Intro / Review:
When You Pray… (Matthew 6:5-15)
Four Marks of Real Prayer.
PRIVATE (Mat 6:5-6)
PERSONAL (Mat 6:7-8)
PROPORTIONED (Mat 6:9-13)
PRACTICAL (Mat 6:14-15)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
01:04-01:08
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to Matthew chapter 6.
01:08-01:12
Matthew chapter 6. We are taking a little break from our series in Revelation.
01:13-01:20
With part 2 of our three-part series on Matthew 6, we're going to be talking about giving and praying and fasting.
01:21-01:32
If you think about it, just think about those three things. Giving and praying and fasting to the world. To the world, those three things look absolutely insane.
01:32-01:52
Right? I mean think about it. How does that sound to the world? I believe that when I give money to God, he's going to give money to me. Or I believe that I can anytime I want, I can just talk to the one who created all of this.
01:52-01:58
I can talk to him anytime I want. That sounds insane. We're gonna talk about fasting down the road shortly.
01:58-02:02
I imagine in the American culture that that might sound the most insane.
02:02-02:06
For spiritual reasons, I'm going to stop eating for a while.
02:07-02:10
Stop eating? That doesn't sound American at all!
02:10-02:11
Especially in the church.
02:12-02:21
So those three things, giving and praying and fasting, I thought, you know, to the world, that sounds insane, but in the church, in the community of faith, it's different, isn't it?
02:21-02:31
Instead of it looking insane, inside the walls of the church, These things are revered. These things are looked at as great things.
02:31-02:36
So in the church, we want to look in doing these things.
02:36-02:39
We want to look pious. We want to look faithful.
02:39-02:50
We want to show people that, "Yeah, I'm all about these things. I'm a person of faith." We want to look faithful. And that's the problem, is thinking about how we look to others.
02:50-02:54
And that's exactly what Jesus is addressing in Matthew chapter 6.
02:54-03:03
You see, we saw in verse one last time, Jesus used the word "seen" and that word is used in verse five, again, in order to be seen by others.
03:04-03:26
That word for "seen" is "theotomi" which is where we get the English word "theater." And Jesus is pointing out to his listeners then and to us today, he says, "You're just performing your religious acts for people, for applause, for pats on the back, for attention." And all three of these messages from Matthew chapter six have us ask the same question.
03:26-03:29
Do we do this for God or do we do this for people?
03:30-03:33
Are we doing this for God or are we doing this for attention?
03:34-03:36
So today we're gonna talk about prayer.
03:36-03:37
Today we're gonna talk about prayer.
03:37-03:41
How many sermons have we had about prayer in this church?
03:41-03:43
Dan and Alicia, how many would you say?
03:44-03:47
More than two, right?
03:48-03:48
A lot more.
03:49-03:59
We have preached about prayer a lot in this church, but today we're not going to be talking about who, whether it's who do we pray to, we pray to God the Father, the Bible's clear about that.
04:00-04:00
Who do we pray for?
04:01-04:02
I don't think we need to talk about that today.
04:03-04:05
We're not gonna talk today about when to pray.
04:06-04:08
According to the New Testament, when do you pray?
04:08-04:11
Well, actually you pray once a day for 24 hours.
04:11-04:13
According to 1 Thessalonians 5.17, right?
04:13-04:14
You pray without ceasing.
04:14-04:17
Prayer should just constantly be happening.
04:17-04:22
But today we're going to focus specifically on the how, and we're gonna touch on why, all right?
04:22-04:27
This is real simple to understand, extremely difficult to apply.
04:28-04:29
Here we go, four marks of real prayer, you ready?
04:30-04:31
Four marks of real prayer.
04:31-04:40
And even alliterated this for us all, for those of you that are like, you know what, I love this church, but Pastor Jeff just doesn't alliterate enough for me.
04:41-04:43
We are going to alliterate the heck out of this sermon.
04:43-04:43
You ready?
04:44-04:45
Number one, let's talk about private.
04:46-04:47
Let's talk about private.
