Matthew chapter 6, this evening
we'll be looking at verses 5 through verse 8. Verse 5 through verse
8. And the title of the message
tonight is, The Worship of Prayer. The Worship of Prayer. Matthew chapter 6, beginning
in verse 5, it says, Jesus said, When thou prayest, thou shalt
not be as the hypocrites are. For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they
may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray
to thy father which is in secret. And thy father which seeth thee
in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them. For your father knoweth what
things ye have need of before you ask him. The worship of prayer. Now remember, in this chapter,
the Lord Jesus Christ begins to teach us about the true expressions
of worship. True expressions of worship.
He teaches that every true expression of worship of God will be manifest
in these three areas. In giving, in prayer and in fasting. And remember that each one of
these things, giving, prayer and fasting, has an aspect of
expression of worship. In giving of alms, he is speaking
about worshiping God with our estate, with our things, with
the possessions that we have, with our house. In prayer, he
is speaking of worshipping God from our souls. And by fasting,
he is speaking about worshipping God with our bodies. So, in the
worship of God, we have the whole man. The whole man is to be engaged
in worship. Everything he has is to be given
to worship. Everything that he is in his
soul is to be given to worship God. And everything that he has
in his body is to be expressed in worship to God. The sum of
our faculties is for the worship of God. Now tonight, we're going
to look at the worship of prayer. The worship of prayer as it is
taught in this sermon on the Mount. First of all, the Lord
gives us the presumption of prayer. The presumption of prayer. He
says, "...when thou prayest." The Lord Jesus Christ presumes
anyone who is going to engage themselves in worship, anyone
who has the idea of worshiping God or the intent of worshiping
God, He said, "...when thou prayest." He is going to presume that you
pray. If you have any intention this
evening to worship God, Jesus Christ automatically assumes
you to pray. He says, not if you pray, but
when you pray. When you pray. When thou prayest. You see, prayer is the worship
of God that stems from the soul of a man to the very presence
of God. Friend, when you pray, realize
that your prayer comes from within your own heart and it goes directly,
it ushers us directly into the very presence of God Almighty. When thou prayest, prayer is
an act of worship. You see, prayer is the proper
way men commune with God and pour out their heart in worship,
in praise, in thanksgiving, and letting our requests be made
known unto God. This is how you do it. How do
you commune with God? We commune with God through prayer.
Through prayer. You see, I talk to you face to
face. I don't see God. I can't see Him. In faith, I
lift up prayers, knowing that He hears our prayers. And the Lord here does not tell
men to pray, but presumes that men will desire to pray if they
want to worship God. Matthew Henry said this, he said,
You would soon find a living man without breath, as you would
find a true worshipper of God without prayer. You'd sooner
find a living man without breath than to find a worshipper of
God without prayer. Prayer is as natural to the believer
as crying for milk is to a baby. When a baby is born and he comes
into this world and he's not crying, if he's not crying out,
there's a reason. He's dead. And I'll tell you
this, that if there's a man who says he worships God and he doesn't
have any prayer to God, there's a reason. He's dead. He's dead. He doesn't know God. When Saul
of Tarsus was converted, what was God's observation of him?
He said, Behold, he prayeth. Now, I'll tell you this, Saul
of Tarsus, he said his prayers for many years. But it wasn't
until he was converted, it wasn't until he was regenerated, it
wasn't until he knew Christ that he actually learned to pray. And you know what? He learned
to pray before any man taught him. Why? Because God teaches
us to pray. He instills that in each one
of us to cry out to God. from our very conception. And so God here, Jesus Christ
here, presumes that all worshipers of God pray. And next, I want us to look at
the purpose of prayer. Not only is it presumed that
those who worship God will pray, but He also gives us the purpose
of prayer. Now friends, there are many religious
men that say their prayers. As I said, Saul of Tarsus said
his prayers. But when someone comes to life
in faith in Christ, they really begin to know how to pray. Many
religious men go through the motions of prayer. These Pharisees in our text,
they did that. Jesus Christ is drawing the line
here, and He says, this is the line of true worship. This is
the line of true worship from the souls of men. If you worship
God, you will pray, and this is how you'll pray. This is the
purpose of your prayers, to worship God, to honor God. It should
be the purpose of all prayer. But see, these Pharisees, they
love to pray. Christ said that. Look at our
text. He says, "...but when thou prayest,
thou shalt not pray as a hypocrite, for they love to pray." They
love to pray. It's not the fact that they don't
pray. But Jesus Christ is entering into
that they had the wrong purpose and motive for prayer. They love
to pray, but they have the wrong purpose of heart. They love to
pray not for the glory of God, but the standing in the synagogues
and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men.
