“Our Father, who art in Heaven…”
 
So begins the pray Jesus taught His disciples to pray.  Some call it “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Others correctly call it “The Disciple’s Prayer,” because it is the model prayer Jesus taught His followers.  Still others call it “The Kingdom Prayer,” because the petitions of the prayer sum up the cries and desires of those who seek God’s kingdom above all else.  Some simply call it, “The Our Father.” 
 
“Our Father, who art in Heaven…
 
As with any commonly recited verse or prayer, there are those who do not understand and often misquote it.  Writing to Anne Landers, one parent shares,
 
“When my twin daughters were young, I taught them to say this prayer before going to bed. As I listened outside their door, I could hear them say, "Give us this steak and daily bread, and forgive us our mattresses…”
 
One child was overheard praying, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Harold be thy name…”  Another child recited, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name…”  One little boy in preschool thought the opening line was, “…How didja know my name?”
 
One grown up from Grand Junction, Colorado remembers, “When I was younger, I believed the line was, ‘Lead a snot into temptation.’ I thought I was praying for my little sister to get into trouble.”
 
Now it’s fun to laugh at the misunderstandings of children, but, truth be told, some of us adults frequently rattle off the Lord’s Prayer and recite it with little understanding of what we’re really saying.  Let’s take a closer look at the kingdom prayer Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew chapter 6.
 
It is an example prayer on which we can model our prayer life.  And it is a prayer we are privileged to recite both in personal devotion and corporate worship.  Let’s take a closer look to ensure we really understand what we’re praying when we pray, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.”
 
In Matthew 6, Jesus calls His disciples to pursue true treasure, treasure in heaven – treasure that will stand the test of time.  The question is, are you and I pursuing what matters most?  Are we laying up treasure in heaven?  Especially in the area of our worship and prayer life, do our pursuits and practices align with God’s plans and God’s priorities?
 
As with giving and fasting, so with prayer – Jesus assumes His disciples will pray. 
 
Like Jesus, they will prioritize prayer.  Like Jesus, they will pray.  Disciples of Jesus don’t pray like the hypocritical Pharisees who pray more for human applause than the Father’s approval (Matthew 6:5-6).  When we pray to impress others, God is unimpressed by our prayers.
 
Neither do disciples of Jesus pray like the manipulative pagans who think of prayer as a way to convince, coax, or sweet-talk God into giving us what we want (Matthew 6:7-8).  When we pray to manipulate God, God is unmoved by our prayers.
 
However, when we pray to our Father in Heaven, we pray like Jesus prayed; we pray as Jesus taught us to pray (Matthew 6:9-15).  That’s really what distinguishes the prayers of Jesus’ followers from the prayers of hypocrites and pagans.  We pray to our loving and glorious Father in heaven.  We don’t pray for human applause like the hypocrites.  We don’t pray to bend God’s ear and manipulate Him to do our will like the pagans.
 
No, we pray to our loving Heavenly Father.  His smile is all we seek.  He already knows what we need, and we trust Him wholeheartedly.
 
THE MODEL PRAYER – “Pray then like this” (Matthew 6:9)
 
Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples consists of an invocation, 6 petitions, and a doxology. 
In the opening invocation, Jesus teaches us how to approach God, and He gives us a new way to address God.  In the concluding doxology of praise, we end our prayers focusing not on ourselves and our needs but on God and His Kingdom, His power, His glory. 
 
In the six petitions of our Lord’s model prayer, the first three focus on God’s preeminence and the second three focus on our personal needs.  God’s glory first; our concerns second.  Those who lay up treasure in Heaven are those who keep God and His glory first and foremost in everything, including their prayers.  This is the proper ordering of our priorities and our prayers.  We must be careful not to reverse it.
 
Too often our prayers are nothing but a shopping list of personal wants and wishes.  Yes, our loving Father cares deeply about us, and He wants His children to express their trust in Him by making their needs known.  But His name, His kingdom, His will are the ultimate treasure.  God Himself is our priority, and God Himself should come first in our prayers.
 
THE INVOCATION:  “Our Father in Heaven”
 
“Our Father”
 
Hypocrites pray for others to see them; pagans pray to manipulate uncaring and uninvolved gods and goddesses; we pray to our loving Father!
 
In Aramaic - the everyday language spoken by Jesus – the word “Father” would have been Abba.  This was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly Fathers.  It conveys the sense of love, warmth, loyalty and protection between the ultimate Father and His children.
 
God is our Creator, but our sins separate us from Him.  Through Jesus, we are made right with God and adopted into His forever family.  Through Jesus, we dare even to call ourselves God’s children, daring further to address Him as our Daddy.
 