04:47-04:49
Look at Matthew 6, verse 5.
04:50-04:54
Jesus said, "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites." Look at this next statement.
04:55-04:57
Jesus said, "For they love to stand and pray." Stop.
04:57-05:02
"For they love to stand and pray." That sounds great if you stop there.
05:02-05:04
But look at the rest of the verse.
05:04-05:10
"For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others.
05:10-05:14
Truly I say to you, they have received their reward." So there's the problem.
05:14-05:20
The reason they pray is in order, according to Jesus, in order to be seen by others.
05:20-05:24
What looks like prayer often is not prayer.
05:25-05:27
This is going to be a tough pill for all of us to swallow.
05:28-05:30
Oftentimes, prayer is not actually prayer.
05:30-05:32
Prayer is often performance.
05:32-05:34
You're like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, come on.
05:34-05:36
I would never do that.
05:37-05:40
I would never pray for the benefit of others, Pastor Jeff.
05:40-05:44
You're speaking to somebody else here, but I'm going to tune out right now.
05:44-05:51
Well, hang on a second. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been praying in a small group setting or in a Bible study setting?
05:51-05:54
Ladies Bible study, men's group, whatever.
05:55-05:59
In your prayer with other people you think, "Well, you know what?
05:59-06:56
I have a good phrase right here that I'm going to use and I bet you I'm gonna hear some amens when I say this." Have you ever done that? You'd be praying, you'd be like, "God we worship you for your transcendent people in the group like, "Oh, amen." And you're just like, "Yes." Like, "I'm gonna say another sentence. I'm gonna circle back to that." I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but if I said, "Raise your hand if you've ever done that," we've all done it. Have we not? Or, have you ever done this in a prayer? Have you ever complimented somebody in a prayer? You know what I'm talking about. You're praying in a group and that person's there. You say, "Father, I'd like to thank you for my brother Peter." That's one of the problems sitting in the front row. "I'd like to thank you If my brother Peter, his example of piety is such an inspiration to me, his rugged good looks, the right amount of cologne that he wears, his shirts always look ironed, great singing voice.
06:57-06:59
I'm like, wait a minute, am I talking to God?
07:00-07:03
Or am I flattering him in the prayer?
07:03-07:04
Have you ever done something like that?
07:04-07:05
Yes you have.
07:05-07:07
Yes you have.
07:07-07:11
That you're saying things about a person in a prayer for the benefit of the person listening.
07:11-07:23
Hey, your intentions, in a sense, in a sense, your intentions might be good to think, "I want this person to know how I really feel about them." And you know what? If that's you, that's great. Send him a card or tell him.
07:24-07:38
Let's not try to like go around a direct compliment by mentioning it in a prayer as if we're saying it to God. So church, if you've ever said something in a prayer for the benefit of the other people listening, then you are not praying, you are performing.
07:38-07:39
Look at verse 6.
07:40-07:53
"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." Interestingly, Jesus says to go into your room or to go into your closet.
07:53-07:57
The interesting thing is that Greek word was used of a place where you stored your treasures.
07:58-08:03
It was like a private room that you kept isolated, shut away.
08:03-08:06
You didn't just let people walk through this room, right?
08:06-08:08
Because you kept all your important stuff there.
