Title: “Be fueled with prayer.”
Text: Matthew 6:5-15
Because Jesus presumed we would pray he naturally wants to help us get the most out of prayer.
Illustration: The fastest way to waste your gas
Driving at speeds over 55 miles an hour!
Traveling at 55 mph gives you 21% better mileage when compared to traveling at 65 mph and 70 miles per hour
Did you also know that there are ways to waste your prayers!
Jesus in our text tells us the fastest ways to waste your prayers
The first way to waste your prayers is found in verse 5
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” (v5)
If you want to waste your prayers pray only in order to be seen by men.
Sadly there will be those who all they want when they pray is the applause of men.
Illustration:
It’s like buying a car with lousy gas mileage just for its looks.
Then Jesus tells us the second way to waste your prayers in verses 7-8.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (V7-8)
If you want to waste your prayers keep on babbling when you pray
Any prayer which is all words and no meaning is a wasted prayer.
Illustration
It’s like idling in heavy traffic. Your car is making all the right noise but you are not going anywhere.
So how do you avoid the 2 biggest wasters of prayers?
1. How do you avoid praying only in order to be seen by men?
2. How do you avoid babbling on and on whenever you pray?
Then just don’t pray is not an option Jesus wants us to consider.
We avoid praying only in order to be seen by men by doing what Jesus tells us to do in verse 6.
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (V6)
We avoid babbling on and on when you pray by doing what Jesus says tells us to do in verses 9-13.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (V9-13)
What does Jesus tell us to do in order to help us avoid praying only in order to be seen by men?
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (V6)
If I want to be fueled with prayer I have to learn to pray in secret.
This is the complete opposite of what we often think.
We often think that in order to be fueled with prayer we have to learn to pray in public.
It’s actually harder to pray in secret than it is to pray in public.
1.You are much more easily distracted when you pray in secret
2.You are more likely to be disturbed when you pray in secret
(v6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (V6)
•Go into your room
•Close the door
•And pray to your Father who is unseen.
Quote:
“Just as nothing destroys prayer like side glances at human spectators, so nothing enriches it like a sense of the presence of God.”
The rewards of secret prayer
Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (V6)
1. One reward of secret prayer is Joy
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24)
2.A second reward of secret prayer is peace
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)
Quote:
“In words of the apostle Paul, when we cry, ‘ Abba, Father,’ the Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are indeed God’s children, and we are granted a strong assurance of his fatherhood and love. He lifts the light of his face upon us and gives us his peace. He refreshes our soul, satisfies our hunger, quenches our thirst. We know we are no longer orphans for the Father has adopted us; no longer prodigals for we have been forgiven; no longer alienated, for we have come home.”
Conclusion
You have to learn to pray in secret
You have to learn to pray with meaning
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (V7-8)
Question: If God already knows what I need before I ask him then why pray?
“By our praying we are instructing ourselves more than we are him.” Martin Luther
The Lord’s Prayer is a model to help us pray with meaning
How do you start a conversation with God?
The best way to start a conversation with God is by expressing your concern for God’s glory.
There is nothing more off putting than to have someone start a conversation with you and then all they do is talk about themselves?
The first three petitions in the Lord’s prayer express our concern for God’s glory in relation to his name, kingdom and will.
“This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Quote:
We seek him in order to acknowledge him as the person he is, God the Creator, God the Lord, God the judge, God our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Savior. We desire to meet him in the secret place in order to bow down before him in humble worship, love and trust.”
The final three petitions in the Lord’s prayer express to God our dependence upon him in every area of our lives.
Give us this day our daily bread.
This is expressing to God our material needs
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
This is expressing to God our spiritual needs (Forgiveness of sin)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
(V9-13)
This is expressing to God our moral needs. (deliverance from evil)
Conclusion
Quote: “The secret of all failure is failure in secret prayer. “
Where do we stand on the issue of prayer?
Is our prayer tank empty because we are to busy to pray?
Nobody had more demands on him than Jesus yet he took time every day to pray.
Is our prayer tank empty because we don’t know how to pray?
Then let’s pray the prayer the disciples prayed…
“Lord teach us to pray”…
