Matthew 6:5-15

[00:00:00] All right, so we're going to be in Matthew 6. [00:00:02] We'll be in verses 5 through 15. [00:00:06] And before I get started, I want to kind of share some of the. Some of the people I've met in my life or I've kind of seen. [00:00:15] One time when I was in college, I took a summer trip, went to China for six weeks, and I met a lot of interesting people there. It was very. [00:00:26] Mmm. I'd say atheistic, but everybody had this idea of a God, which is kind of interesting. But the really interesting thing I want to share with you guys is on the way back of China, I was flying on this plane, and I was sitting next to a woman who I found out later to be a Buddhist. [00:00:46] But in her hand she had these beads, this interesting bracelet. [00:00:53] And each one. And I knew that they reminded me of the Catholic rosary, where, like, every four beads, there's a fifth bead that's a different kind. And it's a way they keep count as they pray. [00:01:03] And just kind of during that whole trip, my whole mentality was to find something to talk about with people, to see, to get them to open up. So I was asking this lady, thinking she was Catholic, and she wind up sharing that she was a Buddhist. And as we conversated and talked, she kind of told me, like, wow, I've never met a Christian who knew as much as you. Which I didn't know much. But what I wanted to kind of share is that what struck to me is how in most cultures, there's always this need to pray. [00:01:36] There's always this need to pray, to be heard and to pray, to try to get something. [00:01:48] Another group that I recognize at my work, actually, there's these gentlemen. I haven't seen any ladies do it, which I probably need to look into that. But there's these gentlemen who will show up in our break room, and they will have their little mats, little rugs, beautifully decorated rugs laid out on the floor. And the room is square, but they're pointed in a weird direction, so they're not like a normal mat. [00:02:15] But they're praying every day at the same time. [00:02:21] And I know for a fact it is five times a day. They're Muslim, they practice Islam, So these guys. [00:02:29] And the break room is on a shop floor, so it's not the greatest, but out of their sense of devotion, they're praying constantly, consistently, so that they can be heard. [00:02:42] And I know a little bit about it, that they try to be on the right side of God's wrath. So prayer is Always in something. Even in the atheistic culture, meditation was a big thing. It's like, yeah, we just. We find that being silent and trying to empty our mind or try to process is good. [00:03:05] And so even people who don't believe in a God, even people who don't claim to follow a God, they still pray. [00:03:14] So today we're going to be looking at, as most of your Bibles will say, it's called the Lord's Prayer. [00:03:20] But there's questions in here. There's things in here that Jesus is pointing out that he wants to correct and give the right view of what prayer is, because he ultimately wants us to pray authentically from the heart to our Heavenly Father. So if you don't mind, we're going to look at chapter six, and we're going to start in verse five. [00:03:45] And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and. And pray to your Father, who is in secret. [00:04:04] And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. [00:04:08] And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard. For their many words, do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. [00:04:22] Pray then, like this. Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be youe name, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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. [00:04:42] For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [00:04:57] So Jesus is showing his disciples how to pray. [00:05:02] He's showing them how to connect with the Father. [00:05:05] But before he gets that, he wants to correct things that the Jews at this time were seeing. [00:05:11] So this first group that he wants to call out are who he calls these hypocrites who stand on the street corners and who pray in synagogues so that their words can be heard. [00:05:21] Well, these were the religious leaders at the time. These are what we would kind of call legalists. [00:05:27] They seek to show their religion rather than to actually live it. [00:05:35] There's this idea in Christianity I've heard from many good teachers say what you actually do in private shows what you truly believe. [00:05:46] What you do in secret, when no one's looking, actually shows what you worship. [00:05:52] So Jesus is calling these leaders out by saying, they're hypocrites. [00:05:57] I don't know how familiar you are with the term hypocrites, but in Greek plays, you guys may all be familiar with this. [00:06:04] There's a mask. [00:06:06] There's usually like a mask with a smile, mask with a frown. [00:06:10] That's usually if you