Jesus Teaches on Prayer
Pastor Bill Nichols - March 14, 2010Introduction
In 1978 I was elected to serve as a deacon in our church in Commerce City Colorado. One of the expectations of our pastor was that elders and deacons would come to Wednesday night services. So, after being made a deacon, myself and another of the new deacons named Gene headed to our first Wednesday night service. After singing a few songs, all the men got up and went into the pastor's study. The women stayed in the sanctuary. The men formed a circle and held hands and Charlie, one of the elders began to pray. When Charlie finished, the man next to him began to pray, and then the next, and suddenly it dawned on me that my turn was coming. Never before as an adult had I publicly prayed, and I was terrified. When my turn came, I mumbled out a few words as best as I could and said Amen.
On our way home that night, Gene and I discussed how uncomfortable we were with that experience. The next week, we were late getting to Wednesday night services, hoping to have missed the prayer time. But, they were just dividing up to pray when we walked in.
Then next week, Gene did not go. But I continued to go, and I continued to meet with the men in the pastor's office to pray, and I will tell you that I learned more about prayer in that room praying than I have ever learned from reading a book or taking a class on prayer.
Have you ever wished that you knew how to pray better? Jesus disciples did. In Luke 11:1 (NIV) it says;
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
What follows is a simpler form of the Lord's Prayer which is also found in Matthew 6. That is where we are in our series of lessons from Jesus.
In this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the topic of prayer in the context of being a kingdom person. Once again he wants His listeners to recognize that the example they were seeing in the religious leaders was one of hypocrisy, and that He expected more from His followers.
Please read this passage: Matthew 6:5-15
I. How Not to Pray!
Jesus begins by telling His listeners how not to pray. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. Last week we saw that Jesus makes the assumption that His followers will give to the needy. Similarly, here Jesus makes the assumption that His followers will pray to God. He states: When you pray!
What is prayer? The Greek word means to supplicate to God. (Vines) In lay terms, it means to ask earnestly and humbly. (Webster's New American Dictionary) God wants you to pray to Him. He wants you to ask Him for your needs. He wants to meet your needs.
But Jesus here warns us not to pray like the hypocrites do. Jesus is again speaking of the Pharisees and religious leaders. As the religious leaders of Israel, they should have been the ones the people could emulate in prayer. Instead, Jesus said, don't pray like them. Why not? Because when they prayed, they did it for show, just like they did when they gave alms to the poor. They would go out and stand on the street corners and in the synagogues and pray in order to be seen and praised by men for their prayers.
I don't know about you, but I want God to hear my prayers. I don't find it necessary to receive the praise of men for what I say. But I will be honest, I struggle when I pray to God. What I mean by that is that my prayers are not polished and perfect. When I am alone and praying to God, it's often an intermittent, rambling conversation. Sometimes my thoughts stray, and I have to pull them back in again to get back on track. When I pray in public, it 's difficult because I'm not generally praying for my wants, needs and desires, but for those of the church or the congregation, the community, and so forth. And frankly, it 's hard to pray to God and not be cognizant of those who are present at church. In other words, it's hard not to pray to your audience, or at least with your audience in mind.
What I believe Jesus has in mind here is the more personal, the more intimate, the more individual rather prayer rather than the corporate type of prayer we pray in church. So Jesus is saying, when you pray to God, when you make supplication to Him because of your needs, don't pray like the hypocrites, making a show of your prayers. If you do, you will not receive a reward from God.
II. How You Should Pray
How then should you pray? Jesus says, Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Now I don't know how literally you have to take apply verse. I think your prayer closet can be anywhere. It can be in your car while you are driving. It can be while you are sitting at your desk at work. It can be in the middle of a baseball stadium full of fans. The point I believe Jesus is making is that when you pray, it is to be a time of personal communication between you and God.
The Pharisees stood on the corner, shouting so everyone could hear them. Jesus says, pray in secret, and your Father who is unseen, will see you and will reward you. That may just mean that He will answer your prayers, or it might mean something else. Either way, God hears your secret prayer.
And I believe that this secret prayer, can be prayed with others present, as long as it isn't done for show or personal recognition from those who are with you. Elsewhere Jesus teaches that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:19-20
So do not make a show of your prayers to God. Pray in secret.
III. Be Specific and be Brief
A couple of the things that I really appreciate about Jesus teaching here on prayer are found in verses 7 and 8. In essence Jesus says, be specific and keep your prayer short. The text says do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
This reminds me of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal found in 1 Kings 18:21-39. Please read this passage.
Verse 8 tells us why we don't need to babble on and on and on in order to get God to hear us and answer us. He says; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. If this is true, then why do we even need to ask? Asking is not for God's benefit, it's for ours. Prayer, asking helps us to recognize that it is God who provides for our needs, and not ourselves. If we never asked, we would become like spoiled kids and not appreciate all that God does for us.
So, the next time you have a need, pray about it. Pray in secret. Tell God what it is that you need, and wait on Him to answer. Should you never pray about it again? I do not think that was what Jesus was implying. The Bible definitely teaches persistence in prayer. But I think what He means is that you do not have to go on and on and on for an hour, begging and pleading with God. Pray about it today. Pray about it tomorrow. Pray about it as often as you feel the need, but do not babble on and on. God will answer in His time and according to His will. If you believe that, it will make your prayer life a lot easier.
IV. The Lord's Prayer
Finally we come to a passage of Scripture that is known as The Lord's Prayer. It is not actually a prayer that Jesus would have prayed for Himself, for in it He states forgive us of our sins. Jesus was sinless. It might more appropriately be called The Disciples Prayer for it is a model prayer that He gave to them in response to their request, Lord, teach us to pray.
Regardless. If you examine this prayer, there are basically five elements to it that you can use as a springboard to help you pray. Many believe that Jesus never intended it to become a rote prayer to be cited daily, but rather a model to help you know what to pray. What are the five elements:
- Adoration (Praise) for God -
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."
This shows an intimate relation between us and a holy reverence for the name and person of God. - Submission to God's will -
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
God's will is done perfectly in heaven, someday it will be so on earth. Until that time, we must accept His will as we understand it in our lifetime. - Supplication -
"Give us this day our daily bread."
This is the secret prayer Jesus was talking about, asking God to meet our daily needs in life. - Confession -
"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."
1 John 1:9 tells us if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins Not only are we to confess our sins, but we are to forgive those who sin against us. How? In the same manner that we want God to forgive us. (see verses 14-15) - Guidance (Divine Protection) -
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
James 1:14 states that; God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; so what does Jesus mean here? I suspect that it is a plea to God to help us keep on the straight and narrow path, rather than a request to not lead us astray. It is combined with a request to deliver us from the one who would lead us astray, the evil one. It is kind of like a prayer for protection.
Although we at Gateway repeat The Lord's Prayer on most Sunday's during our service, we should not simply pray this prayer without any thought to the design behind it, and the meaning of the things that Jesus thought were important for us to pray about.
Conclusion
As we conclude this morning, please keep in mind that this is only one passage in the Bible that deals with how you should pray. The Bible has a lot more to say about prayer, including answers to why God sometimes does not answer our prayers. The main thing that Jesus wants us to take from this lesson is that kingdom people pray, and they do not do it for show. Kingdom people pray in secret with the expectation that God will meet their needs. He already knows what they are, He just wants you to ask. And beyond asking Him to supply your needs, He gives us a model prayer to remind us to worship God with praise, to submit to His will in our lives, to ask for our daily needs, to confess to Him our sins, and to seek His divine protection in our lives.