Prayer (1)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/22/2015
A young man stepped up to the checkout-counter in a small drugstore with three boxes of chocolate: small, medium, and large. The pharmacist asked him what his plans were for the three boxes, and the young man replied, “Well, I am going over to my new girlfriend's house for dinner tonight. Afterward, I plan to kiss her goodnight and give her one of the boxes of chocolate. If she doesn’t let me kiss her, I’ll give her the small box. If she lets me kiss her on the cheek, then I'll give her the medium box. But if she really lets me lay one on her, I'll give her the large box.” So the eager young fellow made his purchase and left. That evening he arrived at his new girlfriend’s house where he met her parents and sat down for dinner. Before the meal started he asked if he could say grace. Then he began to prayer this elaborate earnest prayer. He rattled on about forgiveness, grace and mercy for almost five minutes. When he finally said amen, his girlfriend leaned in and said, “Wow. You never told me you were such a religious person.” Nervously, he whispered back, “And you never told me your dad was the pharmacist!”
We can all pray when we really need to, can’t we!?
In fact, nearly all of us pray. According to a study released in 2008 by Brandeis University, ninety percent of Americans pray at least once a day and half pray several times a day. Surprisingly, the study also found that even among atheists and agnostics, nearly one in five still pray daily. Isn’t that interesting? Just in case?
We all pray . . . some.
We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. We pray when the lump is malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When a dear friend is in the ICU. When our marriage is struggling or our kids are straying. We pray. But wouldn’t we like to pray more? Better? Deeper? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency?
I’ll admit, I struggle with prayer. I get easily distracted. As soon as my eyes close my mind wander. My train of thought derails. I think about the all the things on my to-do list. I think about all the things that should be on my to-do list. Did I even make a to-do list? I spend half my prayer time apologizing for getting sidetracked.
Maybe you can relate. If so, take comfort. We aren’t the first to struggle with prayer. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance too. In fact, prayer is the only tutorial they ever requested. The apostles never asked Jesus how to preach. They never asked him how to pastor a congregation. But they did ask, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). You can almost see the urgency sketched on their faces. The words are both eager and expectant. Over and over again, the disciples had watched Jesus withdraw to secluded places to pray. And they had seen the serenity Jesus exuded in the aftermath.
Thankfully Jesus didn’t leave them, or us, hanging. In Mathew’s account of this story, Jesus reveals four secrets to developing a richer and more fulfilling prayer-life. Four secrets to real intimacy with God.
• PRAY SINCERELY
The first secret to prayer is to pray sincerely.
The first thing Jesus told his disciples was how not to pray: “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them” (Matthew 6:5 NLT). The “hypocrites,” that Jesus is referring to were likely religious leaders, but actually he could have been referring to anyone. In the Jewish culture, prayer was very important. In fact, there were certain set times of the day when everyone was expected to pray—no matter where they were or what they were doing. A devout Jew would stop, drop and pray wherever he happened to be at the appointed time, even if he was on a busy street. But some people would make certain that they were in a public place at the time of prayer—a street corner or a synagogue, perhaps—so that they would have a large audience to pray in front of, demonstrating how pious and religious they were. These hypocrites had turned their spirituality into stage production.
Today, I think many of us suffer from the opposite problem. We’re afraid to pray in public. Just ask my Sunday School class. Each week I ask the same question: “Who would like to pray for us today?” There are always one or two willing volunteers, but the other eight or nine immediately start shuffling the pages of their Bible and try to avoid eye contact.
The thing is, though, you don’t have to pray in front of an audience to be guilty of hypocrisy or insincerity. Maybe you’re just going through the routine, maybe someone has asked you to pray for them so you just toss one up there without really thinking about it, maybe you’re just stuck in a rut and you fall back on some of those old clichés.
A man sat down to supper with his family and said grace, thanking God for the food and for the hands which prepared it. But during the meal he complained about the staleness of the bread, the bitterness of the coffee, and the overcooked roast. His young daughter questioned him, “Dad, do you think God heard you praying?” He answered confidently, “Of course.” Then she asked, “And do you think God heard what you said about the coffee, the roast, and the bread?” Not so confidently, he answered, “Why, yes, I believe so.” The little girl concluded, “Then which do you think God believed, Dad?”
The man was suddenly aware that his mealtime prayer had become rote, thoughtless habit rather than an attentive and honest conversation with God. By not concentrating on that important conversation, he had left the door open to let hypocrisy sneak in.
Prayer is more than a stale tradition, a good luck charm, a ritual or part of some religious check list. In its essence, prayer is just talking to God. God doesn’t want fancy phrases and long drawn out speeches when we pray. He just wants us to talk to him sincerely, from our hearts.
So let’s be sincere when we pray.
• PRAY SECRETLY
Secondly, Jesus tells us that the secret to prayer is secret prayer.
As Jesus continues his lesson on prayer, he tells his followers, “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 HCSB).
