Well, amen. I want to thank the choir, the combined adult and youth choirs for that wonderful
song, and that really should carry us forward as a church. God, we do believe. He can do
the impossible. God can do whatever he wants with our church, and we are excited to see
what that is in the future. Thanks, buddy. I might need that. Appreciate that. Brought
me by Bible. Very good. Thank you, man. All right. We are going to take a turn from the
last few months where we've been in the book of Ephesians, and I invite you to turn over
to the gospel of Matthew. Matthew, if you would, chapter 6. Mentioned it a little bit at the
end of the service last Sunday, I truly believe that God is leading our church into a season
of prayer. That does not just represent a sermon series, though there will be sermon series
themed on prayer, and we're beginning one today. But I truly believe that our church as a whole,
individually and corporately together, is being called by God into an actual season where we
need to commit ourselves personally and united as a church in the effort, the discipline of prayer.
So I ask that you would go home and you would search your own heart, and then you would search
your calendar, and try to find moments where you can literally schedule dedicated prayer time.
We're going to be talking about that more in the weeks to come, and try to provide opportunities
and pathways to do that, both individually and together as a church. But let's begin this season
of prayer by diving into the pattern that God laid out for us to pray. So Matthew, chapter 6,
we read about the Lord's Prayer. This series, this first series in our season of prayer,
is called Talking with God. And we start off by talking about the Lord's Prayer. Would you go
ahead and advance me to the next slide? This thing isn't cooperating yet this morning. There we go,
thank you. A lot of it is done by the Bible exposition commentary, and then over the next few weeks,
we will be covering Matthew, chapter 6, verses 5 through 15. Matthew 6, 5 through 15. Let me say this
about the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is less of a prescription and more of a pattern. You
understand what we mean by that? It wasn't God so much saying, this is how you have to pray, and if you
pray these words, then you'll get to God. That wasn't at all what he was saying. Instead, he was giving
us a pattern by which we can pray. There we go. It advanced this time, so I think we got it working.
Matthew 6, 5 through 8, is the first section of this passage that we'll cover this morning,
and then we'll get into the actual content of the Lord's Prayer next week. So let's begin
in Matthew, chapter 6, verse 5. If you're able to join us in standing as we read the Word of God,
would you do that now? Matthew chapter 6, and verse 5. Whenever you pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen
by people. Truly, I tell you, they have their reward. 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. When you pray, don't babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they'll be heard
for their many words. Don't be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you
ask Him. God, we know that you do know exactly what we need even before we ask. We know that you've
called us to pray. You've called us to communicate with you, just to talk with you, God.
That is sometimes an intimidating thing. It's sometimes an uncertain thing. We thank you for
your scriptures that enlighten how we can do that. I pray that you would speak to us by your Holy Spirit
in this moment. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Thanks for standing.
I want to draw your attention back to verse 5. Back to verse 5. Whenever you pray, Jesus is teaching us,
don't be like the hypocrites. Well, who was He talking about? He was talking about the Pharisees
back in the day, the great religious leaders in the Jewish tradition. At that moment in time,
the Pharisees kind of held the keys to the Jewish faith. And in public and in their synagogues or
their types of churches, they would often pray loudly and proudly for everybody to hear.
So Jesus is using them as a direct example of how not to pray. Now, don't raise your hand and don't
shout out anybody's name, but have you ever seen somebody who prayed and it just seemed like they were
doing it to get attention? I have. I really hope I haven't been that guy before, but we've all seen
that kind of person probably. It's like, are you doing this sincerely? Are you really talking to God
right now? Or are you just talking in front of others? Well, it's interesting because, well, you know
what? It was working and now it's not. So would you mind taking me to the next slide? Hippocrates,
the word we get right here in Matthew 6 and verse 5, don't be like the hypocrites. Hippocrates is that
Greek word there. And from that word, we get the idea of actor or stage player. Isn't that interesting?
