A Messiah Who Prays Part 2: Roadblocks to Prayer
Text: Matt. 6:14-18
Introduction
1. Illustration: When I was about 18 years old, I have taken my Mom to work, and on the way home I hit a patch of ice and lost control of the car. The car came to a screeching halt after I hit the concrete divider at 55 mph. There was no way that car was going to go through that wall, or anywhere else for that matter.
2. Do you ever feel like your prayers have hit a concrete divider? Sometimes that happens because we are impatient and God is answering our prayers in his timing. However, sometimes are prayers hit the proverbial brick wall and its our fault.
3. Jesus talks to us this morning about two major roadblocks to prayer:
a. Unforgiveness
b. Pride
4. Read Matt. 6:14-18
Proposition: We need to make sure that we are not putting up roadblocks that keep our prayers from being answered.
Transition: The first roadblock that Jesus talks about is...
I. Unforgiveness (14-15)
A. If You Refuse to Forgive
a. There is a very clear Scriptural principle that shows that sometimes it is our own sinfulness that hampers our prayers.
b. Psalms 66:18 (NLT)
If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
c. God hates sin so much that he cannot stand to be around it.
d. Unconfessed sin will keep our prayers from being answered because it puts up a wall between us and God.
2. In vv. 14-15, Jesus deals with one particular sin that is a roadblock to our prayers. He said, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you."
a. Forgive: The wrong is cut out, sent off, and sent away from the wrongdoer. The sin is separated from the sinner (Practical Word Studies in The New Testament).
b. Jesus’ desire is for the disciples community to reflect lives that have been transformed by the Gospel.
c. We have been forgiven of much by God, and consequently, we are in turn to forgive others in the same way that we have been forgiven by God.
d. Once disciples have received forgiveness and salvation, they are to forgive with the same forgiveness with which they have been forgiven. This is the evidence that they are indeed forgiven (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 280).
e. If we are going to function as a community of disciples, a community of forgiven people, we cannot be a community that holds grudges (France, NICNT: Matthew, 252).
f. If we forgive others, then we also will be forgiven.
3. However, let’s pay close attention to what Jesus says in v. 15. "But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."
a. This is a very sobering thought. We can actually put ourselves in a position of being unforgiveable if we refuse to forgive others.
b. When we refuse to forgive others, we are, in fact, passing judgment on them, and thus bringing judgment on ourselves (Keener, IVP NT Commentary: Matthew, 146).
c. Our relationships with others can affect our relationship with God. We cannot have a right relationship with God and harbor bitterness with others.
4. These verses raise some difficult theological questions with which we must come to grips.
a. "Oh come on Pastor, we don’t want to talk about theology! We just want to talk about Jesus, God’s love, and grace." Well all of those things are theological topics. We talk about theology all the time whether we realize it or not.
b. The first theological question we need to wrestle with is "How does this conditional forgiveness relate to a gospel of grace?"
c. Wait a minute, I thought that God forgives me of anything as long as I ask him to?
d. He does, but if he harbor bitterness and unforgiveness in your heart towards someone he doesn’t hear you. Remember Ps. 66:18?
e. If the forgiveness that comes from the saving work of Christ is not evidenced by a forgiving attitude on our part, it cannot be presumed upon (France, 253).
5. The next theological question we need to wrestle with is "Does this mean that we can earn God’s forgiveness?"
a. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
b. There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s forgiveness - ever!
c. However, we can put ourselves in a position were God won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive others.
d. Illustration: Tina and I are in the process of buying a house, and have put ourselves in a position to buy a house by paying our bills on time.
e. Matt. 18:23-35
f. Matthew 18:35 (NLT)
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
6. A third theological question we need to deal with is " how much should we forgive?"
a. Should we forgive murderers, rapists, and thieves?
b. As hard as it is for us to grasp, there can be no limits or exceptions to our forgiveness (France, 253).
c. Understand that God does not have a sin rating system. He doesn’t have a Facebook quiz that rates the top 5 worst sins.
d. To God sin is sin, and the only exception to that rule is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
e. God has forgiven us, and so who are we not to forgive others no matter what they have done?
