Go with me, if you would, to
Matthew 6 again. Matthew chapter 6. Last Sunday morning, we looked
at what our Lord had to say in the first four verses of this
chapter on giving. And tonight, I would like to
Approach this as another study. We had a, a Bible study on that,
and I want to approach this as a study on what the Lord has
to say about prayer. I want to know, and I want to
hear what the Lord has to say about prayer. I need to know,
and I need to hear what the Lord has to say about prayer. It's important to point out that
the Lord is speaking to His people here. What He has to say, He
is saying it to His people. This Sermon on the Mount begins
by saying that the Lord sat down and said to His people. So He's
speaking to those who have been chosen and have been adopted
and have been called to a union and a fellowship with Christ.
That's who He's speaking to. And he says to them in verse
five, Matthew six, verse five, 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. Do you know why he's warning
us of that? It's because in our flesh, we are so prone to that. We are so, so very prone to that
very thing, even though we belong to Him. Our weak and sinful flesh
is still so prone to pride and self-righteousness. It just is. And, but for the grace of God,
we would do that very thing every time we pray. Every single time. Verse five says, 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. Lord help us. Isn't that what
we say? Lord, help us. One response to
that is, can you believe men do that? Yeah, I can believe
it. Lord, help us. Please, please
help us. Keep us from that. I've been
thinking about all of us in our prayer, and I've been praying
for us. I prayed for me tonight. Lord,
I'm gonna have to pray in front of everybody. Help me. Please
help us. Keep us from that. Spare us by
restraining us. That's my prayer. Restrain us
from ruining every good and perfect gift that you've given to us.
Everything that you do. That's what prayer is. It's a
gift from God to us. That's what prayer is. Lord, let us not consume your
gift on our lust. That's what the flesh does. Let
us not take this precious gift that you've given to us. Let us not take it and use it
to glorify ourselves with it and to glorify our pride with
it. Trying to be seen of men, trying
to be seen of men. Lord, keep me from that. Keep
us from that. Because the end of verse five,
he said, they have their reward. If that's what we do, we have
our reward. So verse six, he said, but thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in
secret, shall reward thee openly. He is not saying that you literally
have to get into a closet. What he's saying is, get alone
with God. That's what he's saying. Get
alone with God, literally in a place where no one else is.
In a place where you can't hear anybody and nobody can hear you
and you won't be influenced and you won't be distracted by trying
to pray to God and them. And those of you who have prayed
publicly know what that means. You understand what that means?
Knowing people are listening. Lord, help us to get alone with
you. Help us to get alone with you and sincerely pour out our
heart to you. That is something that our Lord
did all the time. The scripture says that our Lord
constantly went apart to pray. He would put the disciples in
a ship and send them out on the sea, and then he would go up
into a mountain alone to pray. He prayed alone. In Gethsemane,
when he took Peter, James, and John, he said, you stay here.
I'm going to go further and pray. Quite often he prayed alone,
but that's not the only way that he prayed. And that does not mean that we
shouldn't have public prayer. Our Lord prayed many times openly
out loud for the disciples to hear. He prayed at Lazarus's
tomb and he physically said, I am praying this out loud for
their sake so they can hear this. He was with His disciples when
He prayed His high priestly prayer in John 17. He said, I'm praying for them.
He prayed the night He was betrayed when He instituted the ordinance
of the Lord's table. It says, when He had given thanks,
He broke the bread and He said, take, eat, this is my body broken
for you. And turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
chapter 14. First Corinthians 14, the Apostle
Paul here is teaching the importance of having an interpreter for
different tongues. That's what he's dealing with.
But he used public prayer to get his point across. All right?
First Corinthians 14, verse 13, he said, wherefore, let him that
speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For
if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding
is fruitful. Meaning if nobody else speaks
my language, I'm praying, but they don't understand what I'm
saying. Verse 15, what is it then? I will pray with the spirit
and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit
and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless
with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the
unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth
not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks
well, but the other is not edified." So just to be clear on it, public
prayer is a vital component of our worship. But this is what
we cry when we do it. We cry, Lord, teach us and help
us with whatever ability you'll
give. Even as a congregation together,
help us to get alone in that closet with you, even if it's
the whole congregation, and that's If I could pass along one thing
to anyone who has to pray publicly, I would say this, ask the Lord
to help you get alone in that closet with Him. Nothing else matters. When we
pray publicly, we're praying on behalf of everybody listening.