How many times when you and I prayed, do we feel like maybe we're just acting? Maybe we're just playing
on a stage. We're doing it. We're putting on a performance for the benefit of those around us.
And we're not really, truly communicating with God out of dependence on God.
So that is what Jesus is warning against. Look over in Luke 18, if you would. Luke chapter 18.
I didn't put it on the screen. I figured we could just turn in our Bibles. Luke 18, verses 9 through 14.
Just a couple of books over from Matthew.
Luke chapter 18, beginning in verse 9.
Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves,
that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else. Know anybody like that?
Trusted in yourself that you're righteous and you look down on everybody else?
So he tells this story to make this point.
Two men, verse 10, went up to the temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee. The other was a tax collector.
Now pause for a minute. Anybody know a famous tax collector in the Bible?
Yeah, what do you think? Matthew, that's right.
Matthew was a tax collector. Now that doesn't mean that this story is based on Matthew's life.
However, we see from the life of Matthew, and we see from studying culture in that time,
tax collector was a hated position.
Now you had the protection of the government.
It was a powerful position.
You probably accumulated wealth.
However, the everyday people hated you because you were collecting the taxes from them.
And more than likely, you were crooked.
More than likely, you were a dishonest person.
So this was not a good guy, okay?
So we've got a Pharisee, the pinnacle of the religious world,
and then we've got a tax collector,
kind of the bottom of the non-religious world, right?
So two very distinct, different people.
One a Pharisee, the other a tax collector, went up to the temple to pray.
Verse 11, the Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself.
God, I thank you that I'm not like these other people.
Greedy, unrighteous, adulterers.
And then he even says it, right?
You kind of knew who he was talking about, but then he says,
or even like this tax collector over here.
I fast twice a week.
I give a tenth of everything I get.
And I imagine he goes on and on and pontificates about how great he is
in his prayer, talking to God, right?
Verse 13, however, the tax collector, standing far off,
would not even raise his eyes to heaven,
but kept striking his chest and saying,
God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
I tell you, this one went down to his house justified,
rather than the other,
because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
You understand there's a difference here?
One was putting on a show.
He was a hypocrite, wasn't he?
He was playing a part.
He was a stage player in that moment.
The other one knew the truth about himself.
He had humbled himself before God,
and he couldn't even lift his eyes to heaven.
The only difference between those two men
is one knew the truth about himself,
and the other one didn't.
But they were both rotten to the core.
But one had the faith to humble himself before God
and cry out to God for mercy.
Well, the Bible says he found mercy.
He found justification in that moment.
So, Hippocrates, do you pray?
When you pray, do you pray more as an actor?
Are you acting?
Are you playing a part?
Or are you crying out like that tax collector did?
Let's go back to verse 6.
Matthew 6 and verse 6.
When you pray, go into your private room.
Shut your door.
Pray to your father who is in secret.
So, prayer is personal.
Prayer is personal.
That's what we can glean from this.
Now, this doesn't mean that the only time
that it's appropriate to pray
is when you're by yourself.
If that were true, then Jesus would have done wrong,
and many others throughout the New Testament
would have done wrong
when they prayed in public,
prayed in front of people.
We see that time and time again.
So, it's not exclusively that you must pray in private,
but prayer is a private thing.
It's a personal thing.
We must understand that about prayer.
Luke chapter 5.
Back in Luke again, but earlier in the book.
Luke chapter 5 and verse 16.
Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness to pray.
So, we see Jesus actually modeling this.
Jesus would often withdraw to deserted places
or to the wilderness and pray.
He would get away.
How many of you guys have watched The Chosen?
Either up here at church,
or maybe you've gone to the theater,
you've watched it at home on one of the streaming apps.
By the way, I can't recommend that show enough.
Outstanding.
Now, it is not a one-for-one account
of the biblical narrative.
They took artistic license
and added on some things to the story.
