Our message today is Christ teaching
concerning prayer. Christ teaching concerning prayer. It is one thing for you and I
to tell each other how it is we should approach God. But I
remind us that it's something else altogether for Christ Jesus
himself. the Son of God to teach us how
we should approach the Father. In this passage, as well as others,
our Lord expresses a great dislike for showmanship. He stresses genuineness. He stresses seriousness. He stresses humility. He addresses hypocrisy, vain pretenses. Our Lord has a great dislike
for showmanship. And I really hope I'm moving
in that direction myself. I've seen it so much through
the years with singers, with musicians, with preachers. I've seen preachers walk into
the pulpit with a briefcase. I mean, with enough on paper
to speak for a solid year, never sat down. Show. I've got sense enough to know
that people Even my favorite people like you are not going
to listen, but a few minutes, we just don't have the mentality
to take in a whole lot at a time. So what I have to say, I'm going
to say as concisely as I can this morning. And it's been a
while since we've talked about the subject of prayer, but I
need not say the subject of prayer is inexhaustible, inexhaustible. And so I want to mention a few
things this morning in the lessons of Christ here this morning.
No person can really pray apart from a keen sense of our need
for God's intervention in our lives daily. And to possess this
keen sense of our need is impossible apart from a right mindset of
our helplessness and our hopelessness in ourselves. I'm not interested in being around
people that know how to do it. You know? The Lord has never
required of us ability, only availability. We've been brainwashed to believe
we're not as bad off as the Bible says we are. And prayer in our day is understood
basically as the simple exercise of pleading, Lord, my will be
done. Not thy will, but my will. It's all so childish and so self-centered. There is no sacred jealousy for
God's glory in the whole business, and that's the missing element.
It is shocking to people to be told that their lives being trouble-free
is not God's chief objective. A lot of people think that and
are being told that, that God wants them not to have any problems. No financial problems, no physical
problems, no family problems, just all about you. But I'd remind
us that our God is chiefly occupied with and committed to bringing
Himself glory. of which he is absolutely worthy. The handbook on prayer for us
would be the book of Psalms. And while the Psalms do contain
many petitions, supplications, intercessions, what we find most
in reading the Psalms is that the writers are overwhelmingly
preoccupied with adoration, thanksgiving, and praise to God Himself. And until we are brought to a
strong conviction that God's glory is the chief thing and
not our happiness, until we pray as Christ did, not my will but
thine be done, then we need not even bother with the thought
of prayer, let alone the pretense of it. But it's God's glory that's
the chief thing. A.W. Pink said the popular belief
concerning prayer reduces God to a servant, our servant, doing
our bidding, performing our pleasure, granting our desires. He's right. And this has resulted in the
foolish idea that if we can ever pray just right and pray enough,
then our lives will be trouble-free. But the hard truth is that things
do go wrong. You will get sick. Cars will
break down. Roofs will leak. Children will go astray. Loved
ones will die. And it's important we understand
that. God is not so much glorified
in exempting us from these things as He is in carrying us through
these things. Consider Job and Daniel. Jeremiah, the Apostle Paul, and
all the saints of old. Contrary to modern thought, our
hope is not in a rapture. Our hope is in our Redeemer,
who may not deliver us from every storm, but He will deliver us
in every storm, which is far better. All right, let me give
us some things quickly here, about nine things we're going
to give you this morning before we go. Number one, any concept
of prayer that contradicts a single attribute of God is a wrong idea
about prayer. For instance, the attribute of
God's omniscience, the knowledge of all things. It's so important. And that gives us the understanding
that prayer does not inform God of anything. He who knows all can learn nothing. He cannot be informed. Verse
8 here in the text, our Lord says, Your father knoweth what
things you have need of before you ask him. So prayer does not
contradict God's omniscience. He knows and sees all. Prayer does not inform him. Then
there's the attribute of God's omnipotence, his power. We dare not pray as one man did
in the Gospel of Mark, Lord, if thou can't do anything, If
you can do anything. No, we know he can. We know he
can. His ability is without question. Then there's the attribute of
God's immutability, his unchanging nature. He said in Malachi 3,
6, I am the Lord. I change not. Once in the Old Testament, when
the Lord had purposed to judge Judah, the godly prophet Jeremiah
pleaded, as he had done many times, and the Lord said, that
won't do, Jeremiah. And the Lord named two very godly
men, Jeremiah 15.1, though Moses and Samuel stood before me. yet my mind could not be toward
this people." God is unchanging in His purpose. So, contrary
to most people's understanding, prayer does not change God's
mind about anything. We may ask then if prayer does
not inform God. If it does not change God's mind,
Then what is the purpose of it? Just hold on a few minutes. Number
two, we see in this text, in the words of our Lord himself,
that God's people do pray. Somebody said, well, I believe
God's people ought to pray. They do. Somebody else said,
I believe God's people ought to live right. They do. And the money guys say, I believe
God's people ought to give. They do. God's people pray. Look at the
repetition of the word when, verse five, and when thou prayest. Verse six, but thou, when thou
prayest. Verse seven, but when you pray,
it's never if, but when the Lord's people pray. You say, well, I don't pray like
I ought to. Join the club. But the Lord's people pray. Number
three, prayer is not necessarily speaking audibly to the Lord. David said in Psalm 25, 1, unto
thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul? Not my voice only, but my soul. Remember in the book of first
Samuel chapter one, the story of Hannah, the old priest Eli
is watching Hannah praying. And the Bible said, she spake
in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. You see, it is the heart that
must reach out to God in prayer. It's not important that you be
heard of men a half a mile away. When prayer is from the heart,
it may or may not be with words. John Bunyan wrote this, real
prayer may be heart without words, but it cannot be words without
heart. Now that hits home, don't it? John Blanchard, another writer,
said this, praying is much more difficult than saying words to
God. We must agonize as well as organize. All right, number four. What
is meant here in verse 6 by the term closet? Look what our Lord
said, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet. I know
what some of you are thinking, you can't get in your closet.