08:08-10:26
So that place was very private to you. I don't want people walking through there because all of my valuables are in there Very very very private and Jesus said that's the kind of place you need to go and talk to God now, please hear me Yes, there is power in praying with other believers. There is the Bible is clear about that There is there is a power in Congregational prayer there is a power and small group prayer There is a power in the elders praying together before an elders meeting There is power in the ladies praying and ladies Bible study. There is power in that there is Absolutely power in praying with other believers. Okay, making that clear but Jesus in this passage is clearly addressing private prayer because your Secret prayer life is your real prayer life. I want you to write that down make it personal My secret prayer life is my real prayer life. My secret prayer life is my real prayer life You know, you can say whatever you want about prayer. You can tweet cute little sayings about prayer on Twitter You can get on Facebook and post pretty sunsets With a verse about prayer over it or maybe a picture of a kitten hanging from a clothesline Hang in there keep praying and you can have everybody that follows you or friends with you or whatever think wow She is all about prayer. Wow. He is he is a prayer warrior But here's the reality what you really believe about prayer is proven when you pray Privately because your secret prayer life is your real prayer life proven when it's private because private that's when prayer is real business Listen to me church That's when prayer is real business because it's just you and God and no one knows what you're saying to God Except God and there's nobody there to be impressed by what you're saying. There's nobody there to applaud what you're saying It's just you and it's God and that's when it's pure. That's when it is I actually believe that I'm talking to God your secret prayer life is your real prayer life That's why he says the end of verse 6 and your father who sees in secret will reward you and it's just like giving It's like the same sermon you have a choice Do you want to be rewarded by man or do you want to be rewarded by God?
10:26-10:42
I have to say prayer when you when you hear rewarded by God prayer isn't merely God give me stuff and if you look at prayer as simply asking for stuff from God That is a really immature view about prayer. We're gonna talk about that in a second you'll see it very clearly in the text.
10:42-10:51
But we do have to say this, for some people, the reason that you haven't seen answered prayer in your life is you haven't really been praying.
10:51-10:52
You haven't prayed in secret.
10:53-10:55
So your father hasn't seen in secret.
10:55-10:57
So he hasn't rewarded you.
10:57-11:09
It is the prayer who is rewarded, who has that faith-fueled private conversation with God, who sees the prayer in the prayer closet answered outside of the prayer closet.
11:09-12:12
You see it answer you're like God we were just talking about that. That is awesome I see what you're doing how many people would want to see God move in your life like that It's available for all of us You just have to get with God privately and see how he rewards And I would like to remind you here as I have so many times through the years when we talk about prayer People like oh, I just wish I had time to pray. I just I hear what you're saying pastor Jeff I just wish I had time I have to remind you that the most important things in life have to be done intentionally Everything right everything in life has to be done Intentionally, you can't wake up in the morning and say gosh I sure hope I stick to my diet today if you're not intentional about doing it It's not going to happen if you wake up and say I I hope that somehow I exercise today Well, if you don't get to the gym or the place where you work out or whatever if you don't do Intentional activity to get there. It's not going to happen. I sure hope I get my finances straightened out. What's your plan?
12:12-12:17
I'll go to bed and the finance fairy will show up and put money in my checking account. No, how does it happen?
12:17-12:23
You have to be intentional. I sure hope I spend time with my kids today. If you're not intentional, it's not going to happen.
12:24-12:26
Now, do you see where I'm going with this? It's the same thing with prayer.
12:27-12:33
If you don't intentionally carve out a time to get alone with God, it's not going to happen.
12:33-12:36
It has to be a priority and it has to be intentional.
12:36-12:41
Carve out the time, get alone with God, turn off the electric distractions, and pray privately.
12:42-12:43
Fundamentally, prayer is very easy.
12:44-12:46
But somehow for the Christian it becomes the hardest thing to do.
12:47-12:48
First thing Jesus says, you've got to make it private.
12:49-12:50
Secondly, it has to be personal.
12:51-12:52
Prayer has to be personal.
12:52-12:54
Look at verses 7 and 8.
12:54-12:55
We'll start in verse 7 here.
12:55-13:03
Jesus said, "When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they They think that they will be heard for their many words.
13:04-13:11
Now Jesus is not talking about passionately repeating a prayer, passionately crying out in a repeated way.
13:11-13:15
What Jesus is talking about very clearly here is mindless repetition.
13:16-13:18
It's mindless repetition.
13:18-13:23
Interestingly, the Greek word here is tied into the word barbarian.
13:23-13:37
In those days, the Greeks would look at these uneducated foreigners, And to the Greek, it sounded like all they said was "Bor, Bor, Bor, Bor, Bor, Bor, Bor." And that's where that name came from. They are "Barbarians." It was actually kind of making fun of them.