Galatians 4:4-7  4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
 
Romans 8:15-17  15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"  16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  17 and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
 
God is not some distant deity.  Through Jesus, we know Him as “Our Father.”  God has blessed my wife Tanya and I with four kids – John, Emily, Kiley and Karli.  I love them more than words could ever say, more than pen could ever tell.  When my son wants to hang out or more girls call me “Daddy,” I’m the proudest papa in the world!  My heart melts when my kids seek me out.  So if I, a frail and failing human father love my kids like that, how much more does our perfect Heavenly Father love His kids!
 
Matthew 7:9-11  9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!                      
 
“Our Father in heaven…”
 
While our Father is immanent, near and approachable, He is also transcendent, resplendent, and excellent, for He is our Father in heaven.  Heaven is His throne and the earth His footstool.  He is sovereign in His rule and reign.  Jesus here “combines fatherly love with heavenly power, and what His love directs, His power is able to perform.”[1]
 
THE PETITIONS:
 
As we come to the petitions of the Lord’s model prayer, remember the order:
God and His glory first; us and our needs second.
 
Let us also remember that there is a present and future component to these prayers for God’s glory and our good.  While we pray for current kingdom realities, we also look forward to the Kingdom that will come at the glorious Day of Christ’s appearing.
 
Let us also remember that these petitions and requests must reflect our heart’s cry, our deepest desires, our highest priorities.  As such, not only will we pray for these things as Jesus taught us, we will also actively, practically participate in God’s purpose and plan to make these petitions a reality.  People used to refer to this as “putting feet to our prayers.”  In other words, don’t pray for something if you aren’t willing to be used by the Father to help bring it to pass.
 
So in each petition, we will consider the present, future, and practical side of what exactly it is that we are praying for.
 
1.  “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9)
 
At Present
 
God’s name is the revelation of His character, His will and His ways.  In the OT, His name was the special possession of His people.
 
Exodus 3:13-14  13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"  14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.'"
 
“Hallowed be your name” doesn’t mean that God might become something He is not already.  God is already holy.  We are praying that He be hallowed, that He be regarded as holy.  It means “May God be treated with the highest honor; may He be set apart and holy.”
 
For the Future
 
We are praying that God accomplish His saving acts in the world so that His holiness is on worldwide display and all people regard Him as holy.
 
Philippians 2:9-11  9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 
In Practice
 
Since God is already holy, “hallowed by your name” does not mean praying God will be something He is not already.  It’s a reference to how people treat God’s name, and that begins with us. 
 
How do we speak God’s name?  Do we take His name in vain?  Is it a term of contempt?  We who bear God’s name, do we drag it through the mud with our words and our actions?  In the way we speak and in the way we live, do we cause God’s name to be set apart and hallowed?
 
Let us not pray “hallowed by your name” if we are unwilling to treat His name as holy and to lead others to do the same.
 
2.  “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10)
 
At Present
 
Just as we are not praying for God’s name to become holy as if it is not already, so we are not praying for the kingdom to come as if it is not already here.
 
Matthew 4:17  17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
 
Luke 17:20-21   20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed,  21 nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."
 
The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of Christ, which He Himself inaugurated during His earthly ministry and which we continue as He rules and reigns in us and through us.  To pray “Your kingdom come” in the here and now is to pray for the spread of the gospel witness, the spread of God’s rule and reign through the good news of Jesus Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
 
For the Future
 
We long for the Day of Christ’s return and the establishment of His Kingdom upon the earth.  This is the “present/future” or “now/not yet” reality of Christ’s kingdom.  It is not for us to know “times or seasons” nor the “day or the hour.”  It is for us to pray and to prepare.
 
In Practice
 
We can’t pray “your kingdom come” if we ourselves are not willing to submit to His rule and reign in our everyday lives and everyday affairs.  We can’t pray “your kingdom come” if we ourselves are not seeking His kingdom as our first priority, above all else.  We can’t pray “your kingdom come” if we are not actively spreading His rule and reign through our gospel proclamation and witness.
 
3.  “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (6:10).
 
At Present
 
If “your kingdom come” is a reference to the rule and reign of the Father in everyday, life, than “your will be done” is much the same request.  God’s will is His revealed will, made known to us in the Scriptures and fleshed out for us in the person and work of Christ Himself, who makes the Father known.  Just as God’s will in perfectly known and perfectly followed in heaven, so we pray that it will be perfectly known and perfectly followed here on earth.
 