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. We understand that it does not
refer to a closed closet. I've often heard this explained
as any secret place, a private room, somewhere out in the woods,
driving along in your car. All that's all right, but that's
not the picture here. The closet here means secret
chamber. Closet here is the secret chamber
of the heart. Where all is exposed and nothing
is hidden. Talk to God in there. Take God
in there. Certainly you would not want
to expose what's in your heart to everyone. But you must open it up to Him
with no pretense, no pretense of being anything more than you
are, no pretense of being anything better than what you are, because
He knows the truth about you anyway. He is not interested
in show. The Bible has so much to say
about hypocrisy, about pride, about arrogance, And I talk a lot about, I talk
to you a lot about this, about hypocritically stuff. And you
know what I do? Every time I turn around, I catch
myself being one. I'm honest. Well, the Bible says a broken
and contrite heart he will not despise. What we call a broken heart is
that overwhelming feeling of grief that we feel when things
don't go to suit us. The grief we feel over being
hurt or seeing others hurt when we say my heart is broken. But it's a brokenness over our
sin that we need to feel when we come before God. It's to be weary and heavy laden
with the load of our sin. Let me just say this, a certain mark,
a certain mark of human depravity is that even though we've been
quickened to life by the Spirit of God, it does not come natural
to be brokenhearted over your sin. It does not come natural. Matter of fact, the pride in
us won't even confess that our sins are deliberate rather than
accidental. We're hypocrite enough to say,
I fell into sin, knowing that the truth is you
dived in. You say, no, I just accidentally
fell in. No, you jumped in. See, I'm telling
you, we're a pitiful lot. Being honest with God is the
only hope for us. We're so good at excusing ourselves for everything. If it's something I don't like
and you like it, I can tell you right quick, boy, that's low
down, that's sorry, that's sin. I ain't got no use for anybody
to do anything like that. But if it's something I like, then
I guess it's okay. Nothing wrong with that. You
know, that's how we are. That's how we are. Look what he said here. Go into
your closet. Get inside yourself. Don't worry about how your voice
sounds. Don't worry about picking your
words, organizing. Don't worry about how your hair
looks and all that. Get inside yourself. Shut the door on everyone except
the Lord. Be quiet. Be still. Wait for Him. Wait for Him. Our Lord used the word secret
here a couple of times. The prophet Daniel in Daniel
10 was not alone, but he said, I alone saw the vision. Ezekiel. Chapter 1 was not alone, but
Ezekiel alone saw the vision. John on the Isle of Patmos was
not the only one, but John alone saw the vision. Why? They weren't looking out all
around them. They were searching in their own hearts for God. It's what the psalmist said.
Oh, I searched for him. Job said it. I looked for him.
Couldn't find him. That's the value of prayer. We need so desperately this exercise
of soul called prayer. It's not just reading off your
wish list to Santa Claus. That's not it. It's therapy for the soul. The old Scottish preacher Alexander
McLaren said, solitude is the mother country of the strong. What about that saying? Solitude
is the mother country of the strong. Time alone with God will bring
you to a life of contentment with whatever he does or don't
do. Acquaintance with Him will bring
contentment to your heart with Him alone. For some of you right now, the
thought of really being alone with God is a terror to you. It could be a joy. How long has it been since you've
taken the time, shut yourself up, been totally honest with God
about you? You say, I don't know how. Knowing
how is not the problem. The desire is the problem. Not having the desire is the
problem. Don't lie about it. We don't
pray much because we don't want to pray much. Be honest. Okay, let me hurry. Number five. God is a spirit. He'll meet you where you are.
