Sermon Tone Analysis

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.

For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them.

For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father 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 forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

James 5.16

EFFECTUAL PRAYER—occurs in Authorized Version, James 5:16.

EFFECTUAL PRAYER—occurs in Authorized Version, James 5:16.

Authorized Version, James 5:16

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.

For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them.

For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father 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 forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

proposed by Elijah, 1 Kin.

18:24–39.

Judges 6.36-40

1 Kings 18.24-39

Judg.

6:36–40

36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

38 And it was so.

When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”

40 And God did so that night.

It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Matt.

26:39, 42, 44

, , 44

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

2 Chr.

1:10–12.

The

6:5–15 (Luke 11:2–4).

Jesus then spoke about the practice of prayer, which the Pharisees loved to perform publicly.

Rather than making prayer a matter between an individual and God, the Pharisees had turned it into an act to be seen by men—again, to demonstrate their supposed righteousness.

Their prayers were directed not to God but to other men, and consisted of long, repetitive phrases (Matt.

6:7).

Jesus condemned such practices.

Prayer should be addressed to your Father, who is unseen (cf.

John 1:18; 1 Tim.

1:17) and who knows what you need (Matt.

6:8); it is not “to be seen by men.”

But Jesus also presented a model prayer for His disciples to follow.

This prayer is commonly called “the Lord’s Prayer,” but it is actually “the disciples’ prayer.”

This prayer, which is repeated by many Christians, contains elements that are important for all praying: (1) Prayer is to begin with worship.

God is addressed as Our Father in heaven.

Worship is the essence of all prayer.

(In vv.

1–18 Jesus used the word “Father” 10 times!

Only those who have true inner righteousness can address God in that way in worship.)

(2) Reverence is a second element of prayer, for God’s name is to be hallowed, that is, revered (hagiasthētō).

(3) The desire for God’s kingdom—Your kingdom come—is based on the assurance that God will fulfill all His covenant promises to His people.

(4) Prayer is to include the request that His will be accomplished today on earth as it is being accomplished in heaven, that is, fully and willingly.

(5) Petition for personal needs such as daily food is also to be a part of prayer.

“Daily” (epiousion, used only here in the NT) means “sufficient for today.”

(6) Requests regarding spiritual needs, such as forgiveness, are included too.

This implies that the petitioner has already forgiven those who had offended him.

Sins (cf.

Luke 11:4), as moral debts, reveal one’s shortcomings before God.

(7) Believers recognize their spiritual weakness as they pray for deliverance from temptation to evil (cf.

James 1:13–14).

Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:14–15 explain His statement about forgiveness in verse 12. Though God’s forgiveness of sin is not based on one’s forgiving others, a Christian’s forgiveness is based on realizing he has been forgiven (cf.

Eph.

4:32).

Personal fellowship with God is in view in these verses (not salvation from sin).

One cannot walk in fellowship with God if he refuses to forgive others.

6:16–18.

Fasting was a third example of Pharisaic “righteousness.”

The Pharisees loved to fast so that others would see them and think them spiritual.