For the Future
 
“On earth as it is in heaven” reminds us that the future coming of the kingdom will be an earthly reality.  We will not be disembodied spirits for all eternity.  The separation of body from spirit (James 2:26) is a brief, intermediate state.  Resurrection to “everlasting life” or “everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2) is our eternal reality.  The new heavens and the new earth is the eternal reality for which we long and to which we look forward (Revelation 21-22).
 
2 Peter 3:13   13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
 
In Practice
 
We cannot pray “your will be done” if we do not know God’s will or if we are not actively seeking God’s will for our lives.
 
Ephesians 5:17  17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
 
We must know God’s will through God’s Word.  By God’s grace and through the power of His Spirit, we must walk in paths of righteousness and encourage others to do the same.  While we long for the day when all on earth is at it is in heaven, we work to make that a reality in the here and now.
 
“After this manner therefore pray ye”
 
Craig Keener reminds us that this is not “a prayer for the complacent person satisfied with the treasures of this age.  This is a prayer for the desperate, who recognize that this world is not as it should be and that only God can set things straight…The earnest brevity and simplicity of this prayer fits not the cry of the complacent and the self-satisfied, but that of the humble, the lowly, the broken, the desperate.  This is the prayer of those who have nowhere to turn but to God.”[2]
 
Amen.[3]
 
 [1] Stott, John. Sermon on the Mount: 12 Studies for Individuals or Groups (Downers Grove, IL: IVP 2000), 71.

[2] Keener, Craig. Matthew (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997),

[3] In our next study we will consider the concluding petitions of our Lord’s Kingdom prayer as well as the doxology.  

​Tommy, a very bright 5 year old, told his daddy he'd like to have a baby brother and, along with his request, offered to do whatever he could to help. 
 
His dad, a very bright 35 year old, paused for a moment and then replied, "I'll tell you what, Tommy, if you pray every day for two months for a baby brother, I guarantee that God will give you one!" 
       
Tommy responded eagerly to his dad's challenge and went to his bedroom early that night to start praying for a baby brother.  He prayed every night for a whole month, but after that time, he began to get skeptical. He checked around the neighborhood and found out that what he thought was going to happen, had never occurred in the history of the neighborhood. You just don't pray for two months and then, whammo - a new baby brother. So, Tommy quit praying.
 
After another month, Tommy's mother went to the hospital. When she came back home, Tommy's parents called him into the bedroom. He cautiously walked into the room, not expecting to find anything, and there was a little bundle lying right next to his mother.
 
His dad pulled back the blanket and there was - not one baby brother, but two!! His mother had twins!  Tommy's dad looked down at him and said, "Now aren't you glad you prayed?" 
       
Tommy hesitated a little and then looked up at his dad and said, "Yes, but aren't you glad I quit when I did?"
 
Speaking of prayer, have any of you ever called a prayer hot line?  There’s 1-800-NEED-HIM, and I know K-Love, Moody and other radio stations - even many churches - have phone numbers you can call when standing in the need of prayer.
 
The other day I heard that there’s even a 24 hour prayer line now for atheists.  Can you believe it?  Yes, apparently, you dial the number, and the phone just rings and rings and rings.  No one ever picks up!
 
Aren’t you glad our loving Father in Heaven always picks up when we call?  It’s a toll free number.  Just dial J-E-S-U-S, and our Father will answer every single time.
 
Jeremiah 29:12  12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
 
“But,” some might ask, “What good is prayer anyway? With all that’s going on our world today, why take time to pray? 
 
The truth is, many of us are functional atheists when it comes to our prayer lives.  We believe God exists, but we rarely if ever set aside time to meet with Him, speak with Him, listen to Him.  We rarely set aside a few moments to spend quality time with our Heavenly Father in prayer.  While we are Christians by creed, we are functional atheists when it comes to prayer.
 
Late last September, our nation was once again shocked and saddened by another heinous act of violence and murder on a school campus.  My first response – like yours no doubt – was to stop and pray.  My second response was to put a message out to our church family through our Facebook page, encouraging everyone to pray for the victims and their families as well as first responders and all who were responding to the shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College.
 
In times like this, we turn to our leaders for comfort and reassurance.  In his impassioned, televised speech, the President stated, “Our thoughts and prayers are not enough.”  In other words, we’ve got to take action.  We’ve got to make changes to ensure this kind of thing will not happen again.  The President went on to call for action at the local, state, and federal level on so called “common sense gun laws.”  The next day, many newspapers picked up on the headline: “Our thought and prayers are not enough.”
 