It is simply meant to portray the life of Jesus
and his dealings with his disciples
as it may have happened
in accordance with the scripture,
and then adding on some extra details
and backstories and that kind of thing.
And they make that clear.
This is really meant to drive you to the text
rather than see it as a replacement for the text.
There is no replacement for the word of God.
However, The Chosen did an excellent job
in portraying how often Jesus would just disappear.
His disciples wouldn't know where he was.
People might come asking,
where's your master?
Where's your rabbi?
And they wouldn't know where he was.
He's off praying somewhere.
And the Bible teaches us that Jesus often did that.
Why?
Because he needed to commune with his father.
If the son of God needed to commune with his father
privately by himself,
how much more do you think you and I need to?
We're not God.
We're not divine.
All of our life source runs from him.
We will be spiritually dead inside
if we don't continually go back to that well
of talking to God.
Prayer is a deeply personal thing.
When it's not personal,
it becomes impersonal.
It becomes public.
It becomes a religious right.
It becomes a tradition that we feel like we should do.
But it's not personally meaningful to us.
So prayer is personal.
Back in verse 1 of Matthew 6,
it gives us some admonishment about that.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness
in front of others to be seen by them.
Otherwise, you have no reward with your father in heaven.
Why would you have no reward?
Because you were not doing it for heavenly gain.
You weren't doing it for God.
You were simply doing it for the approval of man
and you already got it.
So that reward is done.
There is no other reward left for you.
So he says,
be careful not to practice your righteousness.
And one of these chief ways would be prayer
in front of others just to be seen by them.
Now, should we live out a life of testimony
and faith in God?
Absolutely.
We should.
But that should never be the motivation
is to gain praise from others
or to just be seen by them
because prayer is a personal thing.
Then,
I want to remind you of this.
The heart of the one praying
is more important than the style of the prayer.
We sang that song this morning, didn't we?
Heart of worship.
I was back there getting ready for baptism,
but I thought I heard it playing out here.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
because it's all about him.
Listen,
the heart of the one praying
is more important than the style of the prayer.
That tax collector,
when he poured out his heart to God,
he might not have gotten all the words right.
He might have not gotten everything
theologically and doctrinally straightened up
and lined up just how it should be
or how they would teach it in seminary.
But his heart was in the right place
and God blessed it.
Meanwhile,
the Pharisee,
who almost assuredly got everything in order
as it should be theologically
and according to the Old Testament
that he had studied
and knew practically by heart,
he would have gotten all his ducks in a row,
but his heart was so far from God.
Y'all,
I'm afraid that that is a microcosm
of our churches today
and we might not be exempt from that.
It's that we have long-time Christians
who can tell you everything
about the Bible,
everything about God,
but their hearts
are so far removed
from God.
The heart of the one praying
is more important
than the style of the prayer.
Why is that?
Because in God's kingdom,
you look through these parables
where Jesus says
the kingdom of God is like this.
A sower went out to sow seed.
A kingdom of God is like this.
It's the shepherd who left the 99
to go hunt down the one.
Over and over again,
in God's kingdom,
relationship is greater than rules.
The word of God teaches us
this life-changing,
life-transforming difference
between the Old Testament
and the New Testament.
Both are valuable.
Both reveal God to us.
But something happened
when Jesus died on the cross.
The law died.
God's law
was no longer
controlling over us.
The Bible says
what the law could not do,
Jesus did.
The law could never bring us to God.
So plug in
all of your religious rules,
all of your religious expectations,
all the standards
that you think
you and everybody else should meet.
That will never bring you to God.
A relationship with Jesus Christ
must bring you to God.
It's when I get off sidetracked
by all the rules
that Christianity and church
can start to implement
on everybody else.
That's when I get farther away from God.
Now it might look like
I've got my act together.
It might look like
I'm doing really well,
but I know inside
there's a passage in Scripture
that literally says
you're full of dead men's bones.
You look like you're alive
and doing great on the outside
and inside you're dead.
And I know
when I start getting like that.
And God's got to get back to me
and say
it's about prayer.
It's about me.
It's about your relationship with me.
It's about my love for you
that I can
see born in your heart
and then you can show out
and shine out
to others around you.
That is what will change
your life,
your kid's life,
your wife's life,
your husband's life.
That's what will do it
every time.
So relationship
is far greater
than the rules.
You might have been
following Jesus' rules.
You might have been following
the rules of the Bible
most of your life.
There's another one
who did that.
His name was Nicodemus.
But he couldn't seem
to figure out
that Jesus was the answer,
not the rules.
Now,
let's go to verse 7.
When you pray,
don't babble
like the Gentiles.
What's he talking about?
Well,
there were these Gentiles
who would pray
to their false god.
What's a Gentile?
Not a Jew, right?
Everybody who's not a Jew.
So,
if there's any Jews
in the room,
the rest of us
are Gentiles,
alright?
So,
often in that day,
you would have
these Gentiles
who are worshiping
their false gods
and their MO,
their modus operandi
is that they would
just try to use
as many words
as possible
because the more
they would pray,
the more words,
the more flowery language
that they would use
when they pray,
they would feel like
their false gods
were honored by that
and their lives
would be blessed.
So,
this is a direct reference
to that.
Well,
that still happens today,
doesn't it?
That still happens today.
And they feel like
as long as they were
using a bunch of words
and praying
as much as they could
and as often as they could
to their gods,
then their gods
would give them
whatever they wanted.
Prayer does not
work like that.
Now,
I used to live in Nevada
and we literally
had slot machines
everywhere,
okay?
Now,
we didn't
in our house,
okay?
But,
but everywhere you went,
I mean,
you go to the gas station,
there's a slot,
a few slot machines
right up there by the door.
You go to the grocery store,
they're right over there
by the checkout counter.
I mean,
everywhere you go,
there were slot machines
in the state of Nevada.
When God brought us
back home to Texas,
I was so grateful
to go to Brookshire's
and not see a slot machine.
So,
that was nice.
Prayer is not
a slot machine.
I'm not going to ask
for a show of hands
of how many of you
have played a slot machine
before,
okay?
Look,
if you go off
and do that,
it's your business
between you and God,
that's fine.
But listen,
prayer does not
work like that.
You don't just
put something in
and expect to get
something out.
You don't just put in
words and get out
answers,
okay?
Prayer is a meaningful
communication
with the God
of the universe.
The God
who knows so much
more than you do.
The God
who knows so much
more than we do.
We just bring
our requests to Him
and then we sit back
in trust
and faith
believing He will act
according to what
He knows is best.
We might get
what we ask for
or we might get
something totally
different than what
we ask for
because God knew
that's what we needed.
We might ask for
the trial,
the struggle,
to be over
and God might
want to take us
through it a little
bit more.
There might be
all kinds of ways
that God intends
to answer your prayer
but it will never be
like pulling a slot
machine.
Okay God,
I need a new truck.
Give me a new truck.
I prayed for it.
Prayer doesn't work
like that.
And then in verse 8,
don't be like them.
Your Father knows
the things you need
before you ask Him.
Prayer releases
the pressure.
How great is that?
Now I will ask you
to raise your hand
on this one.
How many of you
felt pressure
at some point
this last week?
How many felt
some pressure?
For those of you
who didn't,
I need you to like
talk to me
after the service
because I felt
a lot of pressure
this last week
at different moments.
That is amazing.
Y'all have cracked
the code.
Look,
we are all
under pressure,
right?
We are.
Some of you
were like,
don't pressure me
into raising my hand.
I feel pressure
right now.
Prayer releases
the pressure.
It's not up to you.
It's up to God.
It is simply up to you
to take it to God
because the good news is
God already knows
what you need
before you ask.
He knows the solution
before you bring Him
the problem.
