The Ingredients for Effective Praying!
Matthew 6:5-15
Surveys show that more than 90% of humanity pray daily understand that it is an essential part of our Christian walk. The Scriptures give us clarity regarding the importance of Praying. When believers pray unto our Father in Heaven many times, we pray for various reasons for health, wealth, and even happiness. The one important message is not when we pray but how we pray. Let me ask everyone today what the key ingredients are to having a practical Prayer Life? This directs me to this passage Jesus presented in the Sermon on the Mount. He taught many lessons, but the most specific lesson is regarding praying. In Matthew 6:5-15, he teaches the details of how we are to pray and teaches The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus presents critical points that we all must think about and examine our personal prayer life.
Furthermore, even when we pray as we may face situations or circumstances, we cry out. We have sometimes gotten to a place when we pray our request: i.e., Lord, I need this, I need that, and I need it right away; this is just a suggestion Lord for my life. However, the best one is Lord, if you do this for me; I promise to do better. Jesus teaches each of us not to pray to impress others, be repetitive or babble while we pray. The point in this message is that Jesus teaches us “The Model Prayer.” Understanding that prayer is not a recipe that we are to follow, but while we pray, there are vital ingredients we should strive for to have a practical prayer life. As we all know, this model prayer displays all five elements:
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13
Let me expound on these key elements for an effective prayer life.
1. Thanksgiving and Praise – Matthew 6:9
2. Consistency and Devotion – Matthew 6:10
3. Humility and Confession – Matthew 6:11-12
4. Pure motives and a Clean Heart – Matthew 6:13
5. Faith that God Loves you and Listen when You Pray – Matthew 6:8
Keep in mind that there is no recipe for prayer, just instructions from Jesus on praying by his example. Matthew 6:9 is when we learn how to come before the Lord with Thanksgiving in our hearts and Praise for being who He is in our lives. At this point, Jesus demonstrates how we are to acknowledge God as our Father and to position our hearts in Praise for hallowed means honored as holy. For at this point, declaration of Praise is essential to honoring Our Father. When we called out unto God as Our Father, he shows unto us despite ourselves of his loving-kindness and tender mercy. Jesus shows us how to feel at home when we come unto God in prayer by using the word Father is critical in presenting Thanksgiving and Praise. In the Old Testament, Leviticus 18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God” at this point, he clearly states I AM, which displays all-powerful God the creator of all things in Heaven and on earth. Deacon Walker, we all must understand the position that we place God in when we pray. Do we place him as the Father, i.e., ABBA or Yahweh, or do we acknowledge him out of respect? The critical factor to having a solid prayer life because it transcends our relationship with God into a more intimate relationship with him. See calling upon him in your prayers with just simply Father, Which art in Heaven is adoration the exemplifies his position in your walk as a Christian. We must understand why Jesus used the words OUR FATHER at the beginning of this prayer. He teaches the nature and essence of God’s character for Christians to understand that we begin to overcome through thanksgiving and Praise by positioning him in the correct position in our daily walk for in Psalms 100 tells us to:
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.
By opening in thanksgiving and praise, we begin to unlock our hearts and souls into the presence of God not by the words we say but by the silence we give as we honor him. In this passage teaches how to have Consistency and Devotion as stated in Matthew 6:10- 11 Thy kingdom come. They will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Jesus teaches us to remove our thoughts for our lives out of the way and allow God's Will to prevail within us. See, many times have we all put our agendas before the plans that God has for each of us. In Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. This point in the prayer when Jesus states the example of how we are to remove ourselves and personal agendas out of the way and let God's will be honored. When we honor his will, we remove obstacles and hindrances from our position with the Father. To take such steps, we must first surrender and be consistent in our prayer life through Devotion. It does not mean that he forgets our hearts' desires, but it means that we are willing to ultimately desire in our hearts to strive to fulfill his will out of obedience. Now, as we display honoring God's will through consistency, we must have devotions also in our prayer life. This prayer displays Thanksgiving, Praise, and Consistency but Devotion is where we look unto him as he provisions our daily blessings. We are all in need of something, and it is not insignificant or mundane, but it is a need. As we seek these needs, we know the critical need is God's Daily Bread to feed our souls and dwell within us by guiding our paths for his purpose. At this point, God is more than our Father; he is also our Provider, i.e., Jehovah Jireh. Furthermore, when we consistent in our Devotion unto the will of God, we begin to be used to make a Kingdom difference in this world by the way we pray.
