The King and I: Praying Without Missing the Point

Romans 8:31-37—“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Jesus died for you, Jesus was raised for you, Jesus IS praying for you right how

In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 6:5-8. Turn there now.

While you’re turning, 5 quick announcements:

1) A word about PBC. We are Family.

Fellowship Groups

2) TableTalk at 5:30 (“One Another”)

Joel Whitcomb will be teaching us about Scripture’s command that Christians “build one another up”

3) NextGen Training, March 27 from 4:30-5:30

In Fellowship Hall

4) Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands

New Sunday School class, beginning April 3 at 9:15

Based on the best-selling book by biblical counselor Paul David Tripp, this class will dig into the nuts and bolts of how God's people help one another change.

5) Baptism in chapel

Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 6:5 as Jonah Boutot comes to read for us.

Scripture Reading (Matthew 6:5-8)

Prayer of Praise (God is holy), Jonah Boutot

He Leadeth Me O Blessed Thought

Mighty to Save

Prayer of Confession (Apathy), Stuart Holdren

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)

PBC Catechism #12

What do we believe about marriage?

God gave people the mandate to build society through procreation and vocation. While God calls some to singleness (without loss of personhood, dignity, or contributive capability), heterosexual monogamy is God’s design for men and women in marriage. We will not participate in and/or recognize marriages that deviate from God’s design.

Pastoral Prayer (Mike Klasseen)

SERMON

Shortly after arriving at PBC, my wife Holly and I were burdened to encourage our children in the discipline of regularly praying for our church family in our home. To make it user-friendly for our kids, we wrote the names of every member on a Popsicle stick and during our mealtime prayers we would draw a name and pray for that person.

Those of you who were here five-six years ago may remember that a recurring theme one particular summer was a host of members getting knee replacement surgeries.

Have you ever heard that old saying about the storms of life, “you’re either in a storm, just leaving a storm, or about to enter a storm?”

That’s how it was at PBC in those days . . . but with knee replacements. You were either having knee replacement surgery, recovering from it, or about to receive it.

And so our kids would draw a name and more often than not they’d end up praying about knees.

But one day our oldest daughter Zoe, who was about 5 or 6 at the time, drew the name Jeremy Collins.

Jeremy was away at college at the time, so Zoe didn’t really know him, but I still remember part of her prayer: “If he’s having surgery, help him to have a great surgery. And if he’s getting a new knee, help him to love his new knee.”

For that season in our church life, some of our children really thought that praying for the church meant praying for new knees.

Just a side note: I’m grateful that in God’s providence we have regular opportunities to pray for things like new knees, but also things like new babies.

I’m grateful it’s both, and not just one or the other.

Anyways, I told you that story to illustrate that prayer isn’t natural to the sinful human. Prayer requires training.

And even if, like most pastor’s kids, you’re relatively comfortable with the idea of prayer, putting those ideas into right practice is another story. In fact, it’s easy for sinful humans to miss the point when it comes to prayer.

In our text today, Jesus introduces us to two groups of people who completely miss the point when it comes to prayer.

But their errors aren’t an understandable six-year-old slip-up about who is or isn’t getting a new knee. Their errors are rooted in a complete misunderstanding of the why and how we should pray.

King Jesus doesn’t want you to miss the point of prayer, so He kindly exposes these errors so we can pray without missing the point.

Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:5

We’re studying what’s called the “Sermon on the Mount”

Jesus preached this sermon to His disciples about how to live righteously as citizens of the kingdom of heaven

If you’re a Christian, this world is not your home. How do you live for heaven while you live on earth? That’s what Jesus’ sermon is about.

Last week we looked at the ways we’re tempted to live righteously on earth in order to be seen by others.

But following Jesus is bigger than merely avoiding hypocrisy. We need to learn to pray.

Because Jesus wants us to pray without missing the point, in His teaching He answers five questions about prayer.

With God’s help, we’ll answer the first four questions today and then the final question over several weeks as we study the Lord’s Prayer together.

My prayer for us as we study prayer together is not that we understand we ought to pray. Most of us already do. My desire is that we would want to pray.

Matthew 6:5-8—“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. 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. 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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

If we’re going to pray without missing the point, we need to answer some questions about prayer...

I. WHEN Should We Pray?

I heard a story about a fisherman who was out to sea with some godless companions when a storm arose that threatened to sink the ship. Some of them knew that this man had once been a churchgoing man, so they said to him “you need to pray!” The fisherman resisted. “It’s been too long since I’ve prayed,” he said. “I can’t possibly go to God now.” But they continued insisting, so he gave in and prayed like this: “Lord, I haven’t asked you for anything in fifteen years. If you help us now and bring us to safety I promise I won’t bother you again for another fifteen years.”