I mention his speech not to enter into a debate about so called “gun control,” but because his comments raise a good point.  In times of tragedy and crisis, “Our thoughts and prayers are not enough.”
 
How many times have you needed practical assistance and all someone said was, “Wow – I’m so sorry.  I hope things get better.  I’ll pray about it” – and you were like, “Thanks for prayers, but how about you help do something about it!”? 
 
1 John 3:18  18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
 
Why pray when thoughts and prayers are so often not enough? 
 
That’s the practical reason many choose not to pray.  Now let’s consider a theological reason some don’t see the need for prayer.  Bible toting Calvin is sitting in Sunday school class one day, when the subject of prayer comes up.  Various people begin sharing their experiences of answered prayer.  One brave soul admits that sometimes it’s frustrating when God doesn’t answer our prayers when and where and in the way we want Him to.  Others nod their heads in agreement, encouraging him to keep on praying and never give up.
 
Then Calvin clears his throat and says, “To be honest, I have never seen the need for prayer.”  “I mean, God already knows what we need before we ask Him.  And, besides, His will is already fixed.  It’s not like my prayer is going to change God’s mind.  So I just trust God’s will and wait for His providence.  The very idea of prayer seems to contradict a belief in God’s perfect omniscience and loving providence.”
 
So how would you respond to Bible toting Calvin?  He makes a good point, right?  If God is all knowing and if God’s will will be done, what the point of prayer?
 
Some people don’t pray because they don’t really believe in God.  Some people don’t pray because prayer seems impractical in times like these.  Some people don’t pray because God already knows what we need and He’s already planned out what happens next.
 
In Matthew 6, Jesus assumes His disciples will pray.  Whatever their practical or theological considerations might be, followers of Jesus Christ will follow His example in prayer.  Like Jesus, they will prioritize prayer.  Like Jesus, they will pray.
 
In Matthew 6:5ff, Jesus focused on how His disciples should pray.
 
Matthew 6:5-6:
Don’t pray like the hypocritical Pharisees who pray more for human applause than the Father’s approval.  When we pray to impress others, God is unimpressed with our prayers.
 
Matthew 6:7-8:
Don’t pray like the manipulative pagans who think of prayer as a way to convince, coax, or sweet-talk God into giving us what we want.  When we pray to manipulate God, God is unmoved by our prayers.
 
We’ve been asking the question, “Why do we pray?”  Clearly, we don’t pray for religious accolades.  Nor do we pray so that we can get what we want.  So why should we pray?  How should we pray?  What should we pray for?  Let’s take a closer look in Matthew 6.
 
1.  In your praying, do not babble on and on as the pagans do, thinking they can somehow bend the gods to do their will (Matthew 6:7-8).
 
Matthew 6:7   7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
 
Three words in verse 7 require a little closer examination.
 
1) Battalogeo
 
As far as I can tell, this is the first use of this word in all of Greek literature.  It could have been coined by Jesus Himself.  So what does it mean?  It is variously translated by the English versions:  KJV: “use not vain repetitions”  NIV: “do not keep on babbling”  ESV, NRSV: “do not heap up empty phrases”  NAU: “do not use meaningless repetition” (Though remember, not all repetition is bad: Matthew 26:44  44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.) 
 
This word battalogeo appears to be an example of onomatopoeia, a word that sounds like the very thing it is describing.  The old Batman shows used  this quite a bit during fight scenes.  Remember? “POW!” “BAM!” “ZAP!”  We could add “Splat!” and “Whoosh” and “Snap, Crackle, Pop!” to the list.
 
So what does battalogeo battaloge,w mean? It’s a combination words: logeo means “to speak” and batta means, well, “batta” – babble, gibberish, meaningless talk.  "When you pray, don't babble on and on…” (NLT).
 
2)  Ethnikos
 
This word can be translated “pagan,” “heathen,” or “Gentile.”  To Jesus’ Jewish audience, it was a reference to non-Jewish people, members of the Greco-Roman world.  They did not worship the one true God but many gods. 
 
Unlike the one true God who is Holy and Loving and Unchanging, the gods of the Greco-Roman world were capricious and childish and temperamental.  When people prayed to them, they would heap up empty phrases hoping to somehow make their voice heard, to somehow get their attention and plead their case.  They repeated the names of their gods or the same words over and over, thinking this was the way to get the gods’ attention, to get them to do what they wanted. 
 
In their prayers, they would often heap up long lists of the names of the gods so as not to insult them in some way by somehow calling them a name other than the name that particular god preferred on any given day.
 
