Intro
Imagine being in Stuttgart, Germany in the last days of World War II.
Your own country has been ravaged by the moral atrocities of Adolf Hitler.
Slowly, relentlessly, the mighty Russian army approaches from the east. In the west the Allies
gain more ground every day. Bombs fall day and night as the final German resistance crumbles.
Imagine you are a young pastor who must speak to those who know that their national identity
has been lost… and that the end of their church and even lives may be near. What will your focus
be in the midst of such uncertainty?
That was the dilemma that faced a young pastor by the name of Helmut Thielecke. (Church of
the Hospitallers)
What could speak to them as they faced the oppression of earthly rulers, feeling abandoned,
families torn apart with mistrust, hunger, and the reality of evil’s violence.
He chose one focus over that season…it was the Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
He would later explain:
“The Lord’s Prayer was able to contain it all. There was not a single question that we could not
have brought to it and not a one that would have been suddenly transformed if it were put in the
form of a prayer.” [1]
…“The Lord’s Prayer was able to contain it all.”
In that prayer, Jesus brings together what matters most…how to align one’s soul with God in
all the ways that really matter….for all the seasons of life. [2]
> You may feel that a lot is uncertain…. A lot is falling upon your life.
The Lord’s Prayer offers your soul focus…focus on what matters most.
Jesus put forth these words as a model or pattern for prayer that would serve us well. They are not
theologically as solid a foundation as we could ever know….but they capture not just what is
correct but what is most important for our souls.
So today we are launching a series entitled “Soul Matters - Shaping Life through the Lord’s
Prayer.”
We will engage the significance of each aspect of what Jesus included. We will consider the
relevance that it holds for our souls…and for shaping our lives.Today…I want us to hear what Christ said which sets the context for this pattern of prayer in
Matthew’s Gospel.
For the prayer is given as a model of what he declares we all must get right regarding religious
life.
Jesus has a life with the Father…. And he is also looking at the prevailing patterns of
religion… and human nature.
There is something that goes terribly wrong in the midst of religion….something in the human
heart that must be overcome. I want to tell you what you must get right….how you can get it
right.
In these words he tells us we need to do a “reset.”
He addresses two fundamental choices.
The first one has to do with priority… verses 6-7
Matthew 6:5
"…when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.
Jesus isn’t challenging a place for public prayer per se, but what can become of it.
The formality of the Jewish religion included that of praying while standing with hands stretched
out, palms opened and heads bowed, 3 times each day, at 9 a.m., Noon and 3 p.m., WHEREVER
ONE WAS. [3]
It was easy for a man to be sure that they would find themselves at a busy part of the marketplace
or the top step of the synagogue and there, offer lengthy and demonstrative prayers as a sign of
piety.
Even though our less formal manner affords us less opportunity, we all know that we can begin to
care more about appealing to others than God.
Jesus makes clear the how much is defined by this one choice….whether to seek the approval of
others or God.
Matthew 6:5
“I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”
His point is simple… if what you want is the honor of other people… you can have it… but that
will be your ‘reward in full’… that’s all you get. If the audience you want to impress is that of
other people…then that is what you will get…. And ALL you will get.
It’s easy…but it’s empty.
We will just be actors among actors… never able to escape the false selves we have formed.
Brennan Manning describes this all too well…
(Jeffrey Imbach, in The Recovery of Love, wrote…)“Prayer is essentially the expression of our heart longing for love. It is not so much the listing of
our requests but the breathing of our own deepest request to be united with God as fully as
possible."
Have you ever felt baffled by your internal resistance to prayer? By the existential dread of
silence, solitude, and being alone with God?
Beware the impostor!
The false self specializes in treacherous disguise. He is the lazy part of self, resisting the
effort, asceticism, and discipline that intimacy with God requires. He inspires rationalizations,
such as, "My work is my prayer; I'm too busy; prayer should be spontaneous so I just pray when
I am moved by the Spirit." The false self's lame excuses allow us to maintain the status quo.
The false self dreads being alone, knowing "that if he would become silent within and
without he would discover himself to be nothing. He would be left with nothing but his own
nothingness, and to the false self which claims to be everything, such a discovery would be his
undoing."
Obviously, the impostor is antsy in prayer. The false self is frustrated because he never
hears God's voice. He cannot, since God sees no one there. Prayer is death to every identity that
does not come from God. [4]
Jesus sees our true condition. It is what had been revealed long ago in the Book of Genesis. In
those first chapters where we are told of trying to be like God…. And becoming separated from
him. The result is depicted as that of those first human lives trying to hide from God….and sowing
fig leaves to cover their nakedness. For apart from God we are naked and ashamed. Jesus sees that
there can be religious fig leaves. We can try and cover ourselves with religious activity that is
actually just an outer form which tries to cover us up.