13:38-13:42
But that's, this word here is connected to that. It's mindless repetition.
13:43-13:47
Jesus said, verse 8, "Do not be like them." Do not be like them.
13:47-13:55
Like, okay, Pastor Jeff, you might have got me on the complimenting people in my prayer in the previous point, but I certainly don't do the mindless repetition prayer.
13:55-13:58
For some churches, the mindless repetition prayer is the thing.
13:59-14:10
Some churches... "Oh, did you sin?" Well, in order to get right with God and be forgiven, what you need to do is go recite this prayer ten times.
14:11-14:15
And then we go and we recite the prayer ten times, and that's what makes God happy.
14:16-14:19
And here's some beads to help you count how many times you repeat.
14:20-14:25
You're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not just picking on that church." Because this principle is much broader than that.
14:25-14:28
I see it happen across the board.
14:28-14:29
Maybe some people in here have done it.
14:29-14:33
We teach our kids to pray one of the most morbid things I've ever heard.
14:33-14:36
"Now I lay me down to sleep." Again, don't raise your hands.
14:36-14:37
Have you ever taught your kids that?
14:37-14:40
I grew up learning that when I had to pray that every night.
14:40-14:43
Have you ever thought about that prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep"?
14:43-14:52
I remember as a kid, absolutely true story as a kid, I remember praying that prayer and then just one day it hit me like, "What the heck am I praying?" Now I lay me down to sleep.
14:52-14:55
You know, the next line, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
14:55-14:56
OK, we're good there.
14:56-15:01
If I should die before I wake, I'm like, Mom, are you trying to tell me something like through the prayer?
15:02-15:03
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
15:03-15:07
I was like, I was like scared to go to sleep because God might take me.
15:08-15:11
But we learn to repeat the prayer, repeat the prayer.
15:12-15:17
And it's interesting that I'm repeating this prayer for a long time before I even stop to think about what the words even meant. Right.
15:18-15:19
Here's another one.
15:19-15:20
Stay with me if you know it.
15:20-15:21
God is great.
15:22-15:22
God is good.
15:23-15:25
Let us pour our food.
15:25-15:29
Do you know the extended version, the director's cut, the album version?
15:29-15:33
By his hand we all are, so give us, Lord.
15:34-15:35
You do know that.
15:35-15:37
Doesn't it feel good to confess these things?
15:38-15:45
But on a serious note, I just have to ask us, church, when we teach our kids these prayers, are we teaching them vain repetition?
15:46-15:48
I mean, imagine if you had an appointment with the Lord.
15:48-15:58
Imagine, imagine if Jesus Christ was coming to your house for dinner tonight, personally walking into your home and sitting at your table for dinner.
15:58-15:59
I mean, how awesome would that be?
16:00-16:01
What would you do?
16:01-16:04
Jesus sits down and can I get you something to drink, Lord?
16:04-16:07
And you get him, you know, a glass of water or whatever he asked for.
16:08-16:13
And Jesus says, he looks across the table at you and says, would you like to talk to me about anything?
16:14-16:16
And you say, yes, Lord, I would.
16:17-16:17
God is great.
16:17-16:20
God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen.
16:20-16:23
Is that the level of conversation we're having with our Lord?
16:23-16:29
You wouldn't just mindlessly repeat phrases where Jesus says, is there anything else you would like to say?
16:30-16:31
God is great. God is good. Let us thank him.
16:32-16:35
Prayer is conversation with God.
16:35-16:37
You see, God wants your heart.
16:37-16:43
And that's why private prayer is to be a very personal thing, because look at the second half of verse eight here.
16:43-16:46
Jesus said, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.
16:47-16:49
It's personal with God. Prayer is personal.
16:50-16:51
That's what Jesus is saying here.
16:51-16:54
God knows what you need. He loves you.
16:54-16:55
He cares about you.
16:55-17:01
And how many times, church, and I have been so guilty of this, I've probably been more guilty of this than anybody in this room.
17:01-17:05
How many times have we said our prayers, but we didn't really pray?
