Living in the "When You" in 2022

The New Year

Two days into the new year, and we should be grateful that we’ve made it thus far. From some, the new year turns the page, but it seems the words from last year’s page are the same on the new page. For some, people try to do God’s job by eliminating people, places and thing, but most end up cutting the wrong “grass.” Some are trying to keep and protect their peace, but fail to realize that only God can keep them in perfect peace (Isa. 26:3). For most, it has been a year to either forget or remember. For some, people seek to improve themselves physically, but fall victim to a variety of factors. Some desire emotional and mental freedom, yet end up building more strongholds. Some desire financial freedom and prosperity, yet end up still living from check to check. Most echo the sentiment, “New Year, New Me,” but I ask has the new year really brought a new you, or just the old you in a new year. At the beginning of the year, people make resolutions to do this, that, or the other. Most resolutions are never kept because when it is time for people to be resolute, they wilt away. The new year does not mean that you’ve turned the page, or even begun a new season. The calendar changed but some people, places, and things Some began a new year on the same page because they lost their place somewhere during the year. Some people create resolutions concerning their relationships, but most end up with more holes in the “ship.” The new year brings fresh faith, fresh hope, and a bright outlook towards the horizon. Paul, the apostle said it best to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 2:9, and believers need to share in his sentiments. Despite all the cancel culture, chaos, and COVID-19, we made it....Despite the burdens we bear, God still declares we are blessed in the city, blessed in the field, when we come in, and we go out…Deut. 28:1-7. This is the year where you individually and Jerusalem as a whole “Move forward with momentum through fasting and prayer.”

Big Idea of the Message

Jesus treats prayer and fasting as normal practices of discipleship. God is calling the church back to the spiritual disciplines of fasting and prayer as we move forward with momentum.

Matthew 6

Matthew 6:1–18 continues the exposition of what might be involved in the kind of uncompromised and unrestricted goodness (5:48) called for from those who aspire to the abundant righteousness which Jesus declared necessary (5:20) in view of the approach of the kingdom of God. But whereas the focus in 5:21–48 has been on the neighbour, though chap. 6 will be on how one relates to God. Matthew has worked out a detailed and carefully structured parallelism between the treatments of the three practices singled out for comment (6:2–4, almsgiving; vv. 5–6, prayer; vv. 16–18, fasting); into this structure he has inserted, as an attachment to the section on prayer, the Lord’s Prayer with associated framing materials (vv. 7–15). Vv. 19–21 provide a suitable conclusion by picking up on the reward motif by appealing to the imagery of a treasure-hoard, but they also have a bridging role. The whole chapter is unified by the links between vv. 7–15 and vv. 25–34 and by the bridging role of vv. 19–21 (see those passages for discussion).

The Sermon on the Mount

The name “Sermon on the Mount” designates the first programmatic speech Jesus delivered according to the gospel of Matthew (Matt. 5:3-7:27). The name was used by Augustine, who in his early commentary, most probably the first ever written on SM alone, highlighted the famous text as a literary entity in Matthew, but, for the public mind and especially in the present debate, stands also for the text that sums up the uncompromising ethics of the historical Jesus as distinct from the post-Easter theology of the Christian Church.

The second section of the body (6:1-18) contains cultic instruction. After a general exhortation, three subsections deal with the improper and proper performance of the rituals of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Composed somewhat differently from the rest of the section, this insertion presents as well different theological ideas. It polemicizes against assimilation with the “heathen” and presents a Jewish (-Christian) doctrine of prayer, for which the Lord’s prayer serves as the authoritative example; to this is joined a “sentence os sacred law” regarding forgiveness

The Gospel of Matthew (1. Almsgiving (6:1–4))

