INTRODUCTION
When I was in college, I was required to take speech class. As a shy person, I dreaded it. It’s all about public speaking. Some would rather die than speak in public. To pass the class, we had to give a 5-minute speech to our classmates.
Here are some pointers for giving a speech:
Know your subject
* What am I going to talk about?
* Do I know my subject well?
Know your time constraints
* A short speech is structured differently than a long speech.
* When I write a sermon, I aim for 25 minutes.
Know your purpose
* To amuse you?
* To give information?
* To persuade you to take a particular action?
Know your audience
* Who are they?
* What do they value?
* How intelligent are they?
* What do they already know?
* Relationship to them (Peers, Superiors (boss, president))
APPROACH
Prayer is many things. The angle we will take this morning is that prayer is a speech addressed to God.
The same key pointers apply:
Know your subject
* What am I going to pray about?
Know your time constraints (short, or long)
Know your purpose
* Why am I praying? What result do I want?
Know your audience
* Who are you speaking to?
* What does God value?
* How intelligent is God?
* What does God already know?
* What is our relationship to God?
Jesus answers those questions and more in his teaching on prayer, as recorded in Matthew 6. Let’s turn there.
As part of the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches about three religious acts; charitable deeds, prayer, fasting; and how they are rewarded. Let’s start with the big picture.
Matthew 6:1-4
Matthew 6:5-6
Matthew 6:16-18
Lessons
Hypocrites are good public speakers
* No fear of public speaking
* They know their subject well.
* Don’t run out of words to say
* Know their audience
* They know how to present themselves for maximum impact
* They are successful, rewarded for their efforts.
That said, they get at least one critical point wrong. Listen for it:
Matthew 6:5 That they may be seen by men.
Example: Luke 18:10 Two men went up the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I possess ’
They are speaking to the wrong audience. Not speaking to God, but people like themselves.
Only acting like they are speaking to God. That’s why Jesus call them hypocrites, which is the Greek word for ‘actor’ or ‘stage-player’
Their religious acts are only public performances meant to impress people and build their reputation for piety.
But suppose you perform your religious acts in secret. Can you impress God by your performance?
Consider that God is Creator, holy, immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing. And we are His creation, redeemed from destruction by God’s amazing gift of His Son, who lived a holy life on earth for us against incredible opposition.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Nothing we do can compare with that.
Our religious acts that matter are just between us and God. It is a matter of the heart.
Would you still do what you do if there were no one but God to see it?
Your Father sees what is done in secret, and will reward you openly.
Now let’s focus on Jesus’ teaching about prayer.
Matthew 6:7 Vain repetition (vain means “empty”)
Illustration - Tibetan Buddhists
They say mantras, which a kind of like prayers, to accumulate wisdom and merit (good karma).
Write their mantras on a cylinder (a.k.a. prayer wheel), and then spin the cylinder (clockwise). In their theology, that is the same as saying the mantra.
But spinning the cylinder takes personal effort. There are water-powered prayer wheels, so they can be turning all the time.
No running water? The mantra can be written on a prayer flag, so every puff of wind waves the flag and prays the mantra.
No wind? You can buy electric prayer wheels on eBay starting at $99.
What do prayer wheels this say about their deities?
* They are impersonal
* They have no salvation to give. Improving our karma depends on our own works.
* They must have some method of counting the prayer wheel revolutions, and flag flaps, and crediting karma to a certain person.
* They are impressed by repetition, whether personal or mechanical. More interested in quantity than quality.
How we pray reveals our concept of God. We tailor our prayers for best effect based on our understanding of who God is, what God values, and how salvation works.
Illustration- Praying the Rosary
In order to pray the full rosary, start by making the sign of the cross and saying one "Apostles' Creed," followed by one "Our Father," three "Hail Mary"s and the "Glory be to the Father", and then announce the first Mystery and pray one decade. To pray one decade, first make the sign of the cross and say one "Our Father" and 10 "Hail Mary"s, then say one "Glory be to the Father". After each decade, pray "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy."
Did you get lost in the repetition? Rosary beads provide a physical method of keeping track of the number of "Hail Mary"s said.
What does praying the rosary say about God?
* God values repetition.
* God cares whether you said 9 Hail Mary’s instead of 10, so there must be some merit in the act of praying.
* God is impressed by the length and precise form of your prayer,
* God is impersonal. How many of your friends speak to you only using memorized sentences?
* An additional issue with praying the rosary is that the repetition serves as a mantra, a technique used in eastern meditation. It ceases to be communication with God, and becomes simply a way to feel good.
