A Pattern of Prayer

Last week we started Matthew 6, and we began to probe into this question that Jesus seems to be getting at - why do we do what we do?

We looked at two examples, both giving of alms or giving in general, and also prayer.

As we started into the section on prayer beginning in verse 5, we noticed a couple things.

First, Jesus doesn’t start the statement with “if you pray,” but “when you pray...” There is an assumption of prayer on the part of the follower. Prayer, like giving to the poor, would have been part of the regular ethic of the faithful Israelite in Jesus’ day. And as we examine the New Testament, we see that it really is the assumption that the Christian will be a praying person as well.

The Question for Jesus, again, was not if his followers pray, but why they pray, and then also, how they pray.

Now, the why is important - just like almsgiving, if the reason that we do these things is ever “so that we may be seen by others” then we have missed it. Jesus uses the word “hypocrite” which literally meant a play actor, a stage actor. If we offer our prayers up, and the main intention of our heart is that others would hear us, then we have, as Jesus says, already received our reward. We have put on a performance, but we have not truly prayed.

But, if we pray in secret - whether that be actually in secret, in a quiet place in our home, or silently in our mind and heart; but if we pray in secret, that is, focused on what prayer is - communication with almighty God - then the Audience of One - God Himself - will see us and hear our prayer, and we are told that He will reward us.

Now, maybe that reward is future, a heavenly reward, a crown that we may cast at Jesus’ feet, or maybe there are current rewards. Maybe that reward is some answer to our prayer. Not always the answer we initially desire, but that God hears and answers prayer is certainly a promise, and it is part of Jesus’ later teaching as well.

We may be getting ahead of ourselves here a bit, but in this same sermon Jesus taught these words.

Matthew 7:7 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

James, the brother of our Lord, said this in the beginning of his letter.

James 1:5 ESV

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

All that to say this: our God is one who listens to the prayers of His people, He cares about the needs and requests of His people, and he gives freely and graciously from His own infinite supply of good gifts.

So we ought to pray, and we ought to pray only as to the Lord - not for the purpose of being heard by others, not to be seen by others, not to be recognized or lauded by others, but to communicate with God Himself.

As we continue with verse 7 and following, Jesus goes beyond teaching us not to be hypocritical or performative in our prayers, but he gives very meaningful, practical instruction on prayer.

Now, more words have been written on prayer than perhaps any other spiritual discipline in the Christian life. That is probably true even among the false religions. Much ink has been spilt over prayer rituals, prayer habits, prayer postures, prayer formulas, secrets of prayer, length of prayers, occasions of prayers. There are books of pre-written prayers, there are books of ideas and prompts for prayers. There are churches with prayer in their name. There are rooms in hospitals dedicated to prayer. There are candles for prayer, incense for prayer, clothes and robes for prayer, background music for prayer.

Now, some of these things are helpful, some probably not - but I meant to be a bit overbearing there to say this: we can spend all the time thinking, speaking, and learning about prayer that we want, but at the end of the day, the ultimate teaching on prayer in all the world is before us today in our passage, and it is really quite simple. It is immensely simple.

I don’t want to give the notion that prayer is not spiritual or religious - it certainly is. It is probably the greatest spiritual and religious work that we can do. But I do want to squelch any idea that prayer is, to one extreme, mystical. There is no incantation or special language needed for prayer. And on the other hand, prayer is not ritualistic. Prayers isn’t to be rote or disingenuous. It is simply to be real.

Prayer is not a ritual or a tradition: rather, it is a simple, direct, and genuine communication with God our Father as we approach His Throne.

1. Prayer is not getting God’s attention - Vs. 7-8

Before we get into the Lord’s Model prayer itself, Jesus has a few more words on “what not to do.” And I think it can be summarized with that simple point - in prayer, we are not trying to manipulate and grasp on to a corner of God’s attention. Rather, we are simply speaking to our Father.

“Do not heap up empty phrases like the gentiles do.”

If you are familiar with this passage in the Old King James, you may remember this as “use not vain repetitions as the heathen do...”

What are empty phrases, or vain repetitions?

Well, prayer, again, did not exist only in Israel at this time. Prayer, of some form, was common among Judaism and the false religions as well. Prayer in much of the world, even today, is marked by its ritualistic and repetitive style. Much of prayer throughout the world religions we would recognize more as incantation, formal invocation, or recital. In that kind of religions action, the accuracy and the form of the act itself is more important than the attitude of the person praying.

With that mindset, prayer becomes a “secret code” or a “magic key” that unlocks access to whatever deity is being prayed to.

One really amazing illustration of this from the Old Testament is from the account of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. You recall the challenge between Elijah and many of Baal’s prophets, where the task was set forth to see who’s God would send down fire from heaven to ignite an altar.

Elijah deferred to the false prophets in letting the go first, and the record of their actions gives a good picture of the kind of false prayer Jesus is speaking against here.