17:06-17:21
Oh, I've been down on the ground, and I say my God bless grandma prayers, and I go through the list, and I get up only to get back down and say, God, I'm gonna talk to you about some stuff and you know what's really on my heart.
17:21-17:26
That's what I need to talk to you about. So see, prayer is a very personal thing with God.
17:26-17:33
Make it personal to you. The four marks of real prayer according to Jesus, first of all, is private, second of all, it's personal, thirdly, it's proportioned.
17:33-17:39
It's proportioned. In this passage, this is one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible. Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer.
17:39-17:44
He gives us ingredients to show us a right balance of what to pray about.
17:44-18:39
You know, what's absolutely baffling to me is that Jesus literally just got done saying no vain repetition and then he lines out Lays out, excuse me things to pray about and we're like, oh, okay So we'll just memorize this and pray this and I don't think that that was the intention of the Lord's Prayer To say just memorize and mindlessly repeat I think Jesus was showing us the subjects the kinds of things that we should be praying out for sure But also something I want you to see here is the balance the proportion I could preach a thousand sermons on this passage in ten thousand different ways But for today just quick breakdown sticking with the alliteration Which is see the balance first of all praise write that down praise verse 9 Jesus had prayed in like this our Father in heaven. How it would be your name talk about vain repetition I prayed that prayer for probably two decades before I knew what Hallowood meant, right?
18:39-20:10
Holy holy is your name praise your prayer time should include worship for who God is as we're praying back to God Concepts from his word That's that's where that becomes so powerful that when you start your prayer time to say God Your word tells us that you are a good shepherd and that you care about your sheep and God I'm just a weak sheep in need of you. I I need God your your your guidance and and God I need your wisdom and praying concepts back to God's Word spending time and praise secondly purpose Purpose verse 10 your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven We're praying for God's purpose to advance and we're praying that our purpose would be God's purpose God made things happen on earth as quickly and readily and joyfully as they happen in heaven May your kingdom advance and may you use me here to serve you when we're praying for provision We're gonna get to that in a second. We're praying about this expansion thing across the road That's what we should be praying about that God use this building to make disciples Use this building to be a place where Jesus Christ is lifted up and worship the praise Jesus said your prayer should have praise your person of purpose Thirdly praying for God's provision praying for God's provision Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation deliver us from evil and we can break that down because even in provision there's balance in that right? Even praying for provision is balancing that.
20:10-20:40
First of all physical provision. Give us today our daily bread. We're asking for physical provision. We're asking for relational provision. That's the whole forgiveness thing. We're asking for spiritual provision. Lead us not into temptation. Okay so pop quiz here. Let me ask you when we talk about the ingredients of prayer that Jesus lays out. Praise, purpose, provision. Which one of those usually gets the most attention in our prayers? Shout it out if you think you know. Provision, right? That usually gets the most attention.
20:41-20:58
God, I need. God, please provide. God, please help me. Often it's the first thing and sometimes it's the only part of our prayers. True or false? And absolutely we pray for provision. Jesus was clear about that. But do you see a a problem when that's all we pray about.
20:58-21:01
You see, prayer is about communion with God.
21:01-21:01
That's what it is.
21:02-21:05
It's about that loving relationship with your heavenly father.
21:06-21:07
It's communion with God.
21:07-21:12
And we gotta get out of our minds, American church, that prayer is not about getting things.
21:13-21:14
God is not a genie.
21:14-21:19
I get down on my knees and I rub the lamp and I give him my three wishes and God's not a genie.
21:19-21:20
God's not a vending machine.
21:21-21:22
God's not Santa Claus.
21:22-21:27
And I wanna challenge you, church, if you're bored with prayer, Maybe it's because you've been praying boring prayers.
21:28-21:30
Maybe you've been lopsided in the way that you pray.
21:31-21:34
There's so much deep truth found in this example prayer that Jesus gives.
21:35-21:41
But today church, I just want you to take one giant step back and I want you to look at the big picture that Jesus was teaching us.
21:41-21:43
When we pray, our prayers should be proportioned.