So, for instance, in one recorded prayer to the goddess Diana, the person praying petitions the goddess to “be a sweet help to the people of Rome,” but he only does so after heaping up a long list of names for Diana concluding, “take whatever name pleases you.”
 
I once had a friend who thought he was more likely to have his prayers answered if He addressed the Lord as “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  Some of us repeat the word “Father” or “God” or “Jesus” so many times in our prayers that it too can become meaningless repetition.  Perhaps unknowingly, we, like the pagans of Jesus’ day, think that we can get what we want from God if we just call him by the right name or repeat His name(s) often enough in our prayers.
 
But this isn’t how God works, and this isn’t how prayer works.  God isn’t a genie in a bottle.  He doesn’t grant you three wishes if you rub Him in the right way.  If you think He does, I guarantee you, your prayers are rubbing him the wrong way.
         
3)  Pollulogia
 
Here we have another combination word.  Logia means “words” and polu or poly means ”many.”  Not only do pagans think their prayers will be heard and answered because of heaping up many names and repeating certain phrases like a magical incantation, they also thought the gods would be more likely to respond to long winded prayers than to short prayers.
 
In your praying, do not babble on and on as the pagans do, thinking they can somehow bend the gods to do their will. 
 
How do pagans pray?  Pagan prayers are…
 
1)  Meaningless Babble (Gibberish)
2)  Mechanical Prattle (Right words, Wrong heart)
3)  Magical Manipulation (Thinking if we just say the right prayer in the right way God has to give us what we want.)
4)  Many-Worded Stipulations (Contractual Agreements with God;  “God, if you do this for me, I’ll never” or “I’ll always…”; “God, you owe me…Remember when I…”)
 
Jesus’ point is simple:  Don’t pray like a pagan!
 
(For further study, check out a humorous yet poignant example of pagan prayers verses God glorifying prayers in 1 Kings 18:18ff).
 
2.  Don’t pray like a pagan.  Do pray to your loving Father in heaven.
 
Don’t be like the pagans when you pray.  “For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8).
 
God is our Father.  He is not a distant, temperamental god living on Mt. Olympus.  He is our Father who lovingly hears and faithfully listens to His children when they pray.  The stress here is on relationship.
 
Imagine you’re out on a date with that special someone.  What if I spoke to my beloved Tanya the way pagans speak to their false gods?  What if you spoke to your loved one that way?  You don’t use mindless repetition or heap up empty phrases when talking to someone you’re close to, someone you love.  So why in the world would you talk to God that way?  He’s your Father who knows you better than you know yourself.  And guess what: He loves you! Prayer is like a date with your loving Father in heaven. 
 
How do we address God in the Lord’s Prayer?  We say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”  “The idea of praying to God as ‘Our Father’ conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care, while ‘in heaven’ reminds believers of God’s sovereign rule over all things.”[1]
 
I love my kids, and I love it when they come and talk to me.  But if they treated me in conversation the way many of us treat God in prayer, I don’t think I would be pleased to hear them anymore. 
 
Do you love God?  Tell Him!  Do you trust God?  Tell Him!  Do you need God?  Tell Him! 
 
Your heavenly Father loves you dearly, and He wants to spend time with you.  That’s ultimately what prayer is: quality time with your Father.

Matthew 6:8 "[Don’t pray like pagans], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
 
Your Father knows what you need.  Father God already knows our needs, and He delights to meet them.  Some wonder, then, if God already know what we need, why should Christians pray? 
 
John Stott writes, “Believers do not pray to God to tell Him things He doesn’t know or to motivate Him to keep His promises or to urge Him to do what He really doesn’t want to do at all.  Rather, prayer is for our benefit – to exercise our faith and to cast our worries upon Him.”[2]  Martin Luther reminds us, “By our praying…we are instructing ourselves, not God.”[3]
 
Some of you think that prayer is like holding God’s feet to the fire, kind of like a child who bugs his or her parents over and over again, hoping they’ll eventually wear out with the asking.  If we stay at it long enough, God will eventually give you what you want.  Others think of God like the prophets of Baal thought of him at Mt. Carmel, as if He is perhaps asleep and needs to be awakened. 
 
Some possess a sort of Disney theology that says, “If you only believe” whatever you dream will come true.  Yes, Jesus says belief is the key to unlocking and enjoying the blessings of God’s will.  But we shouldn’t think of belief as wish-fullness or a self-produced certainty that our wants and wishes will be granted.  Belief and faith are gifts from God.  We do not generate belief or faith any more than we generate life from death.  We do not contribute faith to our salvation any more than we contribute good works toward our salvation.  It is God’s work from beginning to ending!
 