These Pharisees, they would love to get in the temple. They would
love to find the most crowded section of the temple. And they
would find a stool or they would find a rock or something to elevate
themselves above the crowd. And they would begin to lift
up their hands and pray. Oh, they would pray so loud and
fervently. They sounded real religious. Their prayers, no doubt, were
right down the line of the law. They loved to pray standing in
the midst of people, not for the glory of God, not for the
praise of His name, not for the forgiveness of sins, but what
did they pray for? What was their reason for praying?
Their reason for praying was to be seen of men. to be seen
of men, to have the respect of men. Is this not true of many
religious men in so-called churches? And they have these things called
prayer meetings. Prayer meetings. The pastor was
asked, why don't you have prayer meetings? And he said that we
do three times a week. We call it worship. But they
call it prayer meetings. And these prayer meetings are
usually made up of the most pious folks in the church. And they
go around, they take turns standing up and seeing who can say the
most eloquent prayer. To find out who can really wow
the crowd. Why? Because they love to be
seen of men. The purpose of most of their
prayer meetings is to be seen. To be seen as a religious pillar
of the church. I knew a man, and I loved him
dearly. I perceived he was a believer
in Jesus Christ for many years. And you know, as I was just reading
this text, I thought of him. And he would always say, I would
like to help the young men of the church. I'd like to be like
a father to them. You see what he was doing, and
I didn't realize it, he was seeking preeminence. And where is he
now? He's gone. He's gone. I don't
know where he is. I don't believe he attends church.
If he does, it's not very often. You see, men love those things. And I know that he had a sincere
heart when he said those things. But he sought the preeminence,
and so do these people. They seek the preeminence in
prayer. But that's not the purpose of
prayer, to seek our preeminence. The purpose of prayer is to seek
the preeminence of Christ, to seek the preeminence of God in
prayer. One of my favorite prayers is
this, God, get yourself glory in this place. You see, the glory
of God should be the pinnacle of our prayers. The pinnacle of our prayers should
be the glory of God. See, some churches, they have
these prayer meetings and they even have written prayers for
people to read. They pass out prayers for people
to read. And then people coldly and religiously
say these same prayers over and over and over again with no meaning
behind them. Not from their heart. They were
given from some man. They didn't come from the soul
of a man. That's not prayer. That's not
prayer at all. I'll tell you, they may even
have the right words written on that prayer. They may even
have Scripture written on that prayer page. But if prayer is
done in any way to be applauded of men or to seek the respect
of those that look on, friends, then we have not prayed. We have
not prayed. If any man will seek the respect
of men, if they will be spoken well of this world, they will
not be accepted of God. You cannot have it both ways. In Luke 18, we read last week
about the Pharisee and the publican. They both went up to the temple
to do what? To pray. They both had the purpose to
go up to the temple and they have determined, both of them,
to pray. To pray. But when the Pharisee
stood up and prayed, he prayed thus with who? Himself. He stood there in front of everybody
praying, but he prayed to himself. Because God didn't hear him. God wasn't the object, God wasn't
the subject, and God wasn't the purpose of His prayer. The purpose,
subject, and object of His own prayer was Himself. And any prayer
like that is not a prayer at all. It's not accepted of God. And so Jesus tells us who would
worship God in prayer We must recognize that prayer is not
a public effort, but a private affair of worship. A public affair. It's not a public
affair, it's a private affair between you and God. That's what
prayer is. Look at verse 6. But thou, but
you, when you pray, Enter into your closet, and not only when
you enter your closet, when you shut the door behind you. Pray to your Father which is
in secret. Oh, the hypocrisy of modern prayer
to assume that because folks are raising their hands and closing
their eyes, and you see a big to-do, People are crying and
people are yelling and screaming and shouting, praise God, praise
God, praise... They think that's prayer. That's
not prayer. It's not prayer at all. They
assume because of their much speaking, because of their much
yelling, because of their much to do, that God hears them. And
that's not what Christ says. Hypocrisy of it all. This is
utter blasphemy. And I'll tell you what, a church
like that may be honored of this world. They may be recognized
by men as some holy church, but I guarantee this, they are not
recognized by God Almighty. And their prayers are nothing
more than vain, empty words and actions. If they are doing it
for the praise of men, Now, I'll tell you this, Jesus
is not speaking against public prayer. By no means is He speaking
against public prayer here. He says, pray in secret. But
I'll tell you this, even in public, friends, we are praying in secret.