Illustration - Elijah at Mt. Carmel
1 Kings 18:25,26 “O Baal, hear us!” (repetition, all morning).
1 Kings 18:27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
Why did he do that? Just to make fun of them?
No, he was making a point about their concept of god. Their god Baal had all the foibles of humanity – lost in thought, too busy, off travelling, or too sleepy. Praying louder with more repetition should have overcome that.
1 Kings 18:28,29 No result
1 Kings 18:30 1 Kings 18:36-38 Elijah's prayer
* One simple prayer.
* Our God is not lost in thought, or too busy. Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.
* Our God is not away travelling Matthew 28:20 (Jesus promises) Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
* Our God is not sleepy. Psalm 121:3,4 He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Mathew 6:8 Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Psalm 139:1-4 O Lord, You have searched me and known me, You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
This answers some questions about our audience.
* God is intelligent
* God values us
* God already understands our problems, better than we do
* God already knows what we are going to say.
* Thus the purpose of prayer is not to give God information.
If God already knows what we need, why pray? We’ll come back to that.
Matthew 6:9-13 In this manner, therefore, pray:
General observations
* Short. 53 words in the NKJV.
* No repetition
* Jesus didn’t say we must recite those exact words, and there is no record of the disciples doing so.
Testimonies for the Church Volume 6, p.357 At family worship let the children take a part. Let all bring their Bibles and each read a verse or two. Then let some familiar hymn be sung, followed by prayer. For this, Christ has given a model. The Lord’s Prayer was not intended to be repeated merely as a form, but it is an illustration of what our prayers should be – simple, earnest, and comprehensive. In a simple petition tell the Lord your needs and express gratitude for His mercies. Thus you invite Jesus as a welcome guest into your home and heart.
* A model and an illustration
* simple, earnest, and comprehensive
Now let’s consider the Lord's prayer phrase by phrase. Here I am indebted to the book Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing (MB).
Mathew 6:9 Our Father in Heaven
Fundamentals of Christian Education, p.309 He (Jesus) taught man to address the Supreme Ruler of the universe by a new name – “Our Father”. This name signifies His true relation to us, and when spoken in sincerity by human lips, it is music in the ears of God. Christ leads us to the throne of God by a new and living way, to present Him to us in His paternal love. – Review and Herald Sep 11, 1894
MB 105 But if you call God your Father you acknowledge yourselves His children, to be guided by His wisdom and to be obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept His plans for your life. As children of God, you will hold His honor, His character, His family, His word as the objects of your highest interest.
Mathew 6:9 Hallowed be Your name
MB p.106 In prayer we enter the audience chamber of the Most High; and we should come before Him in holy awe.
MB p.107 In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you to possess His character. You cannot hallow His name, you cannot represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you represent the very life and character of God.
Mathew 6:10 Your kingdom come
MB p.108 The kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love.
MB p.109 As we give ourselves to God, and win other souls to Him, we hasten the coming of His kingdom.
Mathew 6:10 Your will be done, On earth, as it is in heaven.
MB p.110 This is a prayer that the reign of evil on this earth may be ended, that sin may be forever destroyed, and the kingdom of righteousness be established.
It also asks the question, am I doing God’s will?
Mathew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
MB p.110 The first half of the prayer Jesus has taught us is in regard to the name and kingdom and will of God – that His name be honored, His kingdom established, His will performed. When you have thus made God’s service your first interest, you may ask with confidence that your own needs may be supplied… like a child, you shall receive day by day what is required for the day’s need.
MB p.112 the prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting.
Mathew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
MB p.113 Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others. It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that love cannot touch our hearts without creating love for our brethren.
Mathew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
MB p.117 God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ.
In offering the prayer that Christ has given, we surrender ourselves to the guidance of God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths.
The prayer, “Bring us not into temptation” is itself a promise. If we commit ourselves to God we have the assurance, He “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” 1 Corinthians 10:13
Matthew 6:13 For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.
CONCLUSION
* Prayer is not a public performance.
* We can offer simple, earnest prayers to God because God is always listening and personally interested in us.
* Why should we pray if God already knows what we are going to say? Messages to Young People p.248 Prayer is not intended to work any change in God; it brings us into harmony with God.
* (Repeat) MB p.105 But if you call God your Father you acknowledge yourselves His children, to be guided by His wisdom and to be obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept His plans for your life. As children of God, you will hold His honor, His character, His family, His word as the objects of your highest interest.
APPEAL
* Read the chapter “The Lord’s Prayer” from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
* Pray the Lord’s prayer.
* Find a private space and time
* Pray it phrase by phrase, and ponder the meaning of each phrase.