Most of us understand our prayer lives shouldn’t be like that.

But when should we pray?

Notice what isn’t here... No command to pray at a certain time, or so many times a day, or for so long, etc.

Bible doesn’t say we have to pray before meals

Good to do!

The Bible repeatedly tells us Jesus did

The point is, if you’re looking for the Bible to give you an easy-to-follow prayer checklist, you won’t find it. Because that’s not the point!!!

Imagine relationship where one person told the other “talk to me before meals, every morning/night for at least five minutes, etc.”

Three times in our passage Jesus says, “when you pray” (5, 6, 7)

Jesus expects that prayer will be a normal part of our lives.

Is your first instinct to look for a number of times or amount of time to spend in prayer? If so, what does that reveal about what’s in your heart?

Jesus expects private and corporate prayer will be a normal part of our lives...

vv. 5-13 are all plural except for v. 6

As we near the end of our fellowship groups, spend time in prayer !

When should we pray?

Rather than giving us a rule or a checklist, Jesus just assumes we will pray. Perhaps your first reaction is “why should I?”

II. WHY Should We Pray?

On Friday night we took the kids to WinterJam in Norfolk to watch one of their favorite bands, a Christian rock band called Skillet.

I told my dad we went to a Skillet show and he asked me if that was some sort of cooking competition.

At the concert, Ezekiel is virtually oblivious to everything else that’s going on besides his family. And he’s blabbing away to Holly and I the whole time

Why? He wants to talk to us.

It’s hard to imagine a more stark contrast than the hypocrites in Jesus’ day.

Introduced to them last week

More concerned with looking righteous than being righteous

v. 5-6—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. 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.

What’s the problem with these hypocrites?

It’s not that they’re praying.

We just talked about Jesus’ expectation that we pray

It’s not that they’re praying publicly.

Moses, Daniel, Ezra, the Apostles, and even Jesus Himself prayed publicly.

The problem is why they’re praying. They’re praying in order to be seen!

Jesus rightly rebukes this hypocrites for praying for the wrong reasons

Too often we’re confused about hypocrisy...

Christians often think hypocrisy is doing one thing and feeling another. That’s NOT hypocrisy.

In marriage, that’s fidelity

In church attendance, that’s obedience

In relationships, that’s love!

Doing what is right when you don’t feel like doesn’t what is right is NOT hypocrisy, it’s maturity.

Hypocrisy is professing one thing in public and living a different way in private

These hypocrites are praying this way because they care more about what others think than God thinks. They’re praying for the wrong reasons.

But why should we pray? What’s the purpose of prayer?

New City Catechism #38—Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God.

In his Institutes, John Calvin calls prayer “the chief exercise of faith.” [1]

That’s what Zeke was doing at the concert. Just pouring out his little heart to his mom and dad.

And that’s what you and I should do when we pray. Even if we don’t feel like praying. We tell God that too.

Why should we pray?

We pray because it’s how we exercise our faith in an unseen God. But we need to be careful that our faith isn’t misplaced. We need to be careful we’re not trusting God to do something He never promised to do. Which means we need to answer another question...

III. HOW Should We Pray?

Anne Gaylor, one of the founding members of a group of American atheists called the Freedom From Religion Foundation once coined the phrase, “Nothing fails like prayer.” [2]

Another atheist took it a step further when he said, “If prayer actually worked, everyone would be a millionaire, nobody would ever get sick and die, and both football teams would always win.” [3]

I want to suggest that this way of thinking is actually correct IF you believe that prayer works like a vending machine, where all you need to do is put in the right coins, press the right buttons and then you get what you want.

That’s the sort of way that the Gentiles thought about prayer...

vv. 7-8—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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

What does Jesus mean when when He says, “do not heap up empty phrases”

“Empty phrases” is one word in the original language and it’s used only here in the entire Bible. No other use of the word is known beyond quotations of this verse.

Because of its obscurity, the word has been translated differently in many English Bibles...

CEV—“when you pray, don’t talk on and on”

Suggests that Jesus is against long prayers.

If Jesus doesn’t like long prayers, our elders are in trouble.

We know that’s not true because in places like Luke 6:12 we learn that Jesus pulled an all-nighter praying

KJV— “when you pray, do not use vain repetitions”

Suggests Jesus is against repetitive or persistent prayers.

In Luke 18:1-7 presents the persistent widow as a model for prayer

Matthew 26:44 says in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed the same thing three times

I think William Tyndale, who first translated the Bible into English, had it right when he translated it “babble”

Stammer, prattle, babble, mutter mindlessly

Dan Doriani—“Their problem was their mindless repetition—a tongue that wagged while the mind slept.” [4]

The heart of the problem is seen in v. 7—“for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

God is not a pinata, prayer isn’t a stick

God is not a vending machine, prayer is not a coin or a credit card

When we say things like “prayer works” we don’t mean that it’s a magic formula to get what we want

How about you? Have you been tempted to view prayer as a magic formula to get what you want?