You should be. When someone is praying, you
are hearing the words of that prayer, but those words should
be something that resonates in your own soul as you pray to
God as well. in your own heart. It's an intimate, private thing
to pray to God. And I'll tell you this, if we
include anyone in our prayers, it becomes vain words. Vain words. The moment we think about others
hearing our prayers or what we think or what they think, well,
what have we done but let them in the closet? We're to pray to God in secret.
We're to pray to God from the inmost parts of our soul. Jesus not speaking against public
prayer because he himself prayed in public. Remember the funeral
of Lazarus. Remember, he said, O Father,
I thank Thee. He began to praise and thank
God in the midst of those people. He prayed publicly. He prayed
publicly. The young church, when they were
gathered together, the Scripture says they were with all in one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women. Now let me ask
you this, how do you know that they weren't all speaking out
in prayer? Because it says that they were
praying with the women. What does the Scripture say about
women speaking out in public worship? We know that the Scriptures
forbid that. It forbids that in 1 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 12. It says that, let not the woman
usurp authority over the man, that she should keep silent in
the church, that she should not teach. You see, they were praying not
like modern people think a prayer service should be. They were
praying from the depths of their soul while Peter preached. And as I'm here tonight preaching
the gospel to you, I hope that your soul is engaged in prayer. It should be. It should be engaged
in prayer for yourselves and for me as I declare the Word
of God to you. You should be engaged in that. And see, I don't even have to
hear. That's something between you and the Lord. You are engaged
in worship. In prayers, you sit there. I heard this on a program one
time. I saw this. They were advertising
drive-thru prayers, where you didn't have time to pray. You
could just pull up in your car like through a bank teller, and
this lady would be in a window, and she would pray for you, and
you would just drive off after you finish. That sounds to me
like I'd much rather have a drive-thru marriage than drive-thru prayer. Friend, prayer is a very intimate
thing between you and God. It is a gift of God to His saints
that no matter where we are, no matter where our prayers are
offered, Or in what manner our prayers are offered. If you can't
help but speak sometimes. I know when I'm praying, sometimes
I can't help but speak. And sometimes my mouth is closed
and all I can do is groan within myself. Many times I don't even
speak at all. I think those things in prayer
to my God. It doesn't matter which way you
pray or how you pray or the manner of your prayers. They must be
offered from the soul, from the heart, from the seat of the affections
to God Himself in worship of Him, in worship of God. I tell you that if a man prays
in public, but he never prays in private time and spends time
alone with God, there's something wrong with his worship. If this
is the only place you pray, there's something wrong with your worship. If you don't spend time alone
with God, there is something wrong with that type of Christianity. There's something wrong with
that worship. Believers, let us pray more and not less. Let
us pray more. Let us be, as Paul says, instant
in prayer. Let us pray without ceasing.
That's a lot of praying, isn't it? To pray without ceasing. But my friends, that's what our
aim should be, to pray without ceasing, to never stop praying. Not to be respected of men, but
to commune with our God in intimate fellowship with Him alone. That
Pharisee and that publican, they went up to pray. The Pharisee
stood up and he prayed in the middle of a crowd. Where'd the
publican go? Where'd he go? Scripture says the publican standing
afar off, he found the most secluded place in the temple and he met
with God. He met with the Almighty. He met with Him because he had
a need. And I'll tell you this, a man
won't pray if he doesn't have a need. He don't have a need. Do you have a need? Oh, I have
a need of forgiveness of sin all the time. I have a need of
God's presence all the time. I have a need of God's deliverance
all the time. I have a need. And if you have a need, you'll
be like this publican, get along with God. Robert Hawker said,
a graceless person is a prayerless person. A graceless person is
a prayerless person. But the opposite of that is true.