21:44-21:45
And finally, practical.
21:46-21:48
Practical, look at verses 14 and 15.
21:49-21:53
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
21:53-21:58
But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
21:58-21:59
What's the point?
21:59-22:05
Well, Jesus showed us that there's obviously to be a connection between our prayers and our everyday lives.
22:06-22:14
That we don't pray some holy sounding words that have nothing to do with life at work, life at home, life at wherever.
22:14-22:16
And for some people, that's what prayer is.
22:16-22:18
It's just detached, right?
22:19-22:24
I beseech thee, oh Lord, hithertofore, to bestow on thine servant." What?
22:25-22:26
What are you talking about?
22:27-22:30
Prayer is not detached from real life.
22:30-22:33
Prayer is the spiritual lifeblood of real life.
22:33-22:37
Like, okay, well, what did Jesus mean by forgiving others and God forgives you?
22:38-22:39
And what was that all about?
22:39-22:47
Well, you can find the answers to that question and many more in "Forgiven People Forgive" by Jeff Miller.
22:47-22:54
And you're like, "How do I get a copy of that book?" I'm selling this one today for, How much more do we need for the renovation?
22:54-22:56
I'm kidding, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.
22:56-23:03
If you're interested in a subject like what did Jesus mean by the whole, you know, forgiveness thing, I sum it up, if forgiving people, forgive.
23:03-23:05
If you're interested in more study, you can have that.
23:05-23:06
Just take it, all right?
23:07-23:09
And if you wanna give to the building, that's between you and God.
23:09-23:09
But here's the point.
23:10-23:14
What happens in the prayer closet has a direct bearing on what happens outside of it.
23:15-23:16
That's why prayer should be practical.
23:16-23:20
So once again, church, as I close, as with giving, you have a choice.
23:20-23:23
you have a choice on who you want to reward you.
23:24-23:26
You have the option of getting the reward from man.
23:26-23:38
Just get in a group, maybe rehearse a little at home, but get in a group and just lay out some King James verbiage with D. James Kennedy tone of voice and you will wow everybody that you pray with.
23:39-23:41
And they will applaud you and they will pat you on the back.
23:42-23:45
And truly I say to you, they have received their reward.
23:45-23:48
Or you can pray in such a way that God rewards you.
23:49-23:55
And for that to happen, again, very simple to understand, sometimes we make it harder to apply than it needs to be.
23:55-24:00
Pray privately, make it personal, keep it proportioned and make it practical.
24:00-24:05
Watch your prayer life take off as God rewards you as he moves by your prayers.
24:06-24:06
Let's pray.
24:06-24:10
Father in heaven, I'm kind of guarding myself praying right now.
24:11-24:18
Yes, there is power, Father, in praying as a church, but Jesus very clearly was addressing private prayer and I pray this, Father, for myself.
24:18-24:22
I pray this for my brothers and sisters here, that we take a look at our prayers.
24:22-24:29
There's no secret formula, except just praying in secret.
24:29-24:34
God, you know in our pride, we want other people to think super spiritual thoughts about us.
24:35-24:37
But really, the only thing that matters is what you think about us.
24:38-24:43
I thank you that through the cross of Jesus Christ, you have reconciled us to yourself.
24:43-24:48
And through the cross of Jesus Christ, Father, You have given us access to Your throne of grace.
24:49-24:53
Without hypocrisy, Father, I pray that we would all grow as real prayers.
24:53-24:55
In Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 6:5-15
GROUP
1. What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
2. “Your secret prayer life is your real prayer life” (v5-6). Do you agree or disagree? Why?
3. How balanced are your prayers (Praise, Purpose, Provision)?
4. What do you think motivates people to pray in a way to be noticed / applauded by others (v5)?
BREAKOUT
According to Jesus’ instructions (the 4 P’s in the sermon - Private, Personal, Proportioned, Practical), rate your prayer life so far in 2019 on a scale of 1-10. What do you need to do to give yourself a better score?
Pray for one another - to grow as prayers in these areas.