ever. Which, this is a stage, but we don't have that. [00:06:15] But the mask would show one thing, but the face would be another. [00:06:19] So the mask would show smiling and innocent and calm, but the background was actually evil and scheming and seeking to exploit the character. That's a hypocrite. [00:06:30] It's displaying something on the outside, but on the inside, it's actually wicked. [00:06:36] So Jesus is pointing this out. Do not be like them. [00:06:40] Do not make a show out of your prayer. [00:06:44] For what your father sees in secret, he will reward. [00:06:50] And that's interesting, right? Jesus says, truly, I say to you, the hypocrites have received their reward. [00:06:58] So what's their reward? [00:07:01] It's man's praise. [00:07:05] That doesn't sound like a great reward, does it? Or actually, maybe it does. Don't we all seek after praise of our friends? Don't we all want to tell a good joke that gets a lot of laughs? Don't we all want to do our performance well, whether that be sports. We hit a home run or we hit a double, or we steal bases, or we want to do that in band where we play a really good, you know, note. [00:07:29] We play a good solo, we play. We sound great with. With everyone else. [00:07:34] We do that because we want to gain approval. We want to gain praise from others. [00:07:40] And that's where Jesus is pointing to. He's saying, look, these religious leaders, they want this approval from man, but this approval from man is temporary, right? [00:07:51] You may steal a base, you may steal three bases in this game, but the next game, you strike out every time you get on the plate, then nobody cares. You may get on stage and trip and fall, God forbid, or play out a tune, and then now you're really getting praise for how horrible you are. Man's praise is so temporary and has no lasting effect. [00:08:16] It's just for the moment. [00:08:20] But Jesus says, what is done in secret, my Father will reward. [00:08:26] So for the Christian, what is this reward? [00:08:30] It's peace. It's confidence. It's knowing who your God is. [00:08:35] Whenever we live and we seek to follow Jesus, we're going to have trials and tribulations, as we'll see here in a minute. [00:08:43] But the reward is that we are closer to our Father and we are now in a good relationship with him. [00:08:53] So here's a question that may have come up. Should we pray publicly, right? It says here, praying on street corners, praying in the synagogues. [00:09:05] You should. [00:09:06] You should pray in public. [00:09:08] You should pray for one another. I mean, Austin stood up here two seconds ago and prayed, we should pray for one another. [00:09:15] And whenever we pray in public, as far as, like, on a street corner or even in the church, you need to ask yourself, why am I praying? [00:09:28] What am I doing? [00:09:30] Because it's not about the prayer and the elegant words and what you say. It's about, are you communicating with the Father or are you seeking after man's praise? [00:09:41] So as we pray, we need to be authentic. We need to be real. We need to really share with God what we're really, truly feeling. [00:09:49] Lift the request to God, not seeking to perform, to say, oh, God, pray. I pray for this man's, you know, his heart, his heart problems. I pray for his hurt toe. I pray for his dog. I pray for his cat. I pray for all this. That's just. You're just going on and on, when in truth, it's like, God, I just pray that this man will be closer to you through this Lord. I pray that you'll heal him miraculously. [00:10:10] These things, what comes from the heart, comes out of the mouth. [00:10:16] So. [00:10:17] And the other thing is, when we pray, we need to be humble in our prayers. We're coming to the Lord of all creation, to the Creator of everything. [00:10:26] So as we seek to be humble and to pray, we'll connect with our Father and we will be heard. We will be seen. [00:10:37] So we have these requests. We have these things. And like I mentioned, the lady that I met on the plane and all of her prayer beads, she prays the same phrase over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I'm saying, like, a hundred times. [00:10:51] Even the Catholics, which we can fall into this trap, too, as Christians, they pray, you know, hail Mary, full of grace, and there's a long prayer. That's all I know. Sorry. They pray these for the absorption, for the removal of their sin, to no longer have this transgression. So they spend less time in purgatory. They pray these continual, repetitive prayers just to appease God. [00:11:20] Here in Tulsa, we have this great false teaching that is just ruining so many people, where if you have enough faith, if you pray hard enough, if you do this hard enough, if you pray more, if you do more, if you pray more, you have more faith, you will receive that gift. [00:11:40] But that's not how God works, not according to His Word. When we look at verse seven, Jesus says to these things, and when you pray