Ephesians 2:8-9   8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
 
Belief is a gift from God, not a payment to God.  This is true of salvation, and this is true of prayer.
 
If the fact of God’s sovereign providence discourages you from praying, you really haven’t understood the purpose of prayer.  We don’t pray to get ahold of God or get what we want from God.  We pray because God has already gotten ahold of us.  We pray because God loves us and will give us everything we need.
 
The fact that God knows what we need before we ask Him is not less reason to pray but more reason to pray!  We don’t pray like pagans who anxiously wonder if the gods will hear, let alone answer.  We pray with the confidence that our Father both hears our prayers and delights in our prayers.  Further, we pray with the confidence that our Father not only knows what we will pray but has already answered our prayer!
 
His answer could be “Yes,” “No” or “Not Yet,” but from eternity past God has known what you will pray and how He will answer.  We pray with the confidence that God hears our prayer and will answer our prayers – indeed, He already has!   
 
Prayer is not an option for the true follower of Jesus Christ.  “When you pray…” says Jesus.  When you pray, don’t pray like hypocrites who pray more for the applause of earth than the approval of heaven.  When you pray, don’t pray like pagans who think of the gods as genies that need to be rubbed the right way.
 
Pray to your Father.  Pray to your Father in secret.  Pray to your Father in faith.  He loves you.  He knows you.  He will hear you.  He will answer you.

​Amen.


[1] ESV Study Bible, S.v. “Matthew 6:9” (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011).

[2] Stott, John.  Sermon on the Mount: 12 Studies for Individuals or Groups (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 71.

[3] Ibid.

© 2016, Jason M. Platt, All Rights Reserved

​Matthew 6:5-6   5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

One warm Saturday afternoon, a father and son were working in the yard, attempting to clear a stony patch of land in order to prepare it for use as a garden in the spring.  The father stopped his work and stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow.  As he did so, he observed his son a short distance away, struggling in vain to dislodge a heavy stone.  Try as he might, the boy couldn’t budge the stone.  “Are you sure you are using all your strength?” the father asked.

“Yes, I am,” said the exasperated boy.
 
“No, you are not,” replied his father with a smile.  “For you haven’t asked me to help you.”[1]
 
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of prayer?  We struggle and muddle with all our strength, yet we neglect to entreaty the strong arm of the Lord.  Our Father in heaven stands at the ready to help us in our time of need.  In our struggle He reminds us,
 
2 Corinthians 12:9   "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
 
Hebrews 4:16   Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
 
Martin Luther, the great reformer of the 16th Century, once quipped, “I have so much to do that I must spend the first three hours of each day in prayer.”
 
I’ll be the first to admit, at the start of a busy day, seeking a quiet place to spend time in prayer seems counter-intuitive.  But I’ve also discovered that practices which don’t make much sense in the kingdom of this world often make perfect sense in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Prayer is one such practice.
 
What Martin Luther and so many other highly effective Christians have discovered is the power of this great treasure called prayer. 

Today we continue our series on True Treasure: Pursuing What Matters Most.  Are we pursuing what matters most?  Will the plans and pursuits of today matter a year from now?  10 years from now? 100 years from now?  When this life is over and we stand before our Lord and Savior, how will He evaluate the way we have managed our time, our talent, our treasure?  Are we storing up treasure here on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal?  Or are we laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal?
 
Matthew 6:20-21  20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 
In the last post, we considered Jesus’ teaching on the treasure of giving.  That we will give of our money and serve with our time is a given.   Jesus assumes His disciples will give their all for others because He himself gave His all for them.  Generosity is not an option.  It’s a given.  How we give is what makes the difference in terms of our treasure (see Matthew 6:2-4).
 
Today we consider Jesus’ teaching on the Treasure of Prayer.  In Part 1, Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus says, “Don’t pray like the pious hypocrites who like to be seen and approved by men.”
 
In Part 2, Matthew 6:7-8, Jesus says, “Don’t pray like the babbling pagans who think they can manipulate God into giving them what they want.”
 
And in Part 3, Matthew 6:9-15, Jesus says, "Pray like this."  He gives His disciples a model prayer to use and to follow.  We call it “The Lord’s Prayer” because it is the prayer our Lord taught us to pray.
 
Today we’re going to focus on Jesus’ teaching concerning prayer that God the Father rewards.

Matthew 6:5-6   5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

When we pray to impress others, God is unimpressed with our prayers.
 
1.  “When you pray…”
 
As with giving, so with prayer.  Jesus doesn’t command us to pray.  He assumes we will pray.  