But He still wants you
to bring Him
the problem.
What kind of a relationship
would I have
with my two little boys
down here
if I just met
all their needs
and never wanted them
to ask me for anything?
How one-sided
of a relationship
would that be?
Why are you asking me
for this?
Like,
I don't do enough
for you?
Of course I want them
to ask me for things.
Now,
I'm not always
going to give them
what they ask for.
You want nacho cheese
Doritos for breakfast?
No,
you can't have that.
I mean,
it sounds good to me too,
but no.
No.
So,
I'm going to give them
what I know
they should have
and would be best
for them,
but I still want them
to come keep asking me
for things.
You want donuts
this morning?
No,
we're not going
to go get donuts.
However,
on Bo's birthday,
which is today,
we did go get donuts.
It's a chocolate bar.
That's his thing.
Thanks.
But prayer releases
the pressure.
You don't have to ask
just the right thing.
You don't have to say
just the right thing.
Now,
look,
if you ask amiss,
if you ask the wrong way,
if you ask incorrectly,
God's not going to
just give you that.
Remember,
prayer's not a slot machine.
You don't just put in coins
and get out reward.
Just because you ask for it
doesn't mean that God's,
oh,
you shouldn't have asked for that.
Here it comes.
How many of you guys
have seen the whole genie thing
where you get three wishes,
right?
And if you say it the wrong way,
you know,
I want a million bucks.
So you get a million deer bucks.
I should have specified
what kind of bucks you wanted.
God knows what we need.
He knows what we're asking for.
He knows our heart.
He knows us better
than we know ourselves.
And he knows his will for us.
He knows where he wants to take us.
So that's the good news.
Prayer releases the pressure.
God,
I'm giving this to you.
Now,
James 4, 3,
you ask and you don't receive
because you ask with wrong motives
so that you may spend it
on your pleasures.
There is this aspect of it.
If you're asking
not out of a motive
to please God,
not out of a motive
to walk in God's will,
not out of a motive
to recognize
that you might have been
going the wrong way
and you want to course correct
and you want to get back
on the following Jesus path,
right?
If that's not the motive,
then you don't receive
what you're asking for
because you're asking
out of wrong motives.
God,
I want you to make me
succeed at work
so I can take the dream vacation
that I always wanted
and I can spend all my time
and energy and money
on myself
and my pleasures.
Well,
God may not provide that for you.
But you say,
God,
I really need a raise at work
because the things
that we could do
with that extra money
increase our giving
to your work at the church
and increase what we do
for other people
that don't have
what they need.
God,
I want you to take
any additional income
that I receive
and do what you want with it.
Maybe God will do that for you.
That's up to Him.
But prayer releases
the pressure
if your motivations
are in line with God.
Ephesians 3 and verse 20.
We just finished
our study of Ephesians
but back in the middle
of the book,
verse 20 of chapter 3,
all glory to God
who is able
through His mighty power
at work within us
to accomplish
infinitely more
than we might ask
or think.
You don't always have to ask
for the right thing.
I've heard people say,
I'm not very good at praying.
What does that mean?
Who's good at praying?
If you pray
sincerely,
you're good at praying.
I'm talking to God.
There's no expectations
or standard
that you have to meet.
He can accomplish
so much more
than you could ever ask
or think.
By the way,
if there's any teenagers
hanging in here,
they're missing you
in the back right now
so y'all need to slip out
if there's any
that haven't done that yet.
Finally,
I might need you
to take me to the next one.
It's not working again.
Y'all,
we're going to get
this thing figured out,
all right?
Sometimes it does,
sometimes it doesn't.
God's sovereignty
does not change
our need to pray.
Have you ever thought
this before?
Well,
if God is sovereign
and God knows everything
that's going to happen,
then how does my prayer
change things?
Anybody ever thought that?
Can my prayer
change God's will
or God's mind?
Does it make any difference
at all?