But there is an alternative…
Matthew 6:7
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is
unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Choose to make God your focus…and you will find life.
Secrecy brings reward… because there we choose not our social self….but our true self.
There we find God. When that is the reward we desire…relationship with God…we discover
it is the reward that really matters. It is the source of peace…. Of love….of hope… of all that
will last forever. Social acceptance may seem a better deal to strike—the awards are immediate,
but the rewards are paid in full and they don’t include the rewards and riches of prayer… and all
that God offers. [5]
1. Make our priority God rather than people.
The story is told around Washington about former presidential assistant Bill Moyers who has a
strong Baptist heritage and is presently a popular political commentator. Moyers was giving
thanks at a lunch with President Johnson. His prayer was interrupted by the President, who
said, "Speak up, I can't hear you." Muttered Moyers, "I wasn't speaking to you, Mr. President."
-Source unknown
Moyers knew that we must transcend people.
But let’s be clear…Jesus is not calling us into our own private religion.He is not dismissing public prayer. He constantly prayed in public…
This is not justifying the individualism of our current culture… which says that spiritual life is
just a private matter which … “I don’t need tobe a part of organized religion… have my own
thing.” Be careful of the narcissist in us that makes up our own religion.
That is as farther from the mind of Jesus than we can imagine. His entire life was shared in a small
group…and with crowds. The very model of prayer he will then give begins…
“Our Father…” and is marked by “us” and “we.” Life with God is meant to be a shared life.
The problem is not other people….the problem is making people a priority over God… and
that’s our problem.
We all need focus. That focus involves finding some personal space when we can shut the door
and develop our own relationship with our father in heaven. While Jesus’ intent was not about
how literal such a door might be…there is something about creating a private life with God.
• The power of privacy.
The nature of a relationship is defined by how it’s set apart. Friends will start meeting for coffee…
or couples at a place that becomes their ‘special place.’ When we begin to spend time set apart
from others it’s creating something special.
Jesus said that we should make similar appointments with our Father in Heaven; create a special
place and meet there regularly.
As Andrew Murray explains, “God needs time with us to exercise the full influence of his
presence on us.”
Setting apart time is simply foundational to any relationship. The simple truth that many of us
discover, is that no set time soon diminishes to no time at all.
• The priority of privacy.
Time and time again, the disciples note Jesus slipping away... before it was light, when the crowds
around him had wearied His soul. I wonder if at times they felt left out? Perhaps… but it was the
source from which Jesus lived and ministered… the source of strength out of which he served and
ministered to them.
They too would learn the value and priority of the private world…so should we.
Praying as friends, as couples, should be an EXTENSION of our PERSONAL TIME, NEVER A
SUBSTITUTE.
We should not only learn to pray together, but encourage and even protect the special times others
have set apart for their relationship with God.
And then of course, there’s
• The practicality of privacy.
Distractions seem to have a special liking for attempts to talk to God.
Any noise seems to draw my focus…suddenly we hear not only the telephone… but the washing
machine, the neighbor’s music… we may have to be creative.
Jesus knows the value of finding a quiet place.Many of you have probably heard the name John Wesley before. He was a great preacher,
and he founded the Methodist movement. Growing up, John was the 15th of 19 children
born to his mother Susanna. From a very early age, John learned the importance of going
to a quiet place to pray. You see, for a few minutes every afternoon, his mother would go
to her quiet place of prayer, and the children knew not to bother her. Where was this quiet
place? After all, living in a small house with 19 children is not an ideal place to find a
quiet place. Her quiet place was right in the middle of her living room. There, she would
sit on her rocking chair, pull her apron over her head, and block out the sounds of the
world so that she could meet with Jesus. All the children knew that when the apron was up,
mom was with Jesus and could not be disturbed. Now that’s CREATIVE! And we can
each find our way to develop a personal space and place to be with God.
When we get alone with God…it allows us to be ourselves. We don’t have to pray to impress
others, and we don’t have to worry if we used big enough words and spoke long enough. It is just
you and God, and He just wants to hear your heart. He covets that time together no matter how
long and what is contained in your prayers.