When we pray privately, we're, Lord, this is me to you. When
we pray publicly, It's on behalf of everybody listening. Lord,
I'm the voice on behalf of everybody listening. But even so, let us
not pray to be seen of men. Let us get alone in that closet
and speak directly to you. Now hold your place right here
in 1 Corinthians 14 and go back to Matthew 6. Verse 5 says, And 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 thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret. and thy father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly. But when you pray, use not vain
repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking." That verse convicts all of God's
people. That verse right there, it convicts
all of God's people because all of us feel like all that we do
is repeat the same thing to Him over and over again. That's what
we feel like. All of us do. We just feel like
we're repeating the same things over and over. If anybody feels
that way, I do. In my public prayer, Me, you know. My private prayer
too. But I believe the Lord shed a
little light on this, and I've never seen this before. And this
has been a huge relief and a huge blessing to me concerning this.
This has sincerely helped me. I mean this, and I hope this
helps you too. If we carefully think about what our Lord said
right here, if we really carefully think about what He said, He
did not say, don't use repetition. He didn't say that. He said,
don't use vain repetition. Vain means empty, careless. That's what it means, just empty,
careless repetition. He did not say that we could
not beg repeatedly for the same things over and over again. He did not say that at all. As
a matter of fact, He encourages us to do that. Let me show you
that in Luke 18. Turn with me to Luke 18. Luke 18, verse 1, He spake a
parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray
and not to faint. Pray without ceasing. Pray, pray,
pray. And maybe I'll say it this way. Go ahead and jump to your last
resort. Go ahead and jump to that thing
that we forget about. And it's always like, oh yeah,
I forgot to pray about it. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear
because we forget to pray. Honestly, if we would pray, Lord,
would you lead me on this? We're about to hear the Lord
say that. Lord, would you guide me on this? Lord, we know this
is in your hands. Would you give me some peace
to trust you through this? But he's saying in verse one,
always pray and don't faint. Verse two, saying there was in
a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And
there was a widow in that city. And she came unto him saying,
avenge me of mine adversary. That's what she wanted. Would
you avenge me of mine adversary? And he would not for a while.
But afterward he said within himself, though I fear not God
nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, she keeps
coming asking for the exact same thing. Would you avenge me? Would
you avenge me? Verse five. Yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming
she weary me. And the Lord said, hear what
the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect,
which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with
them? I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Will he find men
and women still looking to Christ, still crying out to him for all
their hope and all their need before God? Pray without ceasing. Always pray, and here's why I
tell you. Again, we're about to, if I can
get ahead of myself here, the Lord knows what things we have
need of before we ask. We're not telling Him anything.
We're not notifying Him of anything. Prayer is a response to God's
work in a person. Prayer is the gift of God. And
it's not our prayer that accomplishes things. It's the evidence of
the fact that God has accomplished something and will accomplish
things. And if God gives us a heart to
pray for, and I'll use the example of somebody we know who does
not know the truth, pray for them continually, continually,
weary the throne of the Lord with prayer for that person.
Not because it will influence the Lord, but because it may
be the evidence of what the Lord is purposed to do. Pray without ceasing. Pray without
ceasing. So the Lord is not condemning
number one public prayer. And he's not condemning repeated
requests, not at all. But He is telling us to do both
in a fervent sincerity in our heart, a fervent sincerity. Now, if you'll flip back to 1
Corinthians 14, if you're holding it there, go back to 1 Corinthians
14. The Apostle Paul pointed out
that it doesn't take many words to convey this sincere cry to
the Father. Verse 18, 1 Corinthians 14, verse
18. He said, I thank my God I speak
with tongues more than ye all. Yet in the church I had rather
speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach
others also. than 10,000 words in an unknown
tongue. And we can say the same thing
about fervent heart prayer. In regard to vain repetition,
we are better off, and I'm being serious. I'm being serious. We are very self-conscious about
our praying. When we're alone with the Lord,
we pray like we pray, and we may even apologize for our prayer,
but in public, we're so self-conscious. The Lord has gifted some men
to pray. He just has. He has gifted some
men to pray. take care of the grounds of a
building, and he's gifted some men to preach, and he's gifted
some men to who knows what, but he has gifted some men to pray.