1 Kings 18:26–29 ESV

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. 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.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 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.

Do you see this? Hours of prayer. There is ritual involved. They repeated over and over again, “O Baal, answer us.” They cut themselves, the text says, after their custom. They raved on, it says, for hours. But what was the conclusion? There was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

Now compare this with Jesus’ words.

Matthew 6:7 ESV

“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.

“They think that they will be heard for their many words...” That is a sad commentary on the prayers of all the false religions of the world. Whatever the ritual, whether mild or extreme, “they think that they will be heard.”

We are not to approach God like this, like the false gods that people hope to awaken with their shouts, their repetitive incantations, their cutting, their languages, their extreme length of time in prayer.

Rather, Jesus says “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

In comparison with the false gods and idols who do not hear prayer no matter how long or loud, Jesus tells his disciples that the true God is a Father who is already intimately aware of His children’s needs.

Prayer, then, is not getting God’s attention so we can inform Him of our difficulties. Prayer is approaching a loving Father who is already aware of our needs, and it is casting ourselves upon His kindness, His mercy, His character.

This, then, leads into Jesus’ pattern prayer. We find it in a couple places in the New Testament. Here, and also in Luke 11.

Now, it seems that this is a different occasion, because in Luke it says that Jesus prayed, and upon hearing him, his disciples asked him to teach them to prayer.

Luke 11:1 ESV

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

The two records of the prayer differ slightly, but they are essentially the same, and they begin the same way, and the way it begins is very important. Jesus’ bases his teaching on prayer here, and also in Luke 11, on the fact that we are praying to our Father.

Luke 11:11–13 ESV

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

2. Prayer is Approaching our Father - Vs. 9-13

Prayer to “Our Father” is not brand new in the New Testament, but as a pattern, it is something that Jesus really revolutionized. Very, very few prayers in the Old Testament do we see refer to God as our Father in a personal way. But almost every time Jesus prays, he addresses God as His Father. And of course, we know that is quite true - Jesus is the very Son of God, the second person of the trinity. But Jesus does not just himself pray addressing God as Father, but He directs us, His followers, to view and approach the God of Heaven as our personal, loving, Heavenly Father.

That should shape the way that we pray. We are not approaching a despot who we need to appease. We are not approaching a business mogul whom we need to convince of our ideas. We are not approaching a professor in whos good graces we hope to secure a good grade or an extension on our classwork. And we are not approaching an evil, abusive, sinful father who does not love his children. We are approaching our good, holy, pure, heavenly father who loves and knows how to give gracious gifts to his children.

Now, with that said. In order to not be guilty of becoming one who spends more time talking about prayer than actually prayer, I want to be succinct and practical with the remainder of this sermon. This will be a little different than most of my sermons. But I want to approach Jesus’ model prayer here as just that - a model. It is not something to be repeated as rote. Now, that is not to say that, in a time where you are lacking for words, that you cannot repeat these words verbatim. But as a rule, Jesus’ words here are words of instruction and example. He tells us to pray “like this.”

I have broken the prayer into 5 main concepts. In my own prayer, I try to allow these to consciously and subconsciously shape the way that I approach prayer. You have them as blanks in your outline. I want to give you the blank, give a few practical words, and then pray. After each one, I want to take a minute for all of us to pray silently, and then either myself or one of the men of the church who I’ve already spoken to will lead in a brief prayer regarding that particular request or petition. My hope is that this will be instructive, but also practical. Many sermons have application that needs to be exercised “later” or “outside the church.” But the application for today is to simply pray as Jesus taught us, and we can do that even now.

A. Exaltation

Matthew 6:9 ESV

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

The first lines in Jesus’ model prayer, again, show us that we are to pray to and approach God as our heavenly Father.

The first “request” or “petition” that we see is this. “Hallowed be your name.”

That is a prayer request. Jesus prays that God’s name would be “hallowed.”

Now, God’s name entails everything He is. A name, in that day, was much more than a title - it was indicative of character. God’s ‘name’ often reveals part of who He is or what He does. In the Old Testament, we see many of these names, names like “El Shaddai” - the Almighty God. El Elyon - the Lord Most High - Yahweh Rapha - The Lord who heals - Yahweh Yireh - The Lord Provider. The List goes on, but God’s name is who he is.

“Hallowed” is the same as sanctified, or set apart - its from the same word that we get “holiness” from. So for God’s name to be hallowed, is for God and everything He is to be recognized and set apart in our lives, in our thinking. This applies to us, and also to those around us.

Some practical ways we can pray like this would be:

Pray that God would be first in our thinking.

Pray that we would see the depth of God’s holiness and awesomeness.

Pray that others around would see the reality and greatness of God through our words and works.