The second thing that private prayer allows is for us to hear from God. When you are in a
group setting, it is so hard to hear the still, small voice of God. As you enter into your quiet place,
you will find that you will frequently be able to distinguish the voice of the Lord.
Stop—take a minute to think. Consider your own unique lifestyle and rhythms. What might be
the most natural time and place for you to have time set apart with God?
Jesus goes on to address the other fundamental choice… which is the purpose by which we
come.
Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard
because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before
you ask him.
Don’t pile up meaningless phrases, thinking length of words will help, like “the pagans.” (May
have been referring to the prophets of Baal tried such a stirring through repeated chants… and
were confronted by the prophets who simply called upon the power of the true God.)
Jesus saw this developing among the Jewish people as they developed rich and beautiful prayers
that were to be spoken daily: Most central was what is called the “Shema” — consists of 3
scriptures… and the Shemoneh’esreh—which means 18 and consist of 18 prayers. For some, this
daily expression became a means to impress God, the meaning becoming secondary.
The problem is that they thought that they would be heard because of their many words.
The were trying to impress God.
It reminds me of my “research papers” that I wrote as a child. (I could make them tenfold the
length required…thanks to the World Book Encyclopedia. I got an A+ every time… I impressed the teacher with the amount of work regardless of substance. Jesus is telling us that God isn’t
impressed with such meaningless length.
We too can start to string together common phrases and call it prayer.
> The whole premise is wrong…the whole purpose is wrong.
It is a complete misunderstanding of prayer to think that prayer is an exercise I do to get a
reluctant God to somehow help me. And if I can say enough “Hail Mary’s” or “In Jesus Name”
or some other magical formula, then maybe it will work. That’s the mentality the pagans had.
> Jesus said,
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” Prayer is not
informing God what we need.
We may feel that if He knows our hearts anyways, what difference does it make?
Parents know something of what difference it makes:
If your child is anxious, and you know it, does it make a great difference if they talk to you about
it?
> It makes all the difference relationally….because only then can you freely enter with them and
bring perspective and peace.
If your child lies and you know it, what difference does it make if they come and tell you?
> You might know all the details… even more than they knew about the circumstances….so what
difference does it make? They are not going to add any information. It makes ALL the difference
to what matters most…which is the state of the relationship. Until they share it with you…. there
is freedom relationship what defines the relationship already know… a wall of separation has
been placed between you. If persistent… you may have to address it as a parent….but restoration
of trust comes only when the child genuinely agrees with what is right. It is the same with God.
As Myron Augsburger expressed so well…
“Prayer moves the hand of God by giving Him the freedom to do in our lives what He
has been wanting to do.”
"The power of prayer is not that of pulling God's strings, but of allowing ourselves to come
into movement with God. We can move in the authority of Christ as we operate out of the
intimate strength of joining with the will of heaven as he did."
2. Make our purpose alignment with God rather than coercion of God
If I throw out a boat-hook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to
me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of
my will to the will of God.” [6]
A fifth grade boy who had heard a sermon on persistence in prayer was praying by himself in his
room one night. As his dad passed his door, he heard the boy praying over and over again,
“Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo.” The next morning, the dad asked the boy what he was doing the night
before. The boy replied that he had given the wrong answer on a test for the capital of Mexico, and he was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of Mexico.
> I think we may do that more than we’d like to think.
Prayer is the difference between moving with God or moving apart from God. When we pray,
we align ourselves with God’s will.
I’ll share with you one thing that can help us develop a meaningful life in prayer… Realize that:
What’s most important is not that we are bringing words before God…but that we are
bringing our wills before God.
It’s our hearts and wills, not our words, that are ultimately before God.
“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and
listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” - Mother Teresa
Prayer is opening one’s life to God. It is inviting Him to act in our lives. Prayer is not overcoming
God’s reluctance, it is being willing to accept His will in our lives. Prayer moves the hand of God
by giving Him the moral freedom to do in our lives what He has been wanting to do. God, in His
sovereign practice, does not impose His will upon us. Consequently, He can function in our lives
in accordance with the degree of freedom we surrender to Him. Prayer is therefore relational; it is
not merely a psychological exercise of self-fulfillment, nor is it a mental review of God’s
principles, nor is it coercing God; rather, it is a free personality inviting the Personage of heaven to
share with us. [7]
Conclusion:
Jesus invites us to choose what matters most.
As we launch into this new season…he calls us to make a priority of God rather than people.
He invites us to realize that God is not the one we pull to ourselves…but the one who we are to be drawn into.
For some… this may be a call to restore that special place…for others it may be a calling to dare
and explore it.
PRAYER
…As we close, let us consider that little phrase Jesus uses… “WHEN you pray…” not “if we
pray…” as if it was optional.
Let’s read together the ‘Lord’s Prayer’….
Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV)
"This, then, is how you should pray:
"'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'Resources: Ray Pritchard (discovered choice of Helmut Thielicke), Doug Henry (got story of
John Wesley and boy praying for Tokyo)
Notes
1. Helmut Thielicke, "Our Heavenly Father: Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer" New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1953; page 14
2. Regarding how “The Prayer That Has It All” Ray Pritchard notes further:
“God is in this prayer. We are in this prayer. The past is in this prayer. The present is in this
prayer. The future is in this prayer. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in this prayer. Everything is
here. Let me share a simple outline for the Lord’s Prayer. The first half of the prayer talks about
God-his name, his kingdom, his will. The second half of this prayer talks about man-give us,
forgive us, lead us. So God and man form the two great subjects of this prayer.
Look now at the second half of the prayer. You’ve got the past-Forgive us our debts. You’ve got
the present-Give us today. You’ve got the future-Lead us not into temptation.”
3. Among the Jews, though prayers were always appropriate, there were set times for prayer, when
the pious were expected to attend to their devotions. Thus, there were morning, afternoon, and
evening prayers (Ps. 55:17; Dan. 6:10; Acts 3:1). According to Josephus (Antiquities XIV.65)
sacrifices, including prayers, were offered in the temple “twice a day, in the early morning and at
the ninth hour.” - Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 9: Exposition of the
Gospel According to Matthew. New Testament Commentary (322). Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House.
From M. Hunt:
The first hour of prayer: 9AM is the first hour of prayer [see Acts 2:15] when the Temple gates
opened. The Hebrew is "Shacharit"(morning)
The second hour of prayer: Noon is the second hour of prayer [Acts 3:1; 10:9]. The Hebrew is
"Minchah" (gift-offering)
The third hour of prayer: 3PM is the third hour of prayer [Acts 3:1; 10:9] The Hebrew is "Ma'ariv"
(evening; our afternoon is the Jewish evening). This hour of prayer was known as the "hour of
confession." The next day began at sundown, or about 6PM.
For more information on the three hours of prayer see the Talmud: Mishnah Berakhot and The
Jewish New Testament Commentary, page 228. Times were not exact in the ancient world and
therefore these times in the chart are approximate, with the exception of the 12 noon hour which
was marked by the sun being directly overhead. The day time was divided into 12 hour periods of
approximately six hours before the noon and approximately 6 hours after noon, but the day was
longer in the summer and shorter in the winter months. The righteous Old Covenant believer was
required to pray the "Eighteen Benedictions" [petitions similar to the Lord's Prayer] three times
daily at each of the designated prayer times. He was also required to recite the Sh'ma [Shema], the
Old Covenant profession of faith [from Deuteronomy 6:4'9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41] four
times, twice at Morning prayers, once in Evening prayers and one last time before going to bed. In
addition to these prayers a righteous believer was to give thanks to God before, during and after
meals. - International Critical Commentary, page 588; Jewish Literacy, page 374-75.
4. Brennan Manning, "Abba's Child", p. 39-405. Regarding reward, N.T. Wright notes:
“Jesus also assumes that there is benefit to be had from doing these things. Many people imagine
that he is asking us to do everything with no thought of reward, and are then rather shocked when
he repeats, three times, his belief that our heavenly father will repay us (verses 4, 6, 18). Clearly,
Jesus is not so bothered about the notion of disinterested behaviour, or ‘altruism’, as we
sometimes are. In fact, what he says is far more realistic. If we struggle to clear our hearts of any
desire to do something, so that we are acting from totally pure motives, we will always find a little
corner of desire somewhere—even the desire to behave altruistically! Then, instead of looking
away from ourselves and towards God, we find ourselves focusing back on ourselves again,
wanting to please not God but our own ideal of lofty, disinterested action.
Jesus, instead, wants us to be so eager to love and please God that we will do everything we
should do for his eyes alone. Other eyes will be watching from time to time, and it’s very easy,
particularly for clergy and others who are involved professionally with leading worship, to
‘perform’ for them rather than for God alone.”
Wright, T. (2004). Matthew for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-15 (55). London: Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge.
6. Drawn from Henrietta Mears and How She Did It, by E.M. Baldwin, p. 148
7. Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Vol. 24: Matthew. The Preacher’s Commentary
Series (18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