A man is full of grace, he'll be full of prayer. He'll be full
of prayer. Why? Because he's full of needs.
He's full of needs. Let's look at verse 7 and verse
8. Jesus said, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the
heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. Be ye not therefore like unto them, for your Father
knoweth what things you have need of before you ask Him."
Jesus not only warns us of speaking for the applause of men and not to offer prayers from
our heart, but He tells us here that we are not to use and speak
in vain repetitions. Vain repetitions. I've been in churches where they
have prayer books. I don't know if you've seen those
or not. They have a book of prayers. I mean, not just one. They have
a thick book and they would tell you to turn to this page. Everybody
would stand up and everybody would say the exact same thing. And man, if you'd been in that
church for years, you'd know every prayer in that book. And
you'd just be saying it out of vain repetition. Empty words. And friends, they may be religious-sounding
words, but God does not hear a man because
of his much speaking, because of vain repetitions. When we come before God, we know
that our prayers are heard not because we pray long. I'll tell you this, I've been
tempted many times when I've stood up to pray and I didn't
have much to say, I was tempted to say more than I had to say."
But friends, we're not heard because we speak long prayers
or because we recite prayers. We are heard because of the blood
and righteousness of Christ alone. This is how men are heard. Go to Hebrews chapter 4. Flip
over there. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14. It says, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need." You see, believers approach
the throne of grace. You may boldly approach the throne
of grace. How? How is it that you can approach
the throne of grace and some cannot? Because we have a great
high priest. What was the job of the high
priest? What was the purpose of the high priest? It was to
intercede. It was to be the person in between,
to do the work of God, to offer the sacrifice so that our sins
would be pardoned, so that we would have access to God. We have a high priest. Believers
may approach the throne because of the great high priest, I'll
tell you this, none of us, no man anywhere could ever offer
prayers and worship to God in and of themselves. By their own works, by their
own merit, or by their own person, no man is able to approach unto
a holy God, much less approach boldly. Martin Luther said this,
I will have nothing to do with an absolute God in myself. I will have nothing to do...
Why would he say that? Because Martin Luther understood
who he was. I understand the same thing.
I know who I am. I'm a sinner. And what does the
Scripture say about that? David asked that question. He
said, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall
stand in His holy place? Can sinners stand in the holy
place? Can ungodly, unjust sinners approach
unto the hill of God? Scripture says no. Scripture
says no way. Psalm 1, verse 5 says, Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish. Friends, no man can approach
unto God or worship God without a mediator, without adaisement,
without someone to stand between. Us and God. And that way of righteousness
that the Lord knows. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous. What is the way of the righteous?
The way of the righteous is Jesus Christ. You see, he alone has
clean hands and a pure heart. How is it that we can approach
and intimately commune with worship God and our worship and our prayer
be accepted? How is that possible? Only by
Jesus Christ alone. You see, when we say in Jesus
name, that's not a magical incantation to our prayers. I know my children say it, that's
exactly how they do it. They say, in Jesus' name, Amen.
They have no idea what they just said. No clue. And most religious
folks don't have any clue what that means. But I'll tell you, it means this.
that anyone who stands before God, they must recognize that
anything that they have ever prayed, anything they have ever
offered to God in any thanksgiving or worship, any prayer request
that they have made known unto God, the only way God will hear,
the only way God will accept this is through the blood of
Jesus Christ alone and no other way. And this is why we say,
in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, hear my prayer, not because
of me, but because of Christ. Because of Christ. He's the way
that a sinner can approach unto God. Jesus Christ said, I am
the way, the only way, the only truth, and the only life. No man can approach unto God
but by me. I was talking to a man the other
day, and he said, well, Jesus Christ, that's good, that's a
way to God. Jesus Christ said, I am the only way to God. And
no man comes to God but by me. Either he's true, he's telling
the truth, or he's a liar. There's no middle ground here.
He is either the Christ, or he's a liar. There's no other way.
And friends, this is the very Son of God speaking. And He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life, and you will not approach
God but by Me. And so when we pray, we must
pray through Jesus Christ, through a Mediator. Through a Mediator. He is the
means by which men can pray and be accepted with God. It doesn't matter how men pray.