B. Unforgiveness Blocks Our Prayers
1. Illustration: "Nothing makes us so like God as our readiness to forgive the wicked and wrongdoer. For it is God who has made ’the sun to shine on the evil and on the good" (Chrysostom, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. Ia, 139).
2. Matthew 10:8 (NLT)
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!
3. Unforgiveness creates barriers.
a. Barriers between ourselves and others.
b. Barriers between ourselves and God.
c. Barriers that hinder our prayers.
d. Barriers that hinder our effectiveness for the Kingdom of God.
4. Unforgiveness destroys.
a. It destroys families.
b. It destroys marriages.
c. It destroys churches.
d. It destroys communities.
5. A Christian who will not forgive is a contradiction.
a. Being a Christian is about forgiveness.
b. Being a Christian is about grace.
c. Being a Christian is about second chances.
Transition: Don’t allow unforgiveness to hinder your prayers.
II. Prayer and Fasting (16-18)
A. When You Fast
1. Prayer and fasting are like peanut butter and jelly, it’s hard to imagine one without the other.
a. The fact that Jesus connects his teaching on fasting with his teaching on prayer shows their close relationship.
b. They are so intertwined that Jesus feels the need to talk one after talking about the other.
2. Jesus tells us, “And when you fast..."
a. Again, the assumption is not whether a disciple will fast, but how?
b. Jesus assumes that we will fast by saying "when you fast."
c. Just like giving and praying, disciples of Jesus are expected to fast.
d. Fasting is a time of drawing near to God by showing our willingness to give up something as fundamental to our survival as food.
3. As with giving and praying, Jesus’ concern is with our motive in fasting. Notice what he says, "And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get."
a. Under normal circumstance people trimmed their beards or changed clothes before appearing in public, as well as anointing themselves (Keener, 146).
b. Because fasting included denying yourself, Jewish people would not only abstain from food but also things like shaving, washing clothes, and anointing yourself (Keener, 147).
c. However, Jesus concern here is those who really ham it up in an effort to flaunt their holiness (or lack thereof).
d. Miserable and disheveled here indicates making one’s face unrecognizable from a normal perspective, with the intent to publicize the physical hardships endured while fasting (Wilkins, 282).
e. Again Jesus tells us that those who fast like this will not receive any spiritual blessing because of their motivation.
4. Therefore, Jesus tells us, "But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face."
a. The type of fasting that a disciple is to engage is by choice rather than by routine, since there would be no reason to put on a show of fasting that is already expected.
b. He forbids any sign at all that a fast has been undertaken, because the human heart is so mixed in its motives that the desire to seek God will be diluted by the desire for human praise, thus vitiating the fast (Carson, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM:Matthew).
c. The real issue that Jesus is dealing with here, as with giving and prayer, is pride.
d. Why do people try and impress others? Pride.
e. Real fasting will draw you closer to God, but pride will drag you away from him.
B. Pride
1. Illustration: "Vainglory can find a place not only in the splendor and pomp of worldly wealth but even in the sordid garment of sackcloth as well. It is then all the more dangerous because it is a deception under the pretense of service to God" (Augustine, The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. Ia, 141).
2. 1 Peter 5:5-6 (NLT)
“God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.
3. Pride may be the ultimate obstacle to prayer.
a. It is the epitome of sin.
b. It is what motivated Satan.
c. It was the downfall of Adam and Eve.
d. It was the major contributing factor at the tower of Babel.
e. It is at the heart of all sin.
4. Prayer is an act that is the opposite of pride.
a. In prayer we acknowledge that God is greater than ourselves.
b. His will is more important than ours.
c. We are totally dependent upon him.
5. Pride will destroy our prayer life.
a. It will rob us of answers to prayer.
b. It will stifle our passion for prayer.
c. It will deceive us in seeing the need for prayer.
6. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
Transition: Don’t let pride put a roadblock in your prayer life.
Conclusion
1. There are many roadblocks to prayer, but these are two of the biggest.
2. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
3. What is your roadblock?
a. Unforgiveness
b. Pride
c. Some other sin
4. Let God knock them down.