We should recognize, as Scot McKnight writes, that “Prayer was and is both a spontaneous act and a recitative act.”[2]  For some reason, many in our Baptist or evangelical tradition have come to think that only so called “spontaneous” or “extemporaneous” prayers are really genuine and from the heart.  But Scripture is full of both spontaneous prayers and recited prayers.  The "Israelites recited prayers as a routine form of piety at prescribed hours of prayer” (McKnight), and it is these prayers that Jesus is addressing in the context of Matthew 6.
 
Pious Jews would pray the psalms, the Shema, and the 10 Commandments. (The Shema is what Jesus labels the most important commandment…)  And they would pray at set times during the day.  No matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, no matter whom they were with, they would stop and pray.  When would they pray?
                                     
Psalm 55:17  17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
 
Daniel 6:9-10   Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.  10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
 
Observant Jewish people in Jesus’ day stopped and prayed in the evening before going to bed; they stopped and prayed in the morning after they woke up; and they stopped and prayed at the time of  the afternoon sacrifice, which was roughly 3:00 PM. (aka, the 9th hour)
 
Acts 3:1   Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
 
It was likely these afternoon prayers of which Jesus speaks in here in Matthew 6:5-6.

2.  “…you must not be like the hypocrites.”
 
Jesus is here calling out the Pharisees.  They were well respected by the people for their strict religious observance, pious lives and strict law keeping.  They were very popular with the people, and many looked up to them as examples of how to live for God.  Along with the scribes, Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites in Matthew 23, and it is no doubt the Pharisees He has in mind here in chapter 6.
 
We learned in our last post that religious hypocrites are actors.  As play actors, they perform their religious acts before a human audience, and the applause they receive from people is the only reward they will get.
 
Hypocrites wear masks to hide their real selves.  They are inauthentic and disingenuous.  Hypocrisy is the great downfall of all religious people, and Jesus tells us that we must take care that we do not pray like hypocrites.
                  
 3.  “For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.”
 
Jesus is not condemning public prayer, nor is He condemning a certain posture or a certain place for prayer.  Remember how we said observant Jews of Jesus’ day prayed three times a day?  In addition to evening and morning prayers, they would stop wherever they were to pray at the 9th hour, roughly 3 PM, the hour of the afternoon sacrifice.
 
Human nature being what it is, one could deliberately time his schedule and itinerary in such a manner that they would just happen to find themselves at a street corner or other very public place at just the right time.  Then, fully aware that all eyes were on them, they would loudly lift their voices and recite the traditional prayers.
 
Whether in the synagogue or on the street corner, these play actors loved the attention they got.
 
Matthew 23:5  5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.”
 
“Phylacteries” are small boxes full of Scripture verses.  They were affixed to the hand or head by a leather strap. These Scriptures were then recited as part of evening and morning prayers.[3]
 
“They do all their deeds to be seen by others,” says Jesus.  They are nothing more than actors on a stage, hypocrites.

4.  “Truly I say to you, they have received their reward.”
 
"Have received their reward” is business terminology for payment in full with no further reward to follow.  When we pray to impress others, God is unimpressed by our prayers.  Perform for human applause, and that’s all you’re going to get!
 
The complement, the “atta-boy,” the affirmation you receive from others may feel good for a few moments, but it probably won’t matter a year from now.  And it certainly won’t matter 10 years from now, let alone 100 years from now.
 
Hypocrites pursue an earthly treasure that will perish, spoil, and fade.  Jesus prescribes a better way.  
 
 5.  “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret.  And your father who sees in secret will reward you.”
 
To combat hypocrisy and prayer merely for public acclaim, Jesus says, “Go into your room and shut the door.”  When we close the door we block out disturbance and distraction, and we also block out the prying eyes of others and the possibility of being seen by them.
 
Just as our motives are purified when we take steps to make sure our giving is secret, so with our prayers.  R.T. France observes, “The essence of prayer is the communion of the disciple with His Father” (Matthew 87).  Shutting the door on the outside world when we pray is a great aid to focus upon the Father.
 
When I want to focus on my heavenly Father, I sit in my special chair and put on noise cancelling headphones.  I often play soft, contemplative music by Paul Cardall or similar artists.  In a busy home of six, the headphones are essential!

I love my wife Tanya, and an expression of my love for her is the priority I place on hearing what she has to say.  If we're riding in the car and the radio is on, I will turn it down so I can hear what she has to say.  If we're sitting on the couch and the television is on, I will mute it or turn it off altogether so I can focus on truly listening to her.  How much more ought we block out distractions when conversing with our Father in Heaven!