And so we hear those men pray, and we think, well, I can't pray
like he prays. Well, is that really, does that
really matter? Prayer is not a competition. Prayer is not, it's irrelevant. It's completely irrelevant. It
has nothing to do with man. And I want to say to all of us,
if you are called on to pray, if you have everybody over in
your home and we're about to eat dinner, and as the man of
that house, you call on the Lord to give thanks in prayer, you're
better off giving five words with heart. than a long drawn
out. I think about that as I pray.
I try to not pray long prayers. I try to get to the point in
the heart, but sometimes I realize they do drag out and I'm, you
know, I don't, I apologize to men for that. Maybe the Lord
will help me, but do you understand what I'm saying? Don't feel self-conscious
if you pray. Dear Lord, we are so thankful
for all your mercy and grace to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.
To him be glory, amen. That's all I need. That's all
we need. It's better to have five words
with heart than just going on and on and on with vain repetition. Empty words. Peter cried the
most needful prayer that a sinful man could ever cry. It only took
three words. Lord, save me. In ten words, our Lord cried
the greatest prayer a sinner could ever hear. This is what
he said. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. On behalf of his people, he prayed
these eight glorious words. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Judge me. And then he bowed his head and
gave up the ghost. So this is a heart issue. This is a heart, whether it's
public or private. It's sincere communication to
God. If something is really burdening
us, I mean really burdening us, do you ever feel like it's so
important you're not giving enough words to Him? Have you ever felt
that way? I have. I've felt before this
is so important and so needful. I feel like I need to give you
more words. Words is not it. It's heart. It's heart. So go back to our text, Matthew
6. Our Lord said, remember as you
pray, as you pray, look at the end of verse eight. He said,
your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask
him. He said in verse eight, be not
ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what
things you have need of before you ask him. He said, pray in
sincerity, knowing that the one you're praying to He knows best
and He's going to do right. He knows best and He's going
to do right. So pray in faith in this way,
verse 9. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye, not necessarily these words, but not necessarily not these
words. If you mean these words in the
sincerity of your heart, there's nothing wrong with repeating
these words, nothing wrong at all. But in this way, with this
heart and this attitude, approach God saying, verse nine, our father,
which art in heaven. How glorious that is. How glorious
that is, when we talk to him, we can talk to him as our father. We come in reverence, no doubt
about it. We come in fear, no doubt about
it. He went on to say, hallowed be
that name. That means holy, holy, holy. We come in reverence, we come
in fear, but we also come in the comfort and the peace of
knowing that we're coming to our father. The one who pities
his children, and knows our frame and remembers that we're dust.
That's who we're coming to. And we can come knowing that
we're welcome. We're welcome with our Father.
Welcome. Turn over a page to Matthew 7,
verse 7. It says, ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh
findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man
is there of you whom if his son ask bread will he give him a
stone? Or if he ask a fish will he give him a serpent? If you
then being evil, Know how to give good gifts unto your children.
How much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good
things to them that ask him? So when you go to him, go to
him in the sincerity of the secret place of your heart, knowing
and believing that he's your father who loved you and chose
you and gave you to Christ to redeem with his own blood. All
right, back in Matthew 6, verse 9 says, After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come. He's saying pray with desire. Pray with desire. That's a good
word. to describe this holy, sincere enthusiasm. Pray with desire. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. That's what
we want. That's what we desire. And we
truly do. We truly do. Whatever the situation
may be, Lord, we want your will. We want your will to be done.