Have you thought, “as long as I pray long enough,” or “as long as I pray sincerely enough,” or “as long as I get enough people to pray with me” then I’ll get what I want?

Have you been disappointed when prayer didn’t work in that way? Have you become disillusioned with prayer altogether?

The problem isn’t prayer. It’s the abuse of prayer.

How then should we pray?

We need engage our minds in prayer.

If prayer isn’t a magic formula that you just do and get guaranteed results, then mindless muttering is pointless.

In Pastoral Residency last week we talked about how often our minds wander during public prayer

What steps can you take to better engage your mind as you pray?

Posture? Pray out loud? Remove distractions? Pray about prayer?

How should we pray?

We need to engage our minds in prayer. But I believe the best way to do that is by answering our final question...

IV. TO WHOM Do We Pray?

I don’t know about you, but occasionally I find myself in a conversation with people and my mind gets disengaged. Maybe my eyes glaze over, maybe I nod and smile but I’m not really paying attention to you, etc. For years and years this was just the normal way I interacted with people… until, I think, I met my wife Holly. She will call me out on it. If you know Holly, you know I’m not lying. There was more than one time when we were dating when I would disengage from the conversation and then she would just be done. I missed my one opportunity to hear whatever it was she was saying and then it was gone forever!

Thankfully she’s a bit more gracious with me now, but her insistence that I respected her by paying attention when I talked with her was greatly used by the Lord in my life. God used her to teach me that one of the best ways to engage your mind in a conversation is by truly valuing the person you’re talking with.

The same thing is true with prayer. If you want to truly engage your mind in prayer, you need to remember who you’re talking to!

In these four verses, Jesus teaches us Four Truths About God that (if we remember them) can transform our prayer lives...

God is omnipresent

v. 6—“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.”

There is no place where you can go where God is not present

He sees your heart!

You can take all your emotions, all your sin, all your anxieties to God

God is omniscient

v. 8—for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Then whey pray at all?!?

Sam Storms—“We must not presume that God will provide for us apart from our prayers what He has ordained to provide for us only through our prayers.” [5]

These two truths about God are about His power, His greatness. But it’s not very comforting if God isn’t also good...

God Rewards

An omnipresent God who sees everything you do isn’t very comforting unless He is also good

v. 6—“your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

We’ve already said, the reward isn’t always a “yes” to whatever it is we asked for.

One of the rewards of prayer is how God uses it to change us.

Martin Luther— “By our prayer we are instructing ourselves more than we are Him.” [6]

Augustine — “God does not ask us to tell him our needs that he may learn about them, but in order that we may be capable of receiving what he is preparing to give.” [7]

God Provides (vv. 6, 8)

An omnipresent God who knows everything you need isn’t very comforting unless He is also provides what you need

v. 8—for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Later in the chapter Jesus reminds us that the Father knows our needs and will meet our needs.

We may disagree about what our needs are, but we’re told to seek His kingdom first and He’ll meet our needs

To whom do we pray?

We pray to the holy creator of the universe, the God who knows all things and is present in all places. The God who rewards those who trust Him. The God who provides for our needs. The God who through the death of Jesus has adopted us into His family, allowing us to call Him Father.

We began this morning thinking about how prone we are to miss the point when we think about prayer. Whether you’re young or old, all of us need to be reminded of these answers to some basic questions about prayer.

But there’s another way we’re tempted to miss the point...

Martin Lloyd-Jones—“This portion of Scripture, I sometimes think, is one of the most searching and humbling in the entire realm of Scripture. But we can read these verses in such a way as really to miss their entire point and teaching, and certainly without coming under condemnation.” [8]

He goes on to explain that we miss the point when we don’t recognize what this shows us about our own sinfulness

When you think of sin, what do you think of? A drunk? An adulterer? An abortionist? A racist? A murderer? A warmonger?

Jesus invites us to understand that sin is not only present in those obvious places, it’s also present in a man’s prayers.

In other words, our sin is so subtle, so seductive that it creeps in, even into our prayer lives

We need a Savior!

Not a Christian: Jesus’ teaching on prayer should crush you.

You can’t do this! Repent and believe!

You must be born again!

Celebrating that through baptism in just a few moments

Christian: Jesus’ teaching on prayer should humble you.

It should strengthen your dependence on God (which will help you pray!)

It should fan into flame the fires of your love for God (that He would save you!!!)

The Lord Is My Salvation

Celebration of Baptism

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