1. Precepts of Prayer

Posted on Posted in Sermon Notes, Sermon Audio 2015, May 2015 Tagged with , , , ,

Hymns: 371 Sweet Hour of Prayer 394 Deeper and Deeper 243 The Comforter Has Come

Precepts of Prayer

Matthew 6

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

OUTLINE

  • Pray Not Like the Hypocrite (v5-6)
  • Pray Not Like the Heathen (v7-8)
  • Pray Like Jesus Prayed (v9-13)

INTRODUCTION

Prayer is the breath of life of an awakened soul. A soul that is spiritually alive is in constant communion with the living God. How do we know a person is physically alive? He breathes. How do we know a person is spiritually alive?

Our Lord Jesus gave this litmus test to Ananias of Damascus. He asked Ananias to arise and go into the street called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus for “behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11).

How do you know that a baby is alive? The baby cries. By the cry of the baby, we know that the child is alive and kicking! Similarly for the child of God. How do you know if he is spiritually alive? He prays. Prayer is communion with God.

And prayerlessness is the symptom of a diseased soul, plagued with unbelief, lusts and carnal, much encumbered in the sins of the flesh.

The Apostle Paul says to the Christian – Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

 The Christian’s walk refers to his manner of life. One who walks in the spirit the Apostle Paul, in the strongest possible way in the Greek, to shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

A prayer-filled or “prayer full” life is the strongest assurance to live a victorious Christian life against the world, the devil and the flesh.

The word “walk” is in the present continuous tense, depicting a lifestyle, a habit of life living in the presence of the Spirit of God that gives strength to overwhelm the flesh and bearing forth the spirit’s fruit.

The Christian is weak and powerless without prayer. Prayer is the source of the Christian’s strength. Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian on the knees. The Church of Jesus Christ advances on her knees when the saints come together to pray.

The apostolic Church was fervent in prayer. And Church history testified of the close relationship between praying and spiritual revival.

C.H. Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, was showing some visitors over the Tabernacle (London). After taking them to the main part of the building, he said, “Come, and I’ll show you the heating apparatus.” Imagine their surprise, when he took them to a room where four hundred were gathered in a prayer meeting. The church with warmth of spirit must have the warmth-producing prayer meeting. — Al Bryant[1]

The prayer meeting is the best measure of the heartbeat or the spiritual vitality of the church. It is the yardstick to measure how “popular” God is in the hearts of the congregation.

Judge Black’s “Previous Engagement”

Judge Black, of Georgia, when he was a young lawyer, was invited to deliver an address of welcome to the Governor of the State on Monday evening. He took great pains to prepare his address, but a telegram came on Monday, saying that the Governor’s visit would be deferred till Wednesday evening. Mr. Black at once wrote the committee that a previous engagement would prevent his being present on Wednesday evening.

Few persons besides the pastor of his church knew that the previous engagement was the regular weekly prayer-meeting which the young Christian lawyer had set apart as sacredly devoted to the public worship of God; and no service to man or State, though it might be for his own promotion, could make him swerve from his purpose. — Current Anecdotes[2]

I am thankful to God that you have made an appointment with God to come for prayer.  In this new series we shall study the “Precepts of Prayer” and to aid us along into the deeper understanding of prayer and cultivate a meaningful prayer life, we shall study what Jesus taught concerning prayer in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 6:5-13. This I believe is the deepest and most profound exposition on prayer given by God Himself personally. We all know the Lord’s Prayer, we can recite it from memory, but I dare say many have not examined it closely to be able to draw wisdom from this prayer. It’s a great loss to us because “the Lord’s Prayer is the central prayer of the Christian faith” [Pritchard].

What then is prayer? Prayer is coming to the very presence of God. How are we to pray? What are we to prayer? Let us seek the Lord’s mind in this matter. This is the Son of God speaking here. Jesus began with two injunctions how not to pray (v5-8), and setting the right framework for prayer then Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray (v9-13).