Eliminating distractions not only helps us focus on our praying, it helps us focus on the reason for our praying.  We don’t pray to be seen and heard and congratulated by others.  We pray to be seen and heard and comforted by our Heavenly Father.
 
The word for “room” in Matthew 6:6 means an inner or private room, a storeroom (cf. Luke 12:24).    In Matthew 24:26 the same word is translated “inner room” or “secret chamber.”  Perhaps this is why one our church’s preferred daily devotional book is titled “The Secret Place.”  

As the contemporary worship song says,
 
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret,
in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You,
'cause I want to know You more;
 
Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
 
This same word for “room” is also translated “storeroom” in Luke 12:24.  One Bible teacher points out that this could be a storeroom where treasures are kept.  Those who seek God in the secret place find heavenly treasure that will never perish, spoil, or fade!
 
These treasures are various manifestations of communion with our Heavenly Father:
 
     - Security in our salvation
     - Peace in the storm
     - Perspective in our pain
 
The treasure of the Father’s smile is all the reward we will ever need.  According to His promise,
He hears our prayer.  According to His will, He answers our prayer.
 
Matthew 7:7-11  7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 

Prayer itself is our treasure, and the Father’s loving provision is our sure reward!
 
When we pray to impress others, God is unimpressed with our prayers.  In our next post, we’ll begin to focus on “how” we pray, but today we focus on the “why” of our prayers.
 
Thought, intent, and motive are key when we pray.  Are we praying to be seen and heard by others?  Or are we praying to be seen and heard by our Father in heaven?
 
Motives are tricky.  So how can we keep our motives in check when we pray?  Jesus’ solution is simple:  Pray in private.  This doesn’t mean we’ll never pray in public.  (18:19-20; 1 Timothy 2;8).  But it does mean the majority of our prayers will be in private.  Remember the "Iceberg Principle."  Like an iceberg, only about 10% of our prayer life should be public and visible to others.  The rest, about 90%, should be private and visible only to our Father in Heaven.  Hypocrites pray in the shallows where all may be seen.  The prayers of God's children are covered in the deep waters of the Father's love.  

The proportion of public prayers to private prayers is a good test of our motives in prayer.  Bible scholar D.A. Carson points out, “The person who prays more in public than in private reveals that he is less interested in God’s approval than in human praise” (Matthew 165).

What about Jesus?  How did He pray?  We never read of Jesus praying in an inner room of the house, but we do read of Jesus seeking lonely and remote places where He could commune with the Father.
 
Mark 1:32-37  32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.  33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.  35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.  36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,  37 and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you."
 
Luke 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew (slipped away) to lonely places (wilderness) and prayed.
         
Jesus is one with the Father, and private prayer was always His priority.  How much more ought private prayer be our priority as well?
 
I pray we, like Jesus, will make it our habit to slip away from the busy-ness of life and find a quiet, secret place where we can be alone with our heavenly Father.  For me, I plan quarterly “Father / Son” Retreats where I can get away and spend time conversing with my Father in Heaven.  I prefer leaving the city behind and finding a quiet place in God's beautiful creation, but I've also sought out and discovered beautiful, sacred spaces right here in the midst of a busy urban environment.  On a daily basis, I enjoy brewing a pot of coffee, putting on my noise cancelling headphones, and communing with my Father over morning coffee.
 
So let me ask you.  How is your time with the Father?  I didn't ask how much work you're doing for the Father or even how much you've been studying about the Father.  How is your time with the Father?  Is it often?  Is it private?  Is it focused on Him?  Do you speak at Him or speak to Him?  Is it a loving conversation or a religious formality?  Do you spend time listening to His voice?  There is room both for formal prayers and informal communion as we grow in our relationship with our fearful Lord and loving Father in Heaven.
 
At Montrose Baptist Church, the church I pastor, our number 1 core value is the Priority of Prayer.  I pray the priority of prayer is a practiced reality and not merely words on a page.  Prayer is such a high priority because prayer is such a privilege! 
 
There is no greater comfort than communion with the Father.
There is no greater assurance than time with our Abba.
There is no greater contentment than the warmth of His love.
There is no greater reward than the light of His smile.
 
Matthew 6:6  [So] when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Amen.


[1] Adapted from The Story File by Steve May (2001): pg. 241.

[2] McKnight, Scot. Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 162.

[3]Keener, C. S., & InterVarsity Press. 1993. The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament . InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Ill.

© 2016, Jason M. Platt, All Rights Reserved