again recognizes God's authority and gives Him glory. Ended by "Amen" - So be it; Let it be so; I agree. 37. Scholars debate if this last line was in the original manuscripts or later added by a scribe. 38. Clark said, "As the doxology is at least very ancient, and was in use among the Jews, as well as all the other petitions of this excellent prayer, it should not, in my opinion, be left out of the text, merely because some [manuscripts] have omitted it, and it has been variously written in others." 39. One this doxology, Calvin wrote, It "not only warm our hearts to press toward the glory of God ... but also to tell us that all our prayers ... have no other foundation than God alone." 40. Being this prayer is just a model and not THE formula for prayer, we have freedom to close our prayer how we feel led. So, if you want to circle back to God and give Him a little more praise and glory, I doubt He would object. Jesus concludes this segment on prayer, once again, speaking on forgiveness...verses 14-15. Matt 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 1. Verses 14-15 are not a conclusion to the prayer, but an expansion on what was said in verse 12 "...forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." 2. In Mark 11, Jesus taught His disciples about the necessity of faith in effectual prayer, and immediately following He teaches, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." Mk 11:25. 3. And, the connection is simple. For prayers to be effective...a believer must pray in faith and be willing to forgive others. 4. We have been forgiven much by our Father in heaven. It cost Him the death of His Son to pay the price for our sins. Thus, how can we not forgive earthly trespasses against us? Just as Jesus so often calls the religious leaders hypocrites for the discrepancy between word and deed, we too must be on guard not to be hypocrites by gladly receiving forgiveness, but being unwilling to extend forgiveness to others. 5. The theme of 'forgiveness' in scripture is repeated elsewhere: 6. Eph 4:32 "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." 7. Matt 18:21-22 "...Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." (meaning innumerable.) 8. Lk 17:3-5 Jesus taught, "Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." 5 And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."" 9. I love the honesty of the apostles... "Increase our faith." 10. The warning of not forgiving others is sobering "...if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." 11. Salvation is not in jeopardy here, but fellowship is...our prayer life is...our intimacy with God will falter. 12. Forgiveness is not an option for the believer...it's a command. 13. If you are struggling with forgiving other people, I understand. It's not an easy thing to forgive when we have been mistreated or even abused. Even the apostles struggled with this idea...they said, "Increase our faith." Tremendously honest. 14. Maybe you need to pray that prayer today...to put into practice loving your enemy and forgiving a person who has offended you. The great news is you can start that process of forgiveness simply by praying for yourself, and praying for them. Worship team come. Prayer is a central part of Christian life. It was Jesus' up-link to the Father, and it is ours as well. Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." Jn 15:4 Prayer is one of the ways we keep our relationship with God alive. It's a way for us to tap into the source of our hope and strength. I can't think of anyone that I talk to on a regular basis that I don't have a relationship with. Relationship starts with a conversation...and God wants relationship with you. He wants you to talk to Him authentically. This week, be sure that you are praying. Pray without ceasing. God loves you...talk to Him. Amen? Let's pray!