 

Three thoughts from our text:

  • Pray Not Like the Hypocrite (v5-6)
  • Pray Not Like the Heathen (v7-8)
  • Pray Like Jesus Prayed (v9-13)

 

(1) Pray Not Like the Hypocrite (v5-6)

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Pray not like the hypocrite. The word “hypocrite” means “one who wears a mask, a pretender’ like a stage actor. In the ancient times, actors put on a mask as they act the various roles on stage. Jesus is warning us against the sin of putting a mask on when we pray. Jesus warns of the hypocrites who pray because they want to be seen of men, seeking for men’s accolades. To them, prayer is a show to impress men and so their prayer is not toward God not toward self. Not the worship of God but the worship of self.

We are to be very careful to be sure that our prayer is the sincere worship of God and when we are upon our knees in the very presence of God we are indeed worshipping God and not allowing self to come in the way.

Jesus asks that we take serious consideration to subdue hypocrisy and increase the grace of truthfulness in our lives. We are to be sincere in our piety, hating the evils of hypocrisy.

We are to be aware of the deceitfulness of the heart. The hypocrites would love to pray standing in public places so that they may receive the praise of men. This verse certainly does not teach that we should not pray in public. Prayer is made a mockery by such hypocrites. Jesus exhorts His disciples to flee such hypocrisy. Jesus did not exhort His disciples to flee public prayer. Jesus is not condemning public prayer but Scripture does command believers congregate to pray. The infant church began with corporate prayer in Acts 1 and continue to grow from strength to strength as the church gathered to prayer.

When we pray, we get into the presence of God to be alone with God, and nothing should stand between God and us! Jesus warned against allowing self to come in the way. Therefore, we are commanded not to pray as a hypocrite.

Therefore our eloquence or lack of eloquence must be assessed from God’s viewpoint, a matter known only to God. He can discern the very motives of our heart. There are those who fear to pray publicly because they fear that they could not stand public scrutiny and therefore shunned from public prayer. But we need to realise that prayer meetings are the very essence and life of the church.

When Jesus said, “6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly”, He is not teaching that we do not go for prayer meeting but prayer in secret. It is not a prohibition to go to prayer meeting. But Jesus is teaching that when we pray we are to keep our focus upon God and Him alone, do not be distracted. Whether you are praying in secret or publicly, you are to do the same, let your prayer be directed solely to God.

Even when one is praying alone, he can be distracted. Therefore, what Jesus is saying here is that when you pray, realise that you are in the presence of God and as Isaiah was found in the throne room of God, the fear of God was upon his heart. He recalled how Uzziah died that year when his heart was lifted up and intruded into the priest’s office and offered incense and was struck with leprosy and died!

When we come before God’s presence, we need to know who God is, what God is and our relationship to Him. [Lloyd-Jones]

 

(2) Pray Not Like the Heathen (v7-8)

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

 Pray not like the heathen. The heathen prays with many words because he thinks he shall be heard better for his much speaking. We are to use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. Prayer must not be a meaningless babbling, by the use of many meaningless words.

Indeed, as Solomon taught in Ecclesiastes 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. As the Psalmist commanded in Psalm 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Pray is the result of deep thought and not haphazard and

Moreover, when praying, do not repeat the same thing over and over as the pagans do, for they think that they will be heard because of their multiplicity of words. (Wuest: Expanded Translation: Eerdmans)

CH Spurgeon observed well, “To repeat a form of prayer a very large number of times has always seemed to the ignorantly religious to be a praiseworthy thing; but assuredly it is not so. It is a mere exercise of memory, and of the organs of noise-making: and it is absurd to imagine that such a parrot exercise can be pleasing to the living God. God does not need us to pray for His information, for he “knoweth what things ye have need of ”; nor to repeat the prayer over and over for His persuasion, for as our Father He is willing to bless us. Therefore let us not be superstitious and dream that there is virtue in “much speaking.” In the multitude of words, even in prayer, there wanteth not sin. 

