Many times we just jump right into the Lord’s prayer. But in order to fully understand what the Lord’s prayer is all about we must read the verses before.
Matthew 6:5-8 5And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6: But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. 7: But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8: Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before you ask him.
Matthew 6:6–9a (MESSAGE) reads,
Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need.
In Matthew 6:5-6 Jesus contrasts true prayer with false prayer, prayer that is real with prayer that is a sham. One kind of prayer is seen by God and is of great value to Him; the other is seen by man and is useless.
In this study we are to emphasis the fact that the vital requirement in every Christian is private prayer, for which there is no substitute. The first thing that really counts in our lives as Christians is not the amount of service we render, the number of meetings we attend, how many sermons we preach, nor even the fact that we are regularly present at the prayer meeting; the one thing that counts for more than anything else is our appreciation of, and our practice of, private prayer. The test as to the real value and power of a Christian life is not made in the realm of outward things, such as our Christian service which others can see, but in the realm of inward things – what we engage in when we are shut away from every human eye and are alone with God.
Notice that Jesus takes it for granted that His people will be men and women of prayer, for He says, “And when you pray…” (verse 5). He does not say…if you pray. He wants to have an intimate relationship in prayer with us.
1. There must be REVERENCE
Matthew 6:5 you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
It is important not to be as a hypocrite. They pray to be seen of men, and do not pray to God the Father.
Who is our Father?
Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
We must come to the Father with a humble and contrite or repentant heart. He says here that he dwells with us when we humble ourselves before him. But we must not come with feelings of unworthiness, but humility. We must be open to change our life and ways if we need to. We do not come to God on our own merits but we come boldly because of the work of the cross.
Hebrews10:19-22 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21: And having an high priest over the house of God; 22: Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
We need to realize that we are coming before a mighty God, and approach him humbly, but we also must be bold to enter his throne room, not on what we have done, but because of the work of Jesus.
2. There must be RETIREMENT
Matthew 6:5-6a 5 And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door,
Verse 5 tells us how the Pharisees prayed – to be seen of men – but the Christian must meet God privately, secretly, unheard by men but seen and heard by Him, anywhere and at any time. We need to retire to a place alone in the presence of God and have an audience with Him.
In every life where there is a ‘shut door’ there will be an inflow of God’s peace and the conscious joy of His presence; then there will be an outflow of fruitful service which will remain for eternity. There can be no deep realization of the peace and presence of God and no real Holy Spirit fruit if the place of prayer is neglected.
Jesus made a habit of private prayer. Let us look at some of his private prayer times.
Matthew14:23: And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Mark1:35: And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Mark 6:46: And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.
Luke 5:16: And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Luke 6:12: And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Jesus chose mountain tops and wilderness areas to pray. He retreated from the crowds that followed him to get alone with God. It is important to find a place away from others to spend alone in prayer. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, he left the disciples when he prayed.
Luke 22:41: And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
3. There must be RELATIONSHIP
Matthew 6:6b pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Notice in verse 6 – “…to your Father….your Father…” – not the Father.” Before ever we can enjoy the privilege of prayer or know anything of its power we must first know God as our loving heavenly Father.
John:1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
When you believed on Jesus, you were made a son of God. You were given a right and privilege to call him Father. The world only knows him as God, but we know him as Father.
1John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not.
4. There must be REPETITION
Matthew 6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
But what about verse 7? It is vain repetition which Jesus condemns. Jesus points out, the use of repetitious words or formulaic phrases is a “heathen” or “pagan” practice and should not be part of Christian prayer. This is the kind of prayer Isaiah mentioned.
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
He is saying the same as Jesus, that their prayers are vain because it does not come from the heart.
But there is good prayer in repetition, and all the way through the Bible it is commended.
Jeremiah 29:13 God said to Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
It is not about praying the right words, but it is seeking with all our heart, is what He says there.
We must persevere in prayer and be persistent; and such prayer demands repetition. Some of our prayers fall short of their goal because we give up just when we ought to hold on and persevere.
Lu:11:5-10: 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6: For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7: And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8: I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9: And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10: For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
This story is told right after Jesus gave the Lord’s prayer in Luke. He is telling them to be persistent in prayer. He is telling them to ask and keep on asking, if they want to receive. A prayer with meaning can be repeated and be effective. Whereas a vain or empty repetition of a prayer is ineffective.
Let’s look at another time Jesus taught on repetition in prayer.
Luke 18:1-8 1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?
This takes us into our next step…there must be faith in order for our prayer to be answered.
5. There must be RELIANCE
Matthew 6:8: Be not you therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask him.
Hebrews11:6: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We must believe that God is not only able and willing to answer us, but that He knows our needs before we ask Him. We do not pray to instruct God how to act, but to entreat Him that He may perform His will through our praying. Why then do we need to pray at all? The answer is that God has ordained it this way; indeed, He has commanded us to pray, and not to pray is to disobey; moreover, not to pray is to block the channel through which God is waiting to work and reveal His will and then to pour out His blessing.
6. There is always a REWARD after praying
Matthew6:5-6 5And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6: But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.
In verse 5 our Lord tells us that the Pharisees have their reward here and now. Their reward is to be seen of men. The Christian, on the other hand, who has experienced being alone in prayer with the Lord, has his reward now and in eternity (verse 6).
The first reward is that praying brings us into communion with God. That is a wonderful privilege and an enormous reward to us.
Secondly, we have the reward of answered prayers.
1John:5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
When we pray to God using his word, his will we know we have an answer.
Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
If you read the verses before, the reward of seeking God is all your needs being provided.
Third, we have an eternal reward in prayer. Heaven is full of prayer. Now let’s look at the eternal reward of prayer.
Matthew16:27: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Revelation 8:3-4 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.4And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Goode Christian: learning how to be a good Christian in today's world. 