December 18, 2011 - Pastor Doug Caister
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Matthew 6:5-13
How's your prayer life these days? We are in a new series entitled, "Ready, Willing & Able." Last week we were reminded of who we pray to: the God who does immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine! (Ephesians 3:20) Today we are going to look to Jesus' teaching on how and what to pray. There's been some confusion with the younger generation over what's been called the "Lord's Prayer.". Specifically with 4-year olds. One child was praying and said, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from email." While another said, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets." :-)
What Jesus has to say about prayer may surprise you and change the way you approach prayer. What we are going to do is go through it together and then ask some questions to make sure we are approaching our prayer life correctly. So let's get started.
5 "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (v.5-6)
Jesus did not say "if you pray" but "when you pray." To Him prayer was expected and regular part of a person's schedule. Jesus prayed early in the morning, and late at night, so early risers or night owls can find inspiration to build prayer into their schedule. Your prayer life must be treated like a standing appointment that is non-negotiable when you are at your best.
Jesus also said, to pray privately. If you study Jesus' prayer life, you will soon notice that in public Jesus' prayers were short, but in private they were long.. sometimes all night! God's not impressed by public displays of piety. Finding a quiet, familiar place to pray like Jesus had the Garden of Gethsemane. I call it a "holy place." Place where you meet with God and it becomes sacred. Its a place where you could one day return and say, that is the spot where God spoke to me in unspeakable ways. Over my life, I can take you to holy places where God met with me over and over and where major life decisions were born in that time.
7 "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (v.7-8)
If God knows what your going to ask, then why bother with prayer? God is not interested in formulas, He wants to hear what's on our hearts. He cares about what you have to say, but He cares about us and enjoys being with us. That is a profound mystery and is just another amazing thing about God our Father!
I was also blessed by a Scottish preacher from the 1800's named William Clow in why we should pray: prayer makes us more conscious of God, especially He gets crowded out with the high speed of life. God is a gentleman and will not continually force Himself on us. When we take the time to meet with Him, He enjoys us but we become more conscious of Him. Prayer also makes us aware of what God cares about and it helps us sympathize with His heart. Prayer also surrenders us to "the energy of God." And Prayer allows us to influence His will! The bible has examples of God allowing His mind to be changed. Somehow in God's sovereignty, He has allowed us to influence His will. Why pray if we could not influence Him? He may say "no" for higher reasons, but He may say "yes."
9 Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don't let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
14 "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly
Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others,
your Father will not forgive your sins. (v. 9-15)
This is a model or a template prayer. Jesus was laying down how to approach God and how to pray a balanced prayer. Do you know what I mean by balanced? I knew a guy who was a really good bowler, but if you looked at his arms, you would notice one was significantly bigger than the other. Jesus has given us a pattern in order to stay balanced. Sometimes we can get caught in the "please God" trap: Please God give me. Please God help me. Please God cover me. Please God take care of me. (Hybles, B. Too Busy Not to Pray! p.65)
Jesus laid it out for us. Begin by giving honor to God. (Remind yourself who you are praying.) Then submit yourself to His will. (friendships, marriage, family, finances, your body, your ministry, your church). Now you can ask for your needs or necessities ("daily bread"). It can be such a relief just to voice them all! Finally seek His grace for the battle; specifically forgiving those who have caused hurt and grace in the fight with temptation. Balance: Honor God, Submit to His will, Ask for need, Grace for battle.
Ok, in our remaining time, I would like to ask you some questions to see if you are approaching your prayer life correctly. If you would close your eyes, and quietly pray for God's Spirit to prepare you for this time, I want it to be God speaking to you and not the evil one's accusations.
- Do you have a private place to pray?
- Is your place to pray private and free from distraction?
- When do you pray? How long? Is it sufficient?
- Are your prayers balanced with honoring God, submitting to His will, asking for all your needs and seeking grace in battle?
Finally, this is a challenge I want to leave you. One of the Old saintly preachers I have read recently had a sermon title that grabbed my attention. It was called, "One word that slays God." My reaction was, "What?! Nothing can slay God!" But do you want to know what that word was? Prayer. He showed from the scriptures, that God has given us by grace a word that can change not only the course of events on earth right now, but for eternity. There is great energy to be found in prayer that demons are set to flight and God's will is done.
So here is my challenge to you. Pray! Is someone sick? Pray! Is someone in the valley of the shadow? Pray! Do you want backsliden or lost people found? Pray! Are your in worried over something and making yourself sick? Pray! Do what Jesus says and watch what will happen. May the LORD bless you as you respond to His Word.
Further Reading:
- Psalm 62:8
- Philippians 4:6-7