Now let us pivot to understanding how Jesus teaches Humility and Confessions in Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Jesus shows humbleness at this point in the Sermon because it tells us to seek forgiveness for all sins that we may have committed. He also teaches us the importance to know not forgiving others is a sin as stated in Matthew 6:14-15. The best way to address this by cultivating our relationship with Jesus through openness and humility, accepting the point that we must seek him to show us our sins while we pray. We often recognize only certain sins that we see daily but understand that our thoughts, conversations, actions, and how we treat each other can display a form of sin. We must address this in our prayer life because it can erode our relationship with God when we do not seek him to reveal any form of sin in our lives. That also includes not having a forgiving heart for others that may have wronged you at some point in life. Jesus makes it clear in John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, They ye love one another, as I have loved you, That ye also love one another. Allow for me to expound; see, there was a time when I faced rejection, not belonging, and unloved but through praying and fasting, seeking God to give me the heart to forgive those that despitefully used me put me in a place of humility and confession to learn how to forgive just by the example of Jesus taught when taken to Calvary and stated in Luke 23:24, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Understand my brothers and sister; to have a closer walk with God, you must be always forgiving in this life. You must love everyone with an open heart and humility. It is always confession, for it is stated in Romans 3:23, “For we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Therefore, understand that forgiveness is critical in our relationship with the Father in Heaven.
The fourth point is very relevant in this message because we must understand that our prayers must have pure motives with clean hearts. Jesus stated in Matthew 6:13 and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. At this point in the Model Prayer, Jesus is praying for Safety and Deliverance. God will never tempt us, but he does allow us to be tempted; we must recognize temptation. Moreover, understand that sometimes we lead ourselves into tempting situations, and it is then we must pray to overcome. James 1:13-15; Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin:
and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Praying for protection from temptation aligns with allowing the will of God to be dominate in your walk.
See, each point plays a significant part in fulfilling our walk-in Christ in a more personal relationship. It brings us into a place of thanksgiving, praise, consistency, devotion, humility, confession, pure motive, and a clean heart that begins to reframe our thinking and actions before the Lord. Placing prayer centers in our communication with the Lord allows for his glorious light to shine through each of us. The final point Faith that God Loves you and Listen when You Pray in Matthew 6:8 Be not ye, therefore, like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. Understanding that he knows our thoughts, he knows our hearts, and he knows our motives. We do not have to worry because Our Father knows each of us, for he created us in his image. When you go through life trials, understand that he knows the challenges you face, He knows just how you feel; he even knows when you are depressed and lonely. When we look throughout the word of God, each trial and struggle that the Israelites faced, God was there even when they took wrong turns, and he still loved upon them each step of the way. So, when you go before him in your prayer life, reach up for God’s unchanging hand, for in that hand, you can withstand this harsh world that is filled with turmoil and pain. By your Faith, you have the same rights before the Lord because you believe in your heart that God already knows what you need. Through Jesus teaching the Model Prayer, each of us can have a deeper relationship with God by our thanksgiving, praise, consistency, devotion, humility, confessions, motives, and clean heart because he knows every heartache and every joy. So, when you feel like the world is beating you down and you do not know where to turn, the key to a practical pray life is to do as Jesus teaches in the scriptures. So today, release your fears and seek him in prayer, calling unto him, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13
Today, one stands in need to have a closer relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ and yearns in your soul longs for peace. As Pastor Perrin states, do not join the church but more importantly, join Jesus Christ, for in him there is your Refuge, Forgiveness, Healing, Peace, Joy, Grace, Mercy, and Love. So, know Jesus journey to calvary was to save you from your sins and give you eternal life.