B. Transformation

Matthew 6:10 ESV

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

The next petitions that Jesus gives us has to do with change. Jesus prays that God’s will would be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Heaven, in this case, would be the realm where God abides. Of course, God is omni-present, but we consider Him as dwelling above, in the heavenly places. We would also consider that there are His holy angels, who do his bidding day and night. So we could say that in heaven, God’s will is done perfectly. There is perfect unity and harmony in heaven.

God’s kingdom, again, is his kingship and authority. Again, in heaven, that is seen and recognized perfectly. The request, then, is that this would be reflected on earth. That God’s authority and kingship would be recognized by the people of earth as much as it is in heaven.

This is a prayer request that is very practical, because it assumes a willingness of obedience on the part of the one praying. If we are really praying for God’s kingship and authority to be seen and recognized, then we must be ready to joyfully obey Him as well.

Some practical ways that we can pray this.

Pray that we as God’s children would take God’s kingship and authority seriously in our daily lives.

Pray that we would exalt God as King with our lips and our praises.

Pray that the authority of God’s kingship would transform the world around us as His truth is spread.

C. Provision

Matthew 6:11 ESV

Give us this day our daily bread,

Now, the first petitions have been Godward, that he would be hallowed and exalted, and that His kingship and authority would be seen and recognized. I think it is important that our prayers be first Godward in focus - He is the true agent of change and transformation.

But as Jesus moves on, he teaches us that prayer is also very personal and real, real in the sense of touching our every day needs.

“Give us this day our daily bread” doesn’t need much explanation. Bread is food, perhaps a picture of sustenance and provision.

Notice the humility of the prayer - Jesus asks for this day’s bread. Like the children in the wilderness who were to gather one day’s manna, so we are to pray and humbly ask God to sustain us this day. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring, but today, Lord, give us what we need.

The humility of that request is very practical as well, for it negates any greed or selfishness.

Practical ways to pray this.

Pray that you would always look to God for your provision, and not become self-reliant.

Pray that God would give you peace about tomorrow’s worries, and contentment with today’s provision.

Pray that God would supply these daily needs for others who you know are in need, and grant you the grace to give out of your abundance.

D. Remission

Matthew 6:12 ESV

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

The next petition goes from practical, to spiritual. It is simply a prayer for forgiveness.

The fact that Jesus includes this prayer for forgiveness in his model prayer teaches us two things - we always need forgiveness, and we always need to offer forgiveness.

Forgiveness is one of the distinguishing marks of a disciple of Christ. Jesus gives great importance to the concept of forgiving others, of reconciliation.

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

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.

We will cover this concept again in other places in Jesus’ teaching - but simply put, forgiveness is a mark of a forgiven person. To whom much is given, much is required. Our heavenly Father has forgiven us an insurpassable mountain of debt, and we as His children must reflect that forgiveness in others.

“debts” can be actual, monetary debts, or they can be debts incurred by unrighteous acts against another. Primarily against God, but also against others. Our sin and unrighteousness has incurred a debt before God - a debt that had to be paid in blood sacrifice, ultimately and fully in Jesus. That great forgiveness is to be reflected in our lesser but still real forgiveness of others.

How can we pray this?

Pray that the Lord would forgive you of your daily sins, and give you the strength to walk in repentance each day.

Pray that the Lord would help you to know who you need to forgive.

Pray that you would never lose the wonder of forgiveness from your sins, and not harbor bitterness against others who are no worse than you are.

E. Salvation

Matthew 6:13 ESV

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

Salvation, in this sense, is not just ultimate salvation, but also daily salvation.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The scripture speaks of our salvation in three tenses. There is a present reality, we “are saved” positionally before God, in our justification.

We “are being saved” day by day as well. That is, we are daily being delivered from sin and temptation, and by the Power of God the holy Spirit, we are led and we walk.

And there is a sense in which we will “be saved” fully and finally, in the new creation, when our sinful minds and bodies are totally renewed.

But this prayer is that prayer for daily deliverance, daily salvation, daily grace to fight temptation.

“Deliver us… and lead us.”

Jesus’ prayer recognizes that it is God our heavenly Father who “leads” us. That word for lead is literally “carry.”

God “carries” us each day in delieverance.

How can we pray this?

Pray that you would have the strength to fight the spiritual battles you face each day against the Evil One.

Pray that you would see God as your protector and the one who carries you and delivers you.

Pray that God would deliver you from specific, besetting sins that you know you struggle with.

Prayer is Reflected in our Lives - Vs. 14-15

Now, we already touched on verses 14-15, but they mark the fact that our prayer life should be reflected in the reality of our lives.

If we pray that we will be forgiven and that we will forgive, then we must use the strength God gives us to forgive when we have the chance.

When we pray for an opportunity to spread God’s word, then may we take that opportunity when it comes.

If we pray for reconciliation with a brother, then may we work for reconciliation.

Otherwise, our prayers have still become ritualistic and empty, and, as Jesus already warned, we have our reward.

Brothers and Sisters, may we pray as Jesus taught us, and may we experience the reality of prayer, and our Heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer.