One night a father heard his young daughter speaking, although she was alone
in her room. The door was cracked just enough so that he could see that she
was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. Interested to find out what subjects a
child would bring before God, he paused outside her door and listened. After
tuning in to her speech he was puzzled to hear her reciting the alphabet: "A, B,
C, D, E, F, G ¡¡" She just kept repeating it. He didn¡¯¡¯t want to interrupt her,
but soon curiosity go the best of him and he broke into prayer, "Honey," he
asked, "what are you doing?"
"I¡¯¡¯m praying, Daddy," she replied.
"Well, why are you praying the alphabet?" he asked.
She explained, "I started my prayers, but I wasn¡¯¡¯t sure what to pray. I decided
to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together however
he thinks best."
¡ñ we know we¡¯re supposed to pray ¨C but sometimes we¡¯re not sure how!
¡ñ Jesus gave us a few pointers on the how
Matthew 6 5"And 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. I
tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But 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. 7And when you
pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard
because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what
you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" ’Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. 14For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men
their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
My Challenge: Pray as Jesus instructed us to. The method he gives isn¡¯t
complex, but simple. I¡¯ll divide his instruction into 4 parts.
I. And When . . .
A. During our struggle with anything, the temptation is to give up and quit!
1. My dad never let me quit something in the middle; I always had to
finish my commitment
2. Jesus knows the struggle that prayer can be, yet he didn¡¯t begin by
saying, ¡°I know prayer is tough on you, men ¨C I see a future day
where it will even put you to sleep ¨C so I¡¯m going to give you a
choice: if you feel led to pray, go ahead. For those who would like
to pray, here are a few suggestions . . .¡±
B. He simply said, ¡°and when.¡± Jesus tells us to pray 3 times in this
passage!
1. 5"And when you pray, . . .
2. 7And when you pray, . . .
3. 9"This, then, is how you should pray: . . .
C. Yes, it¡¯s a difficult discipline ¨C but, the Lord wants us to pray!
D. "The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for
the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning
consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking
that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life
come flowing in." C. S. Lewis
E. And when . . . perhaps we should talk about the ¡°when.¡±
1. What should the clock say when we pray?
2. Let me give you a clue . . . then ¡°when¡± is not important ¨C the fact
of whether we do or not is.
a. Jesus didn¡¯t say, ¡°and when you pray at 4:30 in the morning,
pray like this . . . or when you pray before your meal . . . or
when you pray at 6am, 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm, etc. .
. .¡±
b. I believe that he intentionally left it open for us to decide.
c. You¡¯ll see in a moment that the content and context are much
more important than the clock
3. Jesus did, however, leave us some examples to help us decide the
when . . .
a. He prayed early in the morning, ¡°very early in the morning,
while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off
to a solitary place, where he prayed¡± Mark 1:35
(1) of course, getting up while it is still dark is not saying
much when you live in ND during the winter! It¡¯s still dark
at 7:30am!
(2) I¡¯ve heard it said that we need to follow his example . . . if
so, that¡¯s not the only time you should pray, since . . .
b. He prayed in the late afternoon, (feeding of the 5000)
(1) Mark 6:35, ¡°by this time it was late in the day, so his
disciples came to him. ¡°This is a remote place, and it¡¯s
already very late.¡±
(2) 45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed
the crowd. 46After leaving them, he went up on a
mountainside to pray. 47When evening came, the boat was
in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.¡±
Mark 6:45.
(3) So, if you¡¯re following his example exactly, you need to
get before dawn, and then set aside time in the afternoon
c. He prayed in the middle of the night,
(1) ¡°One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to
pray, and spent the night praying to God¡± Luke 6:12
(2) If we followed it precisely everyday ¨C we wouldn¡¯t get any
sleep!
4. Just as in giving ¨C don¡¯t let guilt and manipulation guide you. You
decide on a time to pray, and do it.
a. Jesus said, when YOU pray
b. Pick one or more examples and just do it
c. We are not Muslims who are told the when and where.
5. I¡¯ve even experimented with different times of praying.
a. Sometimes evenings have worked, especially when the kids
were newborns.
b. Lately, mornings have worked better.
c. Many late afternoons at the church
F. Why such an emphasis and obligation to pray?
1. It doesn¡¯t give us the ¡°why¡± in this passage, but it does in Luke
2. Luke 18:1-8, ¡°Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them
that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a
certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared
about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming
to him with the plea, ’Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ’Even
though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5yet because this
widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that
she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will
not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him
day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see
that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
3. In our context today, ¡°will he find anyone praying on the earth?¡±
4. Why then?
a. Eventually, as we pray the will of God, we get what we ask for.
b. James 5:16,17
G. Another thing about the ¡°and when¡±
1. Don¡¯t beat yourself up if you miss a day!
2. We¡¯re often so tempted to ¡°throw in the hat¡± when we mess up
once!
a. diets
b. exercise
c. sins
d. prayer, bible reading
3. Can I say, ¡°when¡± one more time. Yes, we ought to pray daily, but
don¡¯t ¡°lose your religion¡± when you don¡¯t!
II. Don¡¯t be like them (the context is addressed here)
A. 5"And 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. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But
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.
B. Do not imitate the place or the posture of the hypocrite
1. Place
a. Where did they pray ¨C in the open.
b. Where should we pray ¨C in solitude.
c. Does it need to be in a closet behind closed doors?
(1) No, anywhere that gets us alone with God. Jesus prayed
on the mountainside, in the ¡°solitary¡± places, ¡°lonely¡±
places, ¡°a stone¡¯s throw away¡± from the crowd, etc
(2) One of my favorite times of prayer has been when we
were on the road in Pella, IA. I left our hosts home very
early and wandered the downtown area before anything
was open. Frost crystals were falling, and I felt very alone
with God, and also felt a boldness as I prayed. I noticed a
great difference in the service that night.
