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When You Pray
Matthew 6:5-15 | Shaun LePage | August 13, 2006
I.
Opening
A. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus said, “*Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven*.”
He then went on to give three specific examples: Giving, praying and fasting.
Today, we look at the second example: praying.
B. As I prepared for today I asked myself, “What response does God desire from those who will listen to this message?”
I decided it was not guilt.
Certainly not boredom.
Not just the recognition of the need to be more obedient.
I believe God’s desired response to the passage of Scripture we will look at today is a sense of privilege.
A renewed appreciation for the great privilege we have as believers to pray.
When we pray, we make personal contact with the Lord and King of all that exists.
What activity, what use of your time can compare with prayer?
Martin Lloyd Jones called it “the highest activity of the human soul.”
C. What we find in Matthew 6:5-15 are the most significant words ever spoken about prayer.
They came from the lips of the greatest Pray-er in all of history.
Jesus not only prayed constantly when He walked on earth, but He constantly intercedes for us now (Romans 8:34).
Let Him teach you this morning about prayer.
II.
Body: Matthew 6:5-15
A. Don’t pray with the wrong motivation: Man-focused.
(v.5)
1. *vs.5 “When you pray you are not to be like the hypocrites…” *How do the hypocrites pray?
Keep reading.
“…*for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.” *There it is again.
In the first four verses of this chapter, Jesus said, “Don’t give…so that you may be seen by men,” and here He tells us not to pray so that “you may be seen by men.”
That’s pride.
That’s a man-focused motivation.
2. This type of prayer is *“like the hypocrites.”*
The word “hypocrite” was a transliteration of the word for a Greek actor.
Someone who was pretending to be something he isn’t.
Someone who prays to be “*seen by men*” is not the righteous person he wants people to think he is.
3. Jesus told us how valuable that kind of prayer is: *“Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
*The reward was no reward at all.
Maybe someone will think you’re a great man or woman of prayer, but who cares what other people think.
What matters is what God thinks.
B.
Pray with the right motivation: God-focused.
(v.6)
1. *vs.6
“But you, when you pray…” *Jesus assumes we will pray.
Just as He assumes we will give, He assumes we will be praying.
As we’ll see in vs.9-13, Jesus goes even further.
He teaches us how to pray.
2. *“…go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret*…” This does not exclude public or group prayer.
Jesus Himself prayed many times in group settings and so did the apostles.
There are times when public prayer is good and necessary.
The point is that the focus of your prayers should be God.
Never pray for prideful reasons—to be seen (or heard) by men.
If it is true that God is listening, then it doesn’t matter who else is.
3. “…*and your Father who sees /what is done /in secret will reward you.*”
Here again is the promise of reward.
The reward here can certainly be instant or future.
But the point is, Prayer is worth it!
It’s not a waste of time.
“Your Father” really does see—He really does hear your prayer.
And He really does reward—He really does answer.
C. Don’t pray with the wrong method.
(v.7-8)
1. Now look at vs.7-8: *“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.” *Look what Jesus is saying here: Jesus is telling us that there are wrong ways to pray.
2. *“Meaningless repetition”* here is the translation of the Greek word βατταλογήσητε which literally means “babble, speaking without thinking (BAGD).”
It has also been translated “babbling” (NIV; NLT).
This tells us we should not pray unless our mind is engaged.
a) So, I believe this excludes “glossolalia”—commonly called “tongues” today.
The “tongues” of the Bible were actual languages.
But many today are teaching that Christians should pray in glossolalia—that Biblical tongues are spiritual languages that are not known to any man.
But, glossolalia is practiced by many pagan religions.
“Glossolalia” literally means “non-meaningful speech” and those who practice it readily admit that the mind is not engaged.
We’ll talk about this important subject in detail another day, but for now simply note that Jesus forbid “praying without thinking” and this is the very definition of glossolalia—“non-meaningful speech.”
b) Jesus also tells us “…*for they *(Gentiles) *suppose that they will be heard for their many words*.”
I can remember—as a Roman Catholic—holding a rosary (prayer beads) and reciting my memorized prayers over and over.
I didn’t think about what I was saying.
I just did what everyone else was doing and tried to get it over with as soon as possible.
Prayer is not about saying “many words”!
It’s about saying meaningful words.
c) But, don’t take this to the other extreme either—that it’s wrong to pray a lot of words, or pray for a long time.
The number of words has nothing to do with it.
There may be times when you pray long prayers—perhaps all night sometimes.
Jesus did that on several occasions—in fact, there were times when Jesus encouraged persistence in prayer.
We even have the example of Christ repeating Himself in prayer—in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed the same prayer at least three times.
The point is, God doesn’t sit up and pay attention just because someone uses a lot of words.
God pays attention to meaningful prayer.
3. Look what He said in v.8: *“So do not be like them…” *Again, the kingdom-minded disciple of Jesus Christ is different.
Different than the typical, shallow religious people around him.
They think of God as some cosmic vending machine in the sky and if they say the magical words or repeat their requests over and over and over they’ll somehow get what they want.
But those who really and truly know God, know He is our Father.
He desires to be known in a loving relationship—one in which we call Him “Father.”
Look what Jesus said, “…*Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” *Do you see? God’s not waiting for us to inform Him of what we really need.
He’s waiting for us to come to Him—as His children—and talk to Him.
Yes, ask for what you need, but trust Him as your Father to know what is best!
4. And, don’t use this verse as a reason for not praying—“O, God knows what I need.
I don’t need to ask.” No, God knows what you need, so ask Him!
It should be an encouragement to pray deep, meaningful prayers.
Not just ask, ask, ask.
But relationship prayer.
Meaningful communication.
Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and letting your Father—who knows what you need—decide what things to add.
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