In the original Greek, the phrase translated “private room,” actually referred to a storage room similar to a pantry. In most homes, this was the only room in the house with a door. This was the only place in the house where a person could shut the door and actually have some privacy. No distractions, disturbances or disruptions. Can you imagine having to climbing into your pantry to get some privacy? By hiding in the pantry, a person could get away from the busyness of life and be alone with God.
Of course, you don’t have to use your pantry. Jesus used the great outdoors. The Bible says, “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 NIV). Elsewhere, the Bible says, “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer” (Luke 5:16 NIV).
Perhaps some of our hunters and outdoorsman can relate. But whether you’re sitting in a deerstand, on a park bench or just behind the locked door of your own bedroom the goal is the same—getting alone with God! Jesus knew what many of us forget. Prayer is ultimately about intimacy with God.
If your family is anything like ours, then you’ve got a lot going on. You’ve got a laundry to fold, dishes to wash, children to chase, a spouse to love, a dog to feed, church commitments to keep, soccer games to attend, lunch appointments, doctor’s appointments, hair appointments and that doesn’t even begin to account for the projects, paper work, and priorities at the office or in the shop or on the farm.
In the midst of it all, God calls us to be still.
It doesn’t matter where you get alone with God. You just need to find a place that's quiet, a place where you habitually go every time you meet with God. Make it special and specific. Spending time alone with God rids our minds of distraction so that we can focus on Him and hear His Word. Abiding in Him, we enjoy the intimacy to which He calls us and come to truly know Him.
Praying sincerely and secretly are the first two secrets to successful prayer.
• PRAY SIMPLY
The third is simply to pray simply.
Jesus continues, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again” (Matthew 6:7 NLT).
The “people of other religions” Jesus refers to are pagan, primarily the pagan religions of Rome—the worship of Zeus, Hermes, Athena, Aphrodite, etc. These pagan worshippers had some interesting views on prayer. Whenever they offered a sacrifice or celebrated a festival in honor of a pagan god, a priestly prayer was required. Their prayers were very formal, lengthy, and elaborate. They were written out and recited word-for-word. And if the priest made a mistake in reciting the prayer, he would have to start all over. In some cases the entire festival would start all over. Even private prayer was formulaic repetition, rather than personal expression. They thought that the longer and louder they prayed, the more likely they were to get the gods’ attention.
Ironically, some Christians continue this troubling tradition. Many Christian fellowships recite the Lord’s Prayer every time they meet. The Catholic Church prescribes Hail Marys as penance for sins.
I think, when it comes to prayer, the old acronym KISS applies. Keep it simple stupid. Or the more polite version: Keep it short and simple.
Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t benefit anyone to simply recite or repeat a prayer out mere ritual or routine. What matters is the heart behind the words. You can be like the little girl whose dad was walking passed her room at bedtime. He overheard his daughter laying bed with her hands folded saying the alphabet in hushed tones. “What are you doing?” he asked. “I’m praying, daddy,” she said. “But why are you saying the alphabet?” He asked. “Sometimes, I can’t think of the right words, so I just say all the letters and let God put them together,” she answered.
God does that for us, you know? The Bible says, “The Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words” (Romans 8:26 TLB).
So, instead of “babbling on and on,” pray sincerely, secretly, and simply.
• PRAY SECURELY
Finally, Jesus tells us to pray securely. Closing his comments on prayer, Jesus assures his disciples, “Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8 NLT).
Knowing that God knows our needs (even before we do) ought to give us confidence. Boldness. Think of it this way: Six months ago (or even six years ago) God may have set in motion the necessary sequence of events in order to answer a prayer that you will pray tomorrow! Have you ever thought about that!?
We don’t pray to some distant deity that neither knows nor cares what’s going on in our lives. We pray to a God of love, a God of compassion, a God who knows every hair on our heads. While some of may have more hair than others, the point is—God knows every detail of your life and he wants to be involved in it.
John put it this way: “We are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us” (1 John 5:14-15 TLB).
Praying securely means knowing—no matter what your situation or circumstances—that God is listening, that he loves you and that he will answer you. That doesn’t mean you’ll always get the answer you want. Sometimes, God says no. We’ll talk more about that next Sunday. But we can still pray securely because we know that God is listening and wants to lovingly meet the needs of those who love him.
Conclusion:
After revealing these four secrets to successful prayer—sincerity, secrecy, simplicity and security—Jesus gave his followers a sample. A model to follow. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions—the Lord’s Prayer has been a model prayer for followers of Christ for generations.
In fact, a father was once chastising his son for not going to church more often. “You probably don’t even know the Lord’s Prayer,” he shouted cynically. “Oh yes, I do,” the boy retorts triumphantly. “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Surprised, the father stammers, “Sorry son, I had no idea you knew it.”
No, that’s not the Lord’s Prayer, but this is.
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. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The pray of Jesus is the perfect, pocket-sized prayer reminding us of what sincere, secret, simple, secure prayer looks like. Jesus taught his followers that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Are you ready to let the conversation begin?
Invitation:
If so, God is waiting and ready to listen. While the rest of us stand and sing, I want to encourage you to stand and pray. Open your heart to God. Tell him all about your troubles and triumphs. Pray sincerely, pray securely, but most of all… pray.