Repetitions we may have, but not “vain repetitions. ””

CH Spurgeon rightly paraphrased this text:

Quality not quantity:

truth, not length.

Perseverance in prayer is encouraged – men ought always to pray and not to faint (Luke 18:1) but not repetition!

We recall the pagan prayers of Elijah’s adversaries in 1Kings 18. They prayed (raved) on and on and even crying loudly and cutting themselves, thinking in their deceived state that they were increasing the chances of receiving the answer they desired from those who are no gods at all…

1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

1 Kings 18:22-39 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. 25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. 30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

Hendriksen draws our attention to the fact that…many of the most striking and fervent prayers recorded in Scripture are brief and pithy; such as that of:

Moses (Ex. 32:31, 32), Solomon (for an understanding heart, 1Kings 3:6-9), Elijah (I Kings 18:36, 37), Hezekiah (2Kings 19:14-19), Jabez (1Chr 4:10), Agur (Pr. 30:7-9), the publican (Luke 18:13), the dying thief (Luke 23:42), Stephen (Acts 7:60), and Paul (for the Ephesians, Eph 3:14-19). To this class also belong the many sentence prayers or ejaculations of Nehemiah (Neh. 4:4, 5; 5:19; 6:9; 13:14, 29, 31). Christ’s high priestly or intercessory prayer, too, can hardly be called lengthy (John 17), and the Lord’s Prayer, which he taught his disciples to pray, is certainly marked by brevity (Mt 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).[3]

“Prayer requires more of the heart than the tongue.” May the Lord help us not to be saying prayers but to be praying!

 

(3) Pray Like Jesus Prayed (v9-13)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer we observe is succinct, very compact, short and sweet, straightforward, brief yet the depth of it defies the greatest minds the Church has ever had. And if you were to study this portion until the day you die, you will never exhaust the riches and the glory and the magnificence of these very straightforward and simple words. [Cairns]

We shall be spending the time to study and look deeper at the Lord’s Prayer.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ time had a form of godliness. That is the reason why Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews had to come to Jesus to know the very basic: how to be born again. Why is Jesus most qualified to teach the doctrine of prayer? He is the Son of God (John 5:18; 10:36; 19:7), the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3). Jesus is God Himself. Hence, He is most qualified to teach the doctrine of prayer.

Jesus’ adopted father Joseph was a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter before He began His ministry. The family skill of livelihood is always passed on from father to son. We call it “trade-secret.” The secret of prayer is taught to us by the Son who is from eternity past, the beginning of no beginning, in communion and fellowship with the Father. He gives to us, therefore, the secret of effectual communion with God the Father – the perfect pattern, model or example of how we ought to pray and what we ought to pray.

“The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught His disciples, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.” (Shorter Catechism)

The Lord’s Prayer is THE PATTERN FOR PRAYER – A pattern is an original or model considered for or deserving imitation. The word aptly used by the King James translators is “manner,” signifying the way or method or approach to prayer.

Why must the Lord teach in such an explicit manner? It is because the people in Israel, like in the days of Isaiah, were lost as to how to approach God. It began with the blindness of the leaders – “like people, like priest.” Isaiah chides Israel for their sins especially the sin of prayerlessness in Isaiah 64:6-7: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.”

The Lord’s Prayer provides eight pertinent elements of prayer. Our Lord is giving us the precepts or principles of prayer. The believer is to express his prayer based on these precepts or principles. This is a simple and yet most profound outline on the doctrine of prayer.

(1) Preface (v 9b): Our Father which art in heaven,

(2) Praise (v 9c): Hallowed be thy name.

(3) Preach (v 10a): Thy kingdom come.

(4) Power (v 10b): Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

(5) Provision (v 11): Give us this day our daily bread.

(6) Pardon (v 12): And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

(7) Protection (v 13a): And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

(8) Praise/Pronouncement (v 3b): For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

CONCLUSION

May God increase our devotion to Him! May He Revive our prayer life both individually and as a church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (1070). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew Grand Rapids: Baker Book House