6:1–18 continues the exposition of what might be involved in the kind of uncompromised and unrestricted goodness (5:48) called for from those who aspire to the abundant righteousness which Jesus declared necessary (5:20) in view of the approach of the kingdom of God. But whereas the focus in 5:21–48 has been on the neighbour, through chap. 6 it will be on how one relates to God. Matthew has worked out a detailed and carefully structured parallelism between the treatments of the three practices singled out for comment (6:2–4, almsgiving; vv. 5–6, prayer; vv. 16–18, fasting); into this structure he has inserted, as an attachment to the section on prayer, the Lord’s Prayer with associated framing materials (vv. 7–15). Vv. 19–21 provide a suitable conclusion by picking up on the reward motif by appealing to the imagery of a treasure-hoard, but they also have a bridging role. The whole chapter is unified by the links between vv. 7–15 and vv. 25–34 and by the bridging role of vv. 19–21 (see those passages for discussion).

“Prayer is not entertainment, but engagement with God”

Juliana of Norwich said, “I am the ground of thy beseeching; first, it is my will thou shalt have it; after, I make thee to will it; and after I make to beseech it and thou beseechest it. How should it then be that thou shouldest not have thy beseeching.

Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Grow says that “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father” (Foster, 33). Where has your prayer landed you? Prayer should always land you on the cusp of spiritual maturity and growth. The word prayer in Greek is proseuchomai, meaning to speak to or to make request of God. Just like communication is vital for an effective earthly relationship, prayer is more vital for our relationship with God. Prayer unlocks our heart so that God can inhabit his rightful seat. Jesus understood the importance of prayer, and he exhibited a vibrant prayer life throughout his earthly ministry. Some lend their focus to the “Garden Prayer, “ but I would suggest that his prayer before walking on the the water (Matt. 14:19-33) and at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:38-44) really highlight the power of prayer.

Toward the end of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the main characters encounter a “devil” type figure. As their end appears imminent, one of the characters who earlier in the movie mocked religion and the sacrament of baptism falls to his knees and begins to pray. Shortly after surviving the encounter, he brushes off the prayer as mere emotion and the answered prayer as coincidence. It is a humorous clip, but it shows a lot about the human heart and how we often approach prayer—as a means to an end in the moment, with little thought given to it before or afterward. Today’s stand-alone message will be the launching pad for 21 days of prayer and fasting for those who normally fast and pray at the beginning of the year. We need to pray, whether we feel the need to or not. And we also need to fast. These spiritual disciplines can radically transform our lives and the lives of those around us.

Prayer was a fundamental and regular part of Jewish piety, but I wonder is prayer a fundamental and regular part of Christian practice. Jesus specifically comments on prayer, say that prayer is not used to build a reputation for piety, but solely for engagement with God. Vain prayer get you no closer God than holding a pair of keys makes your a vehicle. Prayer ought not remind a person of a talk show, or a television series. Jesus speaks against public prayer used to gain plaudits, summarize a sermon, or communicate information to an audience but should reflect genuine conversation with God. Then, Jesus goes on to teach at length on prayer. First, he states that prayer is an act of humility, not an act we should do to be seen by others. “The seen prayer is not always the answered prayer.” Having a lot to say or being wordy isn’t the point either, so Jesus gives us a model: the Lord’s prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches on both prayer and fasting. He begins the lessons, “When you pray and when your fast. Not “if”: ‘When.” These are actions Jesus assumes his followers will do. If you follow Jesus, then you pray. If you follow Jesus, then you will fast.

The word “when in Greek is hotan, meaning “used of things which one assumes will really occur.”

“When you pray, follow God’s pattern for an answer to your prayer”

Prayer is not throwing words up to heaven, hoping they stick to God’s wall...Prayer is not begging and pleading for God’s sympathy…Prayer is not carefully placed wording so that one can be earthly moved with no spiritual manifestation…Prayer is not flowery language that annoys God and moves people…Prayer is not the Christian get out of trouble free card... “Yes, we are to pray always, but not always wrong.” In the Lord’s prayer we see a balance between an interest in God’s glory and our needs. When we go off by ourselves to be alone with God, he sees us. What does it mean to pray? To pray is to know God and to be known by God. In Bonhoeffer’s Book Life Together: Prayerbook of the Bible, he surmises this about how to pray:

“The disciples want to pray, but they do not know how they should do it. It can become a great torment to want to speak with God and not to be able to do it—having to be speechless before God, sensing that every cry remains enclosed within one’s oneself, that heart and mouth speak a perverse language which God does not want to hear” (Bonhoeffer, 155).