and do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they'll be heard for their many words. [00:11:56] That's the core of what they want to do. [00:11:59] Have you ever faced something that you can't control and you really want to just change it? You really, out of everything, I just want this to change. I will do anything. [00:12:09] That's where these people are coming from. In life, we truly aren't in control. [00:12:14] We're truly dependent on others and on God. [00:12:18] And some things will not go our way. [00:12:21] So what do we do? [00:12:23] We want to pray hard. Our flesh wants to be in control. And it's like, okay, if I can just do this so many times, I can get it. [00:12:30] He'll have to answer me. He will do this. [00:12:34] He will have to hear me. [00:12:37] But the truth is, God does hear it. God actually hears us before we even ask. So in verse eight, do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. [00:12:50] You see, God is our Father and I know that we live in a broken world and broken families, but a loving father is watching over his kids. [00:13:04] He may appear to be at a distance, but he knows what his kids need before they need it. [00:13:12] So that's one of the things to take comfort in, is that God knows your needs. He actually knows your needs better than you know them yourself. [00:13:21] So when you approach God and you come to him in prayer, you're wondering, will he hear me? [00:13:29] Will he provide for me? [00:13:32] And the answer according to Jesus and what he says is, yes, your Heavenly Father knows what you need before you even ask Him. [00:13:42] So why then should we pray? [00:13:48] Why then should we take time out of our day to connect with God? If he already sees us, he already knows our need. [00:13:58] Why should we pray? [00:14:02] It's to connect with God. [00:14:04] It's to connect with him and to be heard. [00:14:08] It's to connect with him and for us to be transformed by His Word. [00:14:14] So we're going to look now a little bit more in depthly with the Lord's Prayer, because this is an awesome prayer. And just as how important this prayer is, we're in the Sermon on the Mount, right? [00:14:27] This is the midpoint on the Sermon on the Mount. [00:14:32] And if you guys know anything about Hebrew literature is that when you look at how things are written in order and patterns, the stuff that's in the middle is the cornerstone. It is the central piece. It is the most important. [00:14:52] So, guys, this prayer is the central point of the Sermon on the Mount. And there's good reason for it because this prayer is so deep, even though it seems so simple on the surface. So let's take a look at this. Let's look at this first line here. Our Father in heaven. [00:15:13] So Our Father in heaven. [00:15:18] The first word. Are. [00:15:22] Not my, not the. [00:15:25] Are. [00:15:28] As Christians, as children of God, we are a part of God's family. We are not alone. [00:15:38] We have brothers and sisters in Christ. [00:15:40] We are even dwelt by this Holy Spirit. But what Jesus is showing here is that we are a part of God's family. [00:15:49] So our Father in heaven. [00:15:55] So I know it may seem weird because we are kind of grew up in a culture where heaven is like this mystical place that's way over there. This kind of can be related. But an interesting way to say this is our Father in the heavens or our Father in the skies. [00:16:15] Let's go back to 2,000 years ago. [00:16:19] There were no airplanes. There were no rocket ships. There was nothing that could get you more than, I'll say, six feet in case somebody was a really good jumper above the ground. [00:16:30] Unless you. Yeah, there's nothing to say God is in the heavens to say God is in the clouds to say God is unreachable for us. That's the point. God is so far beyond us that we cannot come to Him. [00:16:45] And yet to give God, who is unreachable, the title Father, which is a meaning or a title given to a person who is so close to us, because whether we like it or not, we all have a father. [00:17:02] Whether they're good or not. We have a good heavenly Father. [00:17:06] So God is greater than us. [00:17:09] He's way better than us. He's more powerful than us, but he is so close to us. He's close to us as a father. [00:17:18] So our Father in heaven. That line alone has so much depth to it that as you pray these things, and I would encourage you to pray this prayer, you meditate on it. [00:17:30] So I'll go a little quicker. But hallowed be your name. [00:17:36] Sounds interesting, right? Sounds kind of similar to Halloween. What does hallowed mean? Hallowed. Hallow. [00:17:44] Hallowed means to make holy. [00:17:48] Now God is holy, right? Like, there's no need for his name to be more holy. He's a holy name. [00:17:53] It's that reflection of God's holiness and our bearing his name. [00:17:59] Right? Do not take the Lord God's name in vain. The Lord's name in vain. Sorry, I'll just say it that way. [00:18:06] That's