It doesn't matter what men pray. It doesn't even matter how sincere
men are in their prayers. If they are not coming by Christ,
then they are not heard of God. They are not accepted of God. Praise God we who believe not
pray in such a way. We who worship, truly worship
God in prayer, we come only by Jesus Christ. We come only before
Him, recognizing our inability and our inability to worship,
our sinful nature, and we recognize that our only acceptance comes
from Him. But praise God, we may have assurance
that we are accepted. If you come by Christ, you can
be definitely sure you are accepted. Friends, I want to make a distinct
sound, a very clear, un-muddied sound in this, that Jesus Christ,
He is the only way to be accepted. And if you are in Christ, you
are accepted of God. And your prayer is accepted.
Every prayer is accepted. Do you realize how precious your
prayers are to Him? I don't think we realize that.
I was reading this in Revelation
chapter 5 and verse 8. It tells us that our prayers
are like harps. Have you ever heard the sound
of a beautiful harp being played? It's so beautiful. God says our prayers are like
a vial full of odors, sweet smells. There's nothing like a sweet
smell. And God says, that's what your
prayers smell like to me. They're sweet. Why are they so
sweet? I know my prayers. I understand
what I'm praying. And I know how I feel. I feel
so weak. I feel so inadequate to pray
to God. You must not be talking about
my prayers. God is. Your prayers are accepted. Don't rely on your prayers being
accepted based on what you've done or the faith you have. Your prayers are accepted because
of Christ and that's it. In Revelation 8, verse 3, it
says that the prayers of the saints are sweet as incense. And they're pictured as incense. And the picture is this. The
angel is standing over the golden altar. And the smoke of the incense
is rising to God's nostrils. Well, we know this. that our
prayers are sweet to God's smell because of the righteousness
of Christ. They're accepted because He offered
Himself on the golden altar of His deity. And it says that the prayers
of the saints are in the hands of the angel. They're in Christ's
hands. They're in His hands. And they
are accepted with God. Believers, Many times we feel
like we don't pray as we should, and that our prayers have no
value. And sometimes we can't even speak, but we groan within
ourselves, seeking peace and deliverance, and feel at times
that God has abandoned us. My friends, let us forsake our
feelings and our thoughts about prayer. Let us, as the Scripture
says, hold fast to the profession of our faith, Jesus Christ our
High Priest. Let us pray with all prayer,
because Christ has accomplished our pardon. He has made us accepted
with God. And therefore, if our prayers
fall, if any of your prayers fall to the ground, it is because Christ has failed. But He didn't fail, and neither
will your prayers. Neither will your prayers fall
to the ground because God hears them, not because of you, but
because of Christ. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
That should encourage us to prayer more than anything else. It's
because they are accepted. Christ is successful. Now, does
this mean you'll get every temporal thing that you ask for? Absolutely
not. Absolutely not. There's no other children I love
more than my children. But they will not get everything
they ask for. Why? Because I don't think it's
good for them. And you know what? God is greater than me. Our Father
is greater than us in what it is to be a father. He will give
you what is good for you. And everything else, He'll say
no. You see, no prayer goes unanswered, but sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is no. And
that's good, because we don't know what to pray for as we ought
to. Isn't that what Paul said? He said, we don't know what we
ought to pray for. We pray for things we have no clue what it
would do to us in the end if we got it. God does. And in wisdom, He gives us exactly
what we need. and not always what we want. Friends, if our prayer is for
the glory and praise of God, if you pray for the will of God
to be done, I know this, your prayer will always be answered.
Because God's will is always done. That should be the object
of our prayer. That should be the subject of
our prayer, is what God wants. what God desires, and not so
much what we want or what we desire. The heart of every true believer
in prayer is that the will of God be done. Jesus said, not
my will be done, but thy will. Friends, pray for what you desire. Pray for what you need, what
you think you need. By all means, God's arm is not
shortened and He's not weak or tired like we are. My children
come to me once, I can listen two times, three times. Sometimes
I've got to have a break. But God's not like that. You
can go to God every second of the day and He's never going
to be tired of hearing you. You'll probably tire more in
prayer than He'll ever tire of hearing you pray. Take every
request unto God. and lay it at His feet. This
is the purpose of prayer, to worship God. And how do we pray? How do we get to the throne of
grace? Only by the blood of Christ. Only by the blood of Christ.
I pray that God would bless us through our hearts and strengthen
us. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.