First Wesleyan Church
Public Prayer - Matthew 6:7-8
Locations & Times
First Wesleyan Church
3040 Marlin Dr, Rapid City, SD 57703, USA
Sunday 7:50 AM
Sunday 9:50 AM
How NOT to Pray
1. Stand in the synagogues.
2. Stand on the street corners.
3. Don't heap up empty phrases.
Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
4. Don't share many words.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”
1. Stand in the synagogues.
2. Stand on the street corners.
3. Don't heap up empty phrases.
Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
4. Don't share many words.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.”
How TO Pray
I Corinthians 14:16 “Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say Amen to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying.”
1. Be humble.
“Therefore, we should be extremely careful, in all our prayers, to mean what we say, and to desire what we ask, from the very bottom of our hearts. The vain and heathenish repetitions which we are here warned against, are very common, and a principal cause why so many who profess religion are a disgrace to it.”
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/6-7.htm
2. Pray to God and not to others.
3. Have places to pray that are given to you.
“Do I pray more frequently and more fervently when alone with God than I do in public?...Is my public praying simply the overflow of my private prayer?... Am I thinking of the worshipers more than of God? Am I a spectator of my own performance? (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 154
4. Use words that actually mean something.
Benson describes it this way…”a multiplicity of words without meaning, or uttered without seriousness”…it is derived from stutterer or foolish talker…there was one described like this…”a babbling foolish poet, who frequently repeated the same things, and whose rhapsodies were full of tautologies.” https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/6-7.htm
I Corinthians 14:16 “Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say Amen to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying.”
1. Be humble.
“Therefore, we should be extremely careful, in all our prayers, to mean what we say, and to desire what we ask, from the very bottom of our hearts. The vain and heathenish repetitions which we are here warned against, are very common, and a principal cause why so many who profess religion are a disgrace to it.”
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/6-7.htm
2. Pray to God and not to others.
3. Have places to pray that are given to you.
“Do I pray more frequently and more fervently when alone with God than I do in public?...Is my public praying simply the overflow of my private prayer?... Am I thinking of the worshipers more than of God? Am I a spectator of my own performance? (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 154
4. Use words that actually mean something.
Benson describes it this way…”a multiplicity of words without meaning, or uttered without seriousness”…it is derived from stutterer or foolish talker…there was one described like this…”a babbling foolish poet, who frequently repeated the same things, and whose rhapsodies were full of tautologies.” https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/6-7.htm
5. Remember, God knows.
Sermon Questions
1. When was a time that you were asked to pray publicly? How did you go about preparing and praying in that place?
2. Describe your feelings of a small group prayer time. Do we achieve Godliness or should we be improving our groups and how can we lead in this?
3. What is a way that we can pray publicly with the right intent and fight focus?
4. If we pray in public, how should we respond when someone praises us? What should we do if something chastises or disagrees with our prayer?
5. How can we keep God at the focus of prayer when the world talks of "prayer" but we are unsure who they are praying to and for?
6. What are two thoughts about prayer that the last two Sundays have sparked in and for your prayer life?
1. When was a time that you were asked to pray publicly? How did you go about preparing and praying in that place?
2. Describe your feelings of a small group prayer time. Do we achieve Godliness or should we be improving our groups and how can we lead in this?
3. What is a way that we can pray publicly with the right intent and fight focus?
4. If we pray in public, how should we respond when someone praises us? What should we do if something chastises or disagrees with our prayer?
5. How can we keep God at the focus of prayer when the world talks of "prayer" but we are unsure who they are praying to and for?
6. What are two thoughts about prayer that the last two Sundays have sparked in and for your prayer life?