As children, this is the prayer we are taught to say before bedtime, but as we grow in Christ, one must realize the Lord’s Prayer is the pattern by which we engage the invisible God. Verses 9-13b illustrates key components and attitudes that Jesus’ disciples should incorporate into their prayer lives. The prayer begins with (1) adoration, (2) transitioning to acknowledging that we need God’s provision, next, (3) assistance, and finally (4) assurance. We must choose to pray these exact words thoughtfully and reflectively or to put into our own words similar concerns.

“Fasting is not for show, it is for God”

The great theologian John Wesley said, “Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; others have utterly disregarded it” (Foster, 47). Fasting in Scripture refers to abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Fasting is a spiritual discipline whereby we deny ourselves so we can rely on and trust more in God. Not everyone can fast from food; sometimes health requirements or age limit it. But we can all fast from something. When we do so, we are removing something from our life to create space for increased reliance on God. Fasting, like prayer, is an act of humility. We don’t do it to draw attention to ourselves, but to put our attention on God. Whether it is food or TV—in the days ahead, remove something from your life, and then fill that space with the presence The word fasting is nesteuo, meaning “one who has not eaten, who is empty.” For all intent and purposes, fasting is not a hunger strike, and a hunger strike is not fasting. Fasting is not health dieting, which stresses abstinence from food for physical, not spiritual purposes. Biblical fasting always centers on spiritual purposes. Fasting must forever center on God. It must be God-initiated and God-ordained. Like the prophetess Anna, we need to be “worshiping and fasting” (Luke 2:37). Every other purpose must be subservient to God. Like that apostolic band at Antioch, “fasting” and worshiping the Lord” must be said in the same breath (Acts 13:2). Charles Spurgeon writes,

“Our seasons of fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has Heaven’s gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer to the central Glory” (Foster, 55).

Fasting is not a magical way to manipulate God into doing our will; it’s not a way to get God to be an accomplice to our plans. Neither is fasting a spiritual way to lose weight or control others…While fasting, we are one on one with God, offering him the time and attentiveness we might otherwise be giving to eating, shopping or watching television. Fasting is an opportunity to lay down an appetite—an huge…but it brings us face to face with the hunger at the core of our being.

Jesus implores those listening to refrain from showing the effects of their fast. Jesus presupposes that they might engage in voluntary fasting as one of the common forms of religious discipline. But the significance which He ascribes to fasting is wholly different from that which Judaism in fateful misunderstanding tends to associate with the custom. Fasting is service of God. It is a sign and symbol of the conversion to God which takes place in concealment. Impressive display before men defeats the end of true fasting. Fasting before God, the Father of those who turn to Him, is joy. Hence there is no place for melancholy signs of mourning. The immediate disciples of Jesus do not fast like the more pious of the people, the disciples of John and the Pharisees. When complaint is made about this, Jesus will not accept it. He defends the disciples on the ground that fasting in the presence of the Bridegroom is nonsensical.

Thunder is a sound created by the intense heat of lightning. As the heat increases, the air expands quickly, creating a sonic or sound wave. The next time you see lighting and hear thunder think about the power of prayer. George Herbert’s poem “Reversed Thunder” includes many wonderful descriptions of prayer, but one of them is that prayer is “reversed thunder.” (A full text of the prayer is available here https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/prayer-reversed-thunder.) This lines up with what the Scripture says in Revelation 8:1–5, that the prayers of the saints ascend before God and heaven responds with thunder and lightning. This is why it is important to pray and fast. We get to know God better and to be known by God, and God responds to our prayers in power.