not talking about using omg. [00:18:11] If you're a Christian, you bear the name of God. [00:18:16] If we all wore jerseys about who we worship or if we're a Christian, or I would say it that way, it would be Jesus on our jersey. [00:18:24] And then you go out and you get mad at on the field, or you get frustrated and inquire, or you get angry with other people. They see Jesus right there on the right below the face of this angry person that's not bearing God's name. [00:18:41] But if you go to a flood zone, to these places that have had these horrible earthquakes that caused great devastation, they're bearing the cross of Christ that's bearing God's name. Well, so hallowed be your name, means to bear God's name and to make it holy. Do not squander God's name. Do not put it in the dirt and stomp around on it through your life. Make it holy, because he is holy. So as you pray that you're reminding yourself God is holy. What does that mean? And I am to bear to be holy. [00:19:20] So your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [00:19:27] Jesus is coming back. [00:19:30] That's what this is praying for, that Jesus will return soon. [00:19:36] You guys are probably familiar with the concept of already, but not yet. [00:19:41] Jesus is coming soon and he's bringing his kingdom. He is bringing the sword. He is bringing to conquer and to judge. Not like the last time he came where he came to save men, but he's coming to bring his kingdom in full authority. [00:19:57] So that's what's coming. [00:19:59] That's what we want. That's what we're praying for. Because you guys, as you grow older and you start to see the evil wickedness of the world, you're going to see that God, please come soon. Please end this and bring justice. Please bring healing. [00:20:16] And so the other side of it is that already church is supposed to represent the kingdom of God. We're supposed to love one another and provide for one another and care for one another. [00:20:30] We're bringing his kingdom here. [00:20:32] Going out and you're getting, you know, somebody, I don't know if they still do it, you know, hit your books out of your hands while you're walking down the hallway and all the papers fly everywhere. You know, it's all the TV shows or people say bad things about you in school, all these things, how you respond is whether the kingdom of God is going to be there or not. Because when people see the kingdom of God coming, they become convicted. The Holy Spirit works to convict their hearts of the sin that's in them and they see that something is different. [00:21:05] So as we pray your kingdom come, your will be done. [00:21:10] Seek to be more like Christ in your daily life. [00:21:14] So give us this day our daily bread. [00:21:19] I don't know how familiar you guys are. Whenever Israel was going through the wilderness, there was this time where they had left Egypt. They're now walking around for 40 years because they did not want to go to the promised land that had all this great stuff. They rejected God and so God made them wander. [00:21:36] But they were moving all the time. [00:21:38] So the problem with moving is that you can't farm, you can't raise things. [00:21:41] You're limited on your ability to produce food. [00:21:45] So what God did, because they cried out to him, he gave them manna from heaven. It would literally every morning rain down bread. [00:21:57] But the bread only lasted for a day. Whatever they kept over till the next day had worms and maggots and was completely, completely useless. [00:22:07] But every day it would rain down bread. Except for Saturday, it rained down enough for two days because he didn't drop it on or on Friday, because he didn't drop it on Saturday. [00:22:18] Great story. But this is what Jesus is wanting his people to remember. [00:22:22] Because the truth is we are so dependent on God. [00:22:27] There's so much that we think we have control of. [00:22:32] As you guys are starting to drive and provide for your own needs and you start becoming more independent. [00:22:41] And for me, I'm out of my parents house, I make my own money and I have my own things. [00:22:48] I struggle with control. [00:22:52] This can't break, this can't go wrong. [00:22:55] I gotta make more money. I gotta have these things because I want myself to feel comfortable by what I created. [00:23:03] But in truth, true peace and comfort comes from total dependence on God. [00:23:10] If God can make manna fall from heaven, if God can produce enough fish and bread for 5,000 for thousands of people, because it was more than that, then I can trust God to provide for my needs. [00:23:24] American culture is so much about independent, self willed, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But as what Jesus is pointing out here is, you need to have that daily dependence on God. [00:23:40] So the next line is, and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. [00:23:49] This might sound strange, right? Am I not forgiven? Am