Nowhere else. He won't meet you where you're
not. And pretend you are. He'll meet
you where you are. and he'll understand the language
you speak, nothing else. He does not accept registered
letters, phone calls, emails, or text messages. He's open for
live interviews only with his children, one-on-one. Formalities are not important
with your father. He knows you. It's you He loves, not your performance. It doesn't help to scream. His
ears are keen. Our Father is not listening for
professional orations. He is listening for Cries of
desperation from his children. You've all heard this and know
this. A mother in the house, kids outside playing. They can
scream, holler, do anything. She'll just pay
no attention. But if one of them gets hurt, that's a different sound. It's
a different, it's a different note. And here
she'll come. Our father is like that. He's
not interested in our show of religion. They've been people doing that
long time before we got here and he's, he's sick of it. Wouldn't it be good if we'd get
sick of it? He's not looking for performance
or professionalism. Our Lord is listening with His
keen ear for cries of distress, cries
of desperation from His children. Number six, we need not be hesitant
to approach God with the intimate title which our Lord prescribes
here, Our Father, Our Father. Is that hard for you to say? Because of our sins and our guilt
and our shame, we feel that we must address Him as some far-off,
distant, an unacquainted deity. But Christ said, you pray after
this manner, you say, our Father. Our Father knows us. Our Father loves us. Our Father
cares about us. And the fact is, it's not our
unfaithfulness that shuts us out. It's our untruthfulness. It's our denial. Any father who truly loves his
children wants one thing, the truth. When I was young, I got this
line. I'm sure many of you did. Whatever you've done, just tell
me the truth. Praying is no place for lying. Be honest with God. Y'all were
listening or asleep, I don't know which. Number seven. Note
the family relationship here. The family relationship. He's
the father of all his children. I've heard men pray publicly
and say, my father, that's not what Christ tells us to do. After this manner, therefore
pray ye and say, our father, our father. There is here the
important realization that you're not an only child in God's family. God is not your Father exclusively,
only you. Our relationship with Him also
belongs to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We're
a family. And that will help you not to
go to the Father with the idea of getting some brother or sister
kicked out of the house. He won't do it. They're His children
too. Number eight, there's the acknowledgement
of His position in glory. Our Father, which art in heaven. Not simply heaven as a place,
but as a realm. He, our Father, is clearly above
this world's limitations and changes. and imperfections and
disappointments. And our embracing Him as He is
works to free us, free us from ourselves, free us from the oppressive
attachment to this world. It's worth a lot to pray. Number nine, there is a perfect
order of the sevenfold petitions of this prayer. We don't have
time to explore each of these this morning, but I want to show
you this. I would have us see the structure of the whole. The
first three petitions concern God's glory. Hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done. So the first order of business
is His name. Hallowed be thy name. His kingdom, thy kingdom come. His will, thy will be done. How selfish and how sinful it
is to go to God all worked up and all consumed with self, as
if to say, Lord, this is all about me. I don't care about
your glory, and I don't care about anybody else. I'm here
with me in mind." Christ said, no, you come first with an interest
in His name, His kingdom, His will. First things first. Then and then only follows the
four petitions concerning us. Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation. Deliver us from evil. God's glory is put first, then
us. And Christ concludes the model
prayer here with this beautiful doxology, verse 13. He says,
for, meaning because, on account of this fact, We make these petitions
in this order, for Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory
forever. Amen. Oh, Lord, give us a heart
to pray. And that's the only way we can.
Lord, give us a heart to cry to You over the condition of
our own hearts. You say, but I'm better than
so-and-so. I'm better than... Forget about the better than.
Forget about the better than. Who in this world would you want
to compare yourself with anyhow? Christ is the standard. Lord, give us a heart to cry
out to You over our children, over our homes, over our loved
ones, over our church, May we find in you, O Lord, as did Noah,
grace, grace. That's our need and mercy and
mercy from the Lord. I remind us again, you'll often
see this prayer in print with the title of the Lord's Prayer.
This is not the Lord's prayer in the sense that it's the prayer
He prayed. If you want to read His prayer, you can turn to John
17. But this is a prayer, a model prayer. This is a prayer He gave
to the disciples. In Luke's account, He gives this
in answer to their question, Lord, teach us to pray. And we
all should ask that. Lord, teach us to pray. Not teach
us how to pray, but teach us to pray. There are things in this passage
we've looked at this morning, in this model prayer, that he
could not pray. Forgive us our debts. He didn't
have any. Trespass his sins. He didn't have any to be forgiven.
So this is not his prayer. This is the way He's teaching
us to pray. You don't find the word me either.
It's us. Us. A family matter. We're in this together. Our Father.
Our Father. I just wanted to share those
thoughts with us on prayer this morning. Asking the Lord to work
in us a heart. to pray, not just to get things from him,
no, but that he might mold, mature,
work in our hearts that we so greatly need. Let's stand together.