Learning to Pray from Jesus

Matthew 6:5-15

Hey church, for the next several weeks we are going to embark on a series of studies on Prayer and Fasting. I don’t think I have taught a series on Prayer since we started The Bridge, so this is long overdue!

Of all the Spiritual Disciplines, the two most important are Prayer and Scripture.  Prayer is how we talk to God, and Scripture is how God talks with us.  They go together like a hand and glove. Unless you are devoted to spending time in the Word and Prayer regularly and consistently, you will not have a vibrant relationship with God.  Martin Luther once said, “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.” And this came from a man who said he had so much to do that he had to spend the first three hours of his day in prayer!

So, what is prayer?  The simplest and most basic definition is “talking with God.”  Prayer is communion with God.  It is to have fellowship with God.

The truth is, that most Christians are really terrible at prayer.  During the 1980’s more than 17,000 members of a major evangelical denomination were surveyed about their prayer habits while attending seminars on prayer for spiritual awakening. Because they attended this kind of seminar, we can assume these people are above average in their interest in prayer. Yet, the surveys revealed that they pray an average of less than 5 minutes each day. There were 2,000 pastors and wives at these same seminars. By their own admission, they pray less than 7 minutes a day (taken from The Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life, by Donald Whitney).

My goal in these studies, is to help all of us grow and deepen our prayer lives. Please know, that the point of these studies is NOT just to collect more knowledge about prayer.  It is to motivate you to actually pray.

As I thought about prayer, and where in the Scripture we should go to learn about prayer, it struck me that there is no better person to teach us about prayer than Jesus.  So, we are going to learn about prayer this morning from the lips of the Master Himself.  Let’s turn to Matthew 6:15-15.

Let’s read the text.

5“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

¹⁴ For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

This morning, we are just going to go straight through the passage, verse by verse, and glean as much about prayer as we can.

6:5-6    Pray Differently from the Hypocrites

• “when you pray”. Also, 6:6,7.  What does that phrase teach you?  (prayer is expected)
• Who does Jesus give as an example of how we should NOT pray? (the hypocrites)
• What are they doing wrong when it comes to prayer? (they were praying to be seen by men)
• How should we pray differently from the hypocrites? (instead of trying to be seen of men, we should go into our inner rooms and pray in secret)
• If we will pray in this way, what will our Father do for us?

6:7-8    Pray Differently from the Gentiles

• How should we pray differently from the “Gentiles”? (don’t use meaningless repetition)
• How are we sometimes guilty of using meaningless repetition? (hail Marys, our Fathers, or “Praise God” or “Glory to God” all through prayers without even thinking about what we are saying)
• Why do these Gentiles use repetition in their prayers? (they suppose they will be heard for their many words).
• Why do we not have to use many words in prayer? (because God already knows what we need before we ask Him)

6:9       Pray for God’s Name

• Is Jesus teaching us a prayer that we are to memorize and repeat, or giving us a pattern to follow? (in this way – a pattern. In Lk. 11:2 – a form)
• Who does Jesus teach us to pray to? (our Father). What is significant about that? (OT saints did not pray to Jehovah as Father. This is new. Familiar, intimate)
• “Who is in heaven” – what is the significance of that? (Father could cause us to be too casual and flippant in prayer.  Who is in heaven helps us to show the reverence and fear that is due God)
• “Hallowed be Your name” – what does that phrase mean? Hallowed = holy, set apart. God’s name is set apart from every other name. He is holy, pure, righteous, and different from every other creature in this world. His Name stands supreme above all others!)
• Is this a declaration of praise, or a petition. Are we declaring or asking?  (petition – not “hallowed IS your name”)
• When we pray for God’s Name to be hallowed, what are we really asking? (for His name to be reverenced, honored, admired, esteemed, valued and treasured. God’s people are pleading and yearning that God would cause His Name to be honored, cherished, reverenced, loved and admired in the earth.)
• What do we call it when we hallow God’s name? (worship!)
• Do you believe there is any significance to the fact that Jesus taught us to pray this first?
• Are you praying this petition on a regular basis?

6:10     Pray for God’s Kingdom and Will

• What does it look like for God’s Kingdom to come? (Mt.12:22-28.  God’s kingdom is the realm of His rule and reign. When His Kingdom comes, His will is performed, and the atmosphere of heaven comes to earth. His character pervades.)
• What significance does “on earth as it is in heaven” have? What would it look like for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? (heaven on earth! Perfect holiness, peace, righteousness, joy in the Holy Spirit – Rom.14:17)
• Are you praying these petitions on a regular basis?

6:11     Pray for Food

• What specifically does Jesus teach us to pray for? (the bread we need for today)
• What category would daily bread fall into? (our needs, not our wants)
• How are the first 3 petitions different from the last 3 petitions? (first 3 concern God:  His Name, Kingdom and Will.  Last 3 concern us:  our food, forgiveness, and freedom)

6:12     Pray for Forgiveness

• When we trusted Christ, all our sins were forgiven, including future sins. Does that mean we don’t need to ask for forgiveness? Why or why not?
• What is the difference between judicial and parental forgiveness? (judicial forgiveness has to do with removing the punishment for sin. Parental forgiveness has to do with the restoring of the relationship which was damaged because of sin.  We don’t need to ask for forgiveness after we are saved in order to be justified again. But we do need to ask for forgiveness after we are saved to be restored to fellowship with God)
• What does “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” tell you? Can a Christian have fellowship with God if he is unwilling to forgive others?  Why or why not?
• How important is it for us to forgive others? (It is vital!).  See 6:14-15

6:13     Pray for Freedom

• What does Jesus mean by “Do not lead us into temptation?” (main idea is that we want God to enable us to avoid temptations and lead us away from evil)
• Deliver us from the evil one (alternate translation). What does that petition imply? (there are areas in which Satan has some kind of a hold on us, and we are praying to be free from his influence and power – Eph.4:26-27)
• Why do we end our prayer by saying “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” (Because it reminds us that He has the power to bring all these requests to pass. He can answer these prayers!)

Conclusion

• What one truth did the Holy Spirit cause to stand out to you today?

• Do you have a prayer life? If not, get that right today! If not communing with God daily through Scripture and prayer, get that right before try to do work for God!

• How will you apply that truth this week?

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