(3) On the road, we had to pretty creative in finding a
¡°solitary¡± place
d. Does that mean that public prayers are bad?
(1) No, Jesus and the disciples often prayed in public, but
they had a private devotional life.
(2) The pharisees prayer life was public only
(3) Just as we talked last week how giving cannot always be
secret. Giving testimony can often give great praise to
God
2. Posture
a. What was their posture? They stood
b. So, don¡¯t stand ¡ª just kidding.
c. Their posture was one of pride.
d. Our posture should be one of humility
e. Our physical posture can be anything that keeps us on task.
(1) I can¡¯t pray on the couch anymore ¨C I fall asleep.
(2) It helps me to walk or sit at a table with bright lights
(3) It even helps when I write my prayers
III. Don¡¯t be like them, either! (The content is addressed here)
A. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they
think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like
them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
1. Isn¡¯t it something that the world has such a hard time believing
that God hears us when we pray?
An article in the Denver Rocky Mountain News described various web sites to
which people can submit prayers. One site, Newprayer.com, says, "Simply click
on the ’Pray’ button and transmit your prayer to the only known location of
God." The site claims "that it can send prayers via a radio transmitter to God’s
last known location," a star cluster called M13 believed to be one of the oldest
in the universe.
"Crandall Stone, 50, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, engineer and freelance
consultant, set up the site last winter after a night of sipping brandy and
philosophizing with friends in Vermont. The conversation turned to Big Bang
theories of creation, and someone suggested that if everything was in one place
at the time of the explosion, then God must have been there, too.
"’It’s the one place where we could be sure he was,’ Stone said. ’Then we
thought that if we could find that location and had a radio transmitter, we could
send a message to God.’ "After consulting with NASA scientists, the friends
settled on M13 as the likely location. They chipped in about $20,000, and built
a radio-wave-transmitting Web site."
Stone reports that they transmit about 50,000 prayers a week from seekers
around the globe.
Citation: Pat McBride, Golden, Colorado; source: Judith Gaines, "Tapping into
God," Denver Rocky Mountain News (3-13-00), pp.6B-7B
2. Don¡¯t imitate the way or the wordiness of the pagan
3. Sociologists have noted that the more comfortable
we are with others, the less we have a need to talk.
4. Isn¡¯t it something how some believe that the more
you repeat a prayer, the better your chance of being
heard
B. I would like to talk briefly about the prayer time we have after
our worship and before our offering.
1. You may find that I often don¡¯t pray long for the need
that you mention to me ¨C it¡¯s not that we¡¯re in some
sort of hurry . . .
a. My intention is not to preach to you through
a prayer
b. My intention is not to teach you through
your prayer
ILLUSTRATION: When Lyndon Baines Johnson was President, he had several
guests in for a meal at the family room of the White House. LBJ had given the
honor of giving grace to journalist Bill Moyers (an ex-Baptist minister). As
Moyers began to softly say grace, LBJ - who could not understand what was
being said - interrupted Moyers "Speak up man." Without looking up and barely
stopping in mid-sentence, Bill Moyers replied "I wasn¡¯¡¯t talking to you."
c. My intention is just to agree with you in
prayer, talk to God, and present your need
to him together.
(1) ¡°where two or three agree . . .¡±
(2) and elder or two will often join us
as well (they don¡¯t even have to
know the need)
2. That¡¯s why others are often encouraged to come and
offer support to those who have a need
a. You may even feel comfortable sharing that
need with them ¨C I have no problem with
that!
b. (But, if you would like myself and the elders
to pray with you, we¡¯d be more than happy
to.)
3. You need to make the move
a. James 5:14
b. You approach the elders and pastors
4. My promise
a. It will be secret
(1) no one will know; I won¡¯t have the
church pray for it unless you
specifically ask for that
(2) you will not be required to testify
b. It will be safe
(1) you will not be condemned
(2) you will not be criticized
IV. Be yourself and be honest
A. 9"This, then, is how you should pray: ’Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily
bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
the evil one. 14For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do
not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your
sins.¡¯¡±
B. Get rid of all the junk and fluff and be real with God
1. How dare we be anything else after we address him
as Father anyway
2. God had a distant feel in the OT. Jewish Scribes
would throw out their pen after penning the name of
God. No word was worthy enough to follow that
name.
C. Jesus gave us a simple plan for prayer (3 P¡¯s)
1. Praise
a. ¡°’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name, 10your kingdom come, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.¡±
b. ¡°I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my
heart; I will enter his courts with praise¡±
2. Pardon,
a. ¡°12Forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors.¡±
b. ¡°Search me, Lord, and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me.¡±
3. Petition,
a. ¡°13And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from the evil one. . . give us this
day, our daily bread.¡±
I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help him. I ended up asking
him to do his work through me. Citation: Hudson Taylor, Leadership
D. The prayer is just an invitation for us to open and honest with God
"When John F. Kennedy was President of the United States, Life magazine
published photos of his children, John Jr. and Caroline, playing with their toys on
the floor of the Oval Office. Those images captured the hearts of the American
people like nothing before or since. Why? I think it¡¯s because it bridged a gap
between two thoughts: Kennedy was the President of the United States, but he
was also a father. He held ultimate political power in the Free World, but playing
at his feet were two little kids who called him Daddy. I don¡¯¡¯t think your kids
would have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was
their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.
In the same way, God is both our Father and the Lord of glory. We can approach
Him confidently in prayer because we are His dearly beloved children, but we
must never forget that He is also the Sovereign of the universe."