I not fully cleansed by the blood of Jesus? [00:23:56] Why is it as if I forgive others? [00:24:00] That's how much I'm going to be forgiven? [00:24:06] Am I at risk of losing my salvation? Am I. [00:24:09] Do I need to start making a list of people that have wronged me and make sure I've forgiven every one of them? [00:24:16] That's not what Jesus is getting at. [00:24:19] What Jesus is pointing to is that this is vital for the Christian life. [00:24:28] Let's say. [00:24:29] Let me try to think of a personal example. [00:24:33] Let's say somebody at work takes and just totally throws me underneath the bus on a project. [00:24:41] This whole thing failed. They said, it's all my fault. I didn't do it in time. I got all this stuff and now they're angry with me because I. Or I'm angry with them because they have thrown me under the bus unjustly. They have totally smeared my name and made me look like a fool and they've lied. [00:24:58] And I'm frustrated if I held onto the grudge. And I said, you know what? That person, they've wronged me so much. They've ruined so much of my life. I. I'm not going to forgive them because why God? Because they have hurt me. They deserve punishment. I'm not going to forgive them until they are punished, until they. Until justice comes. [00:25:24] I hold that grudge. But then I come to Jesus and I say, lord, forgive me for all my sins, for all the times that I have smeared your name, thrown you under the bus, hated you. [00:25:37] That's not going to end well because God is going to say, how can I forgive you if you haven't forgiven them? Do you truly understand the gospel? [00:25:47] Jesus says, or Paul says, forgive as much as you've been forgiven. [00:25:53] So as I reflect on my sin, there's more that I should forgive because there's so much more sin that I see in myself than I see in others. [00:26:01] That's what Jesus is getting here. [00:26:05] Forgive others as. Or you will be forgiven. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [00:26:14] So, friends, if you are a Christian, if you have any grudge, any vengeance towards another person, check your heart. [00:26:29] I don't care what they did. If you are a Christian, you need to forgive them. [00:26:35] And if you can't find out, find a way to forgive them or somehow justify it. Or if you can't forgive them for what they have done, then do you truly know the love of God? [00:26:50] And all the way up to this point, we have been talking about how to be connecting with God through our hearts, and that's forming us and shaping Us to be like Jesus, to be like Christ. [00:27:04] And so this last line here, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. We're reflecting on Jesus himself. [00:27:14] Jesus was led away, tempted by Satan for 40 days right after he was baptized. [00:27:20] And he was also tempted in the garden. What was his prayer in the garden? [00:27:26] My father, let not this cup pass from me, but not my will. But your will be done, Father, your will be done as on earth as it is in heaven. [00:27:40] And then what else happened? Jesus did go to the cross. He did die, but he was delivered from evil. [00:27:47] So, friends, as you are facing temptation, we may face temptation in many ways. In pleasant things where, oh, this is a good thing. It's going to take my eyes off God. Or in evil, painful things where this thing hurt. I have suffered a loss and I need to. [00:28:03] Well, am I going to trust God? [00:28:09] So as we kind of close up this prayer, and this time I would encourage you guys to know this prayer. [00:28:20] Not just memorize it, but know it, learn it, meditate on it. I would challenge you every morning that you get up, pray it. [00:28:33] Because whenever you start your day with this, it sets you in the right place for reality that you live in. [00:28:40] It'll keep you from becoming prideful, it'll keep you from becoming cursing God, and it will remind you of the gospel. [00:28:48] So I would encourage you guys that I talked about how all these people in the world seek to be connected with God. [00:29:01] This is the way. [00:29:05] This is the way to connect with Jesus. This is the way to connect with your heavenly Father, who has all authority, who has all resources for his disposal. [00:29:16] So your heavenly Father sees and he knows your needs. [00:29:21] So come to him through this prayer that engages our hearts to love and to trust him more. [00:29:29] Let's pray. [00:29:34] God, just thank you for this prayer. And Lord, I don't see any other way to close out this session than to just pray through this. [00:29:43] Our Father who is in heaven. [00:29:45] Holy is your name. [00:29:48] Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [00:29:53] Lord, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. [00:30:00] Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [00:30:04] And Father, may we all just draw closer to you, not through magical words, but through a heart that longs to know you. [00:30:12] Amen.