Let me remind you,
God's sovereignty
does not change
our need to pray.
God still wants you
to ask
even though
He already knows
the outcome.
That's just like
when we put our faith
in Jesus for salvation.
The Bible teaches
that God knows
all the ones
who are going
to turn to Him
and repent of their sin
and be saved.
He already knows
who's going
to do that.
But He goes ahead
and wants us
to make that decision.
He calls us
to do that.
He draws us
to Himself.
And it's the same thing,
it's the same principle
as we continue
through our life
with Him in prayer.
God already knows
what's going to happen,
but just like
a good father
with His children,
He wants that child
to go ahead
and ask,
am I going
to supply your needs?
Absolutely I will.
Am I going
to supply your needs
whether you ask
or not?
Yes,
because I love you
and I care for you.
But I want you
to go ahead and ask.
If you don't ask,
then you don't receive
my full blessings
of that relationship.
Do you understand?
It's not God
holding dangling blessings
out in front of you.
You better pray more
so you can get these.
It's having that relationship
with Him
that comes
from constant communication.
If you and your wife
never talk,
you probably don't have
a thriving relationship,
right?
You might have learned
how to coexist
with each other,
but you probably
don't have
a thriving relationship.
And it's the same way
with God.
If we don't talk to Him,
then we're just familiar
with who He is.
We might have filled
our heads
with a lot of facts
about Him
and information,
but we don't personally
get to call Him friend
or personally get to call Him
our dear close father
because we don't have
that kind of relationship
with Him.
But that's not His fault.
He wants it.
He wrote a love letter
to you right here
and He said,
talk to me,
pray,
talk with me,
communicate with me
so He can accomplish
so much more
than you or I
could ever ask
or think.
I want to leave you
with this quote.
Prayer is not about
changing God,
but it's being willing
to let God change us.
Prayer is not about
changing God.
Man, God's never
going to change
and I thank God for that.
But prayer is being willing
to let God change me.
It's taking it to Him.
Saying, God,
I need you to work here.
I need you to work.
Prayer drives us to God
through a cycle
of depending on Him
and being grateful for Him.
Dependence and gratitude
over and over again.
It's not just asking Him
for things
and waiting for them
to show up at your door
like an Amazon package.
That's not what prayer is.
Prayer is a cycle
of dependence on God
for everything.
Emotional dependence,
material dependence,
spiritual dependence,
mental dependence,
dependence for your health.
In every way,
holistically,
across the board,
we become dependent
on God
because He will always supply.
He will always be there.
And then we get to send Him
all the gratitude
that comes from that.
And then the last slide,
if you would,
what's our takeaway?
Am I praying more
for show
or from personal dependence
on God?
That's our takeaway today.
Am I praying more
for show
or from personal dependence
on God?
Would you bow your heads with me?
Can we ask that question
right now?
Maybe don't close up the Bible
and put everything away
right in this moment,
but just for about 60 seconds or so,
just a moment of quietness,
a moment of silence
and stillness
that says,
God,
do I talk with you
more for the benefit
of those around me
or from personal dependence
on you?
There's a song that says,
Lord, I need you.
Oh, I need you.
Every hour,
I need you.
You're my one defense.
You're my righteousness.
Oh, God,
how I need you.
There's another song
that says,
every hour,
I need thee.
Oh, bless me now,
my Savior,
I come to thee.
God desires us
to come to him
time and time again
throughout the day.
Never hang up the phone
with our willing,
always available,
Lord Jesus Christ.
God, I ask that you would
work in each heart
this morning.
Draw us to yourself.
May the takeaway
from today
be that so many
in this room
go home
and carve out
more time
to talk with you.
There's nothing
the devil wants
to do more
than to distract us
from our lifeline
of prayer.
There's nothing
that our flesh
resists more
than the access
to the Holy Spirit
that we get
when we pray.
I pray
that you'd
convict each heart
and it's in Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
Thank you.