"lord, Teach Us To Pray"

Title: “Lord, Teach us to Pray” Script: Mt. 6:5-13

Type: Series on Prayers of the Bible Where: GNBC 7-11-21

Intro: I believe the great need in the American Post-Pandemic Church is prayer! Billy Graham once said, “Heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one ever bothered to ask.” It’s true that we often take advantage of the privilege of prayer and the blessings it brings. We get too busy, we forget, we even refuse to seek God or we do so casually, rather than with bold conviction. Yet, there is no excuse for not conversing often with God. “Prayer is more than a wish,” Graham said. “It is the voice of faith directed at God.” Christians are to be praying people. Maybe we need to be reminded today.

Prop: Examining Mt. 6:5-13 we’ll notice 4 helpful insights our Lord gave on prayer.

BG: 1. What is prayer? Simply put, it is talking to God.

2. For the Christian, prayer is not simply talking to God but also responding to the One who has initiated a relationship with us.

Prop: Let’s examine Mt. 6:5ff to realize 4 helpful insights our Lord gave on prayer.

I. 1st Insight: Prayer is Not for Pretenders. v.5

A. Christ teaches that Prayer Presumes a Relationship.

1. Jesus Begins by stating that His followers will pray differently from others.

a. “Ultimately, prayer is essentially a genuinely lived relationship with God as Father.” (Keller, Prayer, p. 23). Do not blow by that term “Father” that Jesus uses in this passage. In that one word Jesus is revolutionizing prayer. This implied a completely NEW relationship to God from the OT. In the OT no individual called God “Father”. Now, Israel as a whole was seen to be in a parent/child relationship with God, but no individuals were. This is huge!

b. In this verse Jesus says that we are not to be like others…hypocrites. The Greek word which is transliterated into the English, meant actor, mask-wearer, or a stage player. The Jews of Xst’s time would put on the costume of their prayer shawls and stand on the stage of the Temple or synagogue and play the religious role for everyone to see and appreciate and applaud. Their long-winded prayers were simply that..a stage role.

2. What Was the Goal of this Hypocritical Prayer?

a. Vv. 2&5 give us insight. They wanted the approval and recognition of other men. V.2 “may be honored” by men. V.5 – They were often praying on the street corners and in synagogues “to be seen” by men. They wanted their “religious commitment to be seen and appreciated by other people.” (This is far removed from our culture today, unless it has to do with the religion of the woke left and it’s inherent virtue signaling.)

b. What was the result of this type of prayer? Got their reward or recognition from men..but not from God.

B. According to Christ, Christian Prayer Begins with a Humble Heart and a Right Attitude.

1. God hears the Prayers of those who Understand Who they are in Light of Who He is.

a. Biblical prayer calls the believer to humility. Illust: In II Chron. 26:16 we read: ““When he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense” Speaking of King Uzziah in the time of Isaiah. Uzziah started out well, as he initially sought after God and walked according to His ways (2 Chron. 26:4–5). He fortified Jerusalem’s defenses, making them strong against the Philistines and other enemies (vv. 6–15). Unfortunately, towards the end of his life, Uzziah forgot the One who made him strong. Instead of humble reliance on the Lord, Uzziah let his strength get to his head and “burned incense on the altar of incense” (v. 16), which only the priests were to do (Ex. 30:1–10). The priests warned the king against his foolhardy course of action, but Uzziah persisted and God struck him with leprosy, dying in disgrace.

b. The NT believer must also have a right attitude when approaching God in prayer. As new covenant believers, it is no longer possible for us to disobey the Lord at the altar of incense. However, we must learn from Uzziah’s arrogance and never stand before Him in pride and demand that He answer us because of our own goodness or strength. We must always come before Him with humility, not boasting of our own strength but relying on Him alone. Illust: Blaise Pascal, the 17th century mathematician and apologist, recognized this when he said “Jesus Christ is a God whom we approach without pride and before whom we humble ourselves without despair.”

2. We are to Pray with Relationship and not Reward in Mind. Most of the time we pray in order to “get” something from God. Health, wealth, blessing, strength, sanity, tranquility, etc. Maybe we do so for others. Regardless, we are looking for a “reward” or a blessing from speaking to God. Nothing wrong with this necessarily. However, what Jesus is saying here is that the “reward” of the prayer is not necessarily in the getting of something, but it is in the getting to know Someone (David Platt quote.)