North Anderson Baptist
PRAY LIKE THIS: A SERIES ON THE LORDS PRAYER
Sunday, April 16th 2023
Locations & Times
North Anderson Baptist Church
2308 N Main St, Anderson, SC 29621, USA
Sunday 9:45 AM
THE LORDS (MODEL) PRAYER:
“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
Our primary text today is taken from what Jesus said just before He gives His disciples the model for prayer that we just read. Before explaining to them how they SHOULD pray, He tells them how they shouldn't.
In Matthew 6:5-8, the Lord Jesus tells them three things they should be cautious of when it comes to prayer.
First, He tells them to check their motive
Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward”
Pointedly, He describes those who pray with the wrong motive as hypocrites. He is saying that they are merely actors performing for the applause and adulation of an audience.
Specifically, He points to those who LOVE to be seen and heard praying in the Synagogue as well as those who timed out their day so that at the appointed time of prayer (for practicing Jews...9:00am, 12:00pm and 3:00pm), they'd be at a busy intersection with a great crowd.
He says that those who pray with this motive will indeed have their reward (the applause of man) but that's about it.
Secondly, He tells them to check their method.
Verse 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”
Is Jesus condemning public prayer here? Of course not!
Jesus Himself prayed publicly from the cross, the Holy Spirit was sent during a corporate prayer meeting at Pentecost and the Lords Prayer, which He teaches right after this text, is in the plural, “OUR Father, OUR trespasses, OUR daily bread, deliver US from evil”
In fact, the Bible states in Matthew 18:19-20 that there’s POWER in praying with others, “If any two of you on earth agree about whatever your ask, my Father in Heaven will do it for you”
He's not prohibiting public/corporate prayer. He's simply saying that included in our prayer lives must also be times of intentionality (GO into your prayer closet) and intimacy (shut the door)
Third, Jesus tells them to check their manner of prayer
Look at verses 7-8 “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”
“Vain repetitions” // ESV “empty phrases”
IS Jesus prohibiting repetition? Again, of course not.
In the garden of Gethsemane, three times He prayed, “Father, if possible let this cup pass from me. Yet, not my will but Thy will be done”
The Apostle Paul prayed three times for a thorn to be removed from His flesh.
Jesus encouraged His disciples to persevere in prayer by telling them the parable of the persistent widow who kept going to the judge and asking for justice until he finally responded!
Look again at our text: " For they think that they will be heard for their many words."
IS Jesus prohibiting long prayers?
If so, He’d be contradicting Himself and His teaching
Before He chose His 12 disciples, Luke 6 tells us that He spent a night in prayer. In Matthew 26, Before He went to the cross, He told His disciples to pray for an hour and that if they didn’t, they’d give into temptation because their flesh was weak!
WHEN JESUS tells us to avoid vain repetition and needlessly lengthy prayer – He’s talking about heartless petition. Meaningless prayer.
He's saying: It's better to let your heart be without words than your words to be without heart.
“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
Our primary text today is taken from what Jesus said just before He gives His disciples the model for prayer that we just read. Before explaining to them how they SHOULD pray, He tells them how they shouldn't.
In Matthew 6:5-8, the Lord Jesus tells them three things they should be cautious of when it comes to prayer.
First, He tells them to check their motive
Matthew 6:5 “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward”
Pointedly, He describes those who pray with the wrong motive as hypocrites. He is saying that they are merely actors performing for the applause and adulation of an audience.
Specifically, He points to those who LOVE to be seen and heard praying in the Synagogue as well as those who timed out their day so that at the appointed time of prayer (for practicing Jews...9:00am, 12:00pm and 3:00pm), they'd be at a busy intersection with a great crowd.
He says that those who pray with this motive will indeed have their reward (the applause of man) but that's about it.
Secondly, He tells them to check their method.
Verse 6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”
Is Jesus condemning public prayer here? Of course not!
Jesus Himself prayed publicly from the cross, the Holy Spirit was sent during a corporate prayer meeting at Pentecost and the Lords Prayer, which He teaches right after this text, is in the plural, “OUR Father, OUR trespasses, OUR daily bread, deliver US from evil”
In fact, the Bible states in Matthew 18:19-20 that there’s POWER in praying with others, “If any two of you on earth agree about whatever your ask, my Father in Heaven will do it for you”
He's not prohibiting public/corporate prayer. He's simply saying that included in our prayer lives must also be times of intentionality (GO into your prayer closet) and intimacy (shut the door)
Third, Jesus tells them to check their manner of prayer
Look at verses 7-8 “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”
“Vain repetitions” // ESV “empty phrases”
IS Jesus prohibiting repetition? Again, of course not.
In the garden of Gethsemane, three times He prayed, “Father, if possible let this cup pass from me. Yet, not my will but Thy will be done”
The Apostle Paul prayed three times for a thorn to be removed from His flesh.
Jesus encouraged His disciples to persevere in prayer by telling them the parable of the persistent widow who kept going to the judge and asking for justice until he finally responded!
Look again at our text: " For they think that they will be heard for their many words."
IS Jesus prohibiting long prayers?
If so, He’d be contradicting Himself and His teaching
Before He chose His 12 disciples, Luke 6 tells us that He spent a night in prayer. In Matthew 26, Before He went to the cross, He told His disciples to pray for an hour and that if they didn’t, they’d give into temptation because their flesh was weak!
WHEN JESUS tells us to avoid vain repetition and needlessly lengthy prayer – He’s talking about heartless petition. Meaningless prayer.
He's saying: It's better to let your heart be without words than your words to be without heart.