That's what we desire. Let me show you something in
Psalm 95. This is just such a wonderful psalm. Psalm 95, verse 1, it says, O
come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For
the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In His hand
are the deep places of the earth, the strength of the hills is
His also. The sea is His, and He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship
and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is
our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep
of His hand." We're your people. and we want to be with you. Come
quickly, Lord. Thy kingdom come." That's desire. Desire. Go back to Matthew 6. Verse 10 says, "...thy kingdom
come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Verse 11,
He said, "...give us this day our daily bread." When we come
to Him, I want to tell Kingsport this. I do. I want the men and
women of this world to know this. When we come to our Father in
sincerity, with desire, we need to come in honesty, absolute
open honesty. We need to come to Him as the
beggars that we are. Men and women do not come to
Him that way, not naturally. But if we're going to come in
sincerity, we're going to have to come as the beggars that we
are. I've told you this many times. This is a true statement. Preaching
is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.
That's true. That's what preaching is. Well,
praying is actually begging for that bread. Preaching is telling beggars
who they need to beg from. Praying is all those beggars
begging. That's what we're doing. That's
what we're doing, and that's what we are. We're beggars crying,
Lord, please give us this day our daily bread. We are such
beggars. Most importantly, Lord, give
us that spiritual bread. Give us that heavenly bread.
Give us Christ the bread. Our nourishment, our sustainment,
our fulfillment. That's the one thing needful.
Christ the bread, man cannot live by bread alone, but every
word that he gives. So verse 11 says, give us this
day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. In light of being honest and
sincere, we need to go to him as sinners. We need to go to
him as sinners. We must go to him as the sinners
that we are. It is a great error I'm telling
you it's a great error to go to Him as an equal or as someone
who is worthy to go to Him. That's how men and women go to
Him. I told you this a long time ago,
but there's a dear, dear woman, a believer who I just love very
much, and she lives in another place, attends another church,
Her brother was in the hospital and she went to go visit him.
And while she was there, her brother's pastor came to come
visit him, who was a lady. And the whole time that she was
there, this dear sister of ours said, that woman was just so
obnoxious and just so self-righteous and just so arrogant. Everything
she said was just ugh. So she got ready to leave and
she said, all right, everybody bow your head, I'm gonna pray.
And she said, God, it's me. And as soon as our sister heard
that, she thought, get me out of this room. Boy, you talk about
dangerous. Whether men say it that way or
not, that's how the flesh of natural men and women go approach
this holy and revering God. And I want to tell people, you
don't want to do that. We need to come lowly, humbly,
begging as the sinners that we are. We dare not approach Him in that
arrogance, thinking, I'm worthy to come. Here I am. God forbid, God forbid. We come to Him humbly, acknowledging
this, verse 13, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. Lord, we acknowledge we are helpless,
lost, bound sinners in need of a Savior. We're in need of Christ to lead
us and deliver us. That's what we come to Him for,
lead us, lead us, deliver us. We are totally dependent on Him. And that's how we come crying
to the Father. We're saying, Lord, our only
hope is that Christ has led captivity captive. Our only hope is that
we're gonna be delivered from going down to the pit because
you found a ransom in the person of your son. That's the only
hope that we have. So verse 13 says, lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This is what he said. He said,
close your prayer by acknowledging to the father that everything
is in his hand. Everything. It is all in his
ability. It is all in his power to do
it. Don't you love how that leper
came to him saying, Lord, if you will, you can. The Lord came to those blind
men and they said, we want to receive our sight. And he said,
do you believe I'm able to do this? They said, yay, Lord, we
believe you're able. You mean you really believe he's
able to make a blind man see? Yep. That's what He so chooses
to do. That's His will. That's what
He purposes to do. It's His ability. It's His power.
He's able to do it if He wants to. And in saying amen, the last
word that He gave, in saying amen, we're saying, it is our
joy to glorify you for all of this. It is our joy to glorify
you in everything you've done for us. 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 forever. And that's what
we're going to say for all eternity. Thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen. All right. Let's all stand together.