Matthew 6:5-15

Matthew 6:5-15

Touch Jesus – Pray

September 20, 2009

Part 2 of “Touch Jesus” series

We have begun our new fall schedule here at Hopewell with new youth activities on Sunday nights,  new Wednesday night fellowship times and classes, prayer groups, and so many other activities and programs.  We are reaching a lot of people – and doing a lot of things – and many things we are considering doing to touch others with God’s love are still in the planning process and not ready to be done yet.

This is truly an exciting time to be part of Hopewell Presbyterian!

But – here’s something we have to ask ourselves –

Even though we have a lot to celebrate and are doing a lot of things — how are we doing – spiritually?

As we get involved in and get excited about doing more things it’s easy for us forget about the spiritual aspects of our lives.

The truth is that if we are going to grow as a Church – if we are going to grow as Christians – we are going to have to not just be busy “doing things” – we are going to have to grow spiritually also.

We are going to have to grow in our relationship with God.

Don’t get me wrong – “doing things” is not bad – in fact it is good – and we have to do things to be the Church God wants us to be – but if all we are doing is “doing things” – and if we are not growing in our relationship with God – then we are not really being the Church God wants us to be.

Too many times we get so excited about “doing things” and “looking for something else to be doing” that we forget about growing –we forget about growing in our relationships with God.

This fall we are not only going to be “doing things” here at Hopewell – even though we certainly will be doing a lot of things — we are also going to have opportunities for us to grow in our faith as well.  Our new prayer groups that are beginning to meet are excellent opportunities for us to grow in our faith – and the adult study on Wednesday nights of Richard Fosters book Celebration of Discipline gives us an opportunity to explore some of the ways we can grow in our relationship with Christ.

So – we are not only “doing things” – we are also learning about how to grow spiritually – and taking opportunities to practice the discipline of prayer that will help us grow spiritually.

“Doing things” is important – but only if we are also doing the things that help us grow as God’s people.

Last Sunday we began looking at “touching Jesus” – coming into contact with Jesus – and letting Jesus change our lives.  We’re looking at different ways we can “touch Jesus” – let Jesus touch us – and let Jesus change our lives.  Last Sunday we began by looking at the story of a woman who reached out from a crowd of folks and touched Jesus – and had her life changed by Him – and we looked at whether we were “crowding Jesus” or “touching Jesus”.

Today I want us to look at one of the ways we can “touch Jesus” – reach out to Him – and let Him touch us and change our lives.  One of the ways we can do this is through prayer.

Listen to what Jesus teaches about prayer as we look at Matthew 6:5-15:

Read Scripture

My truck had a dead battery the other day.

I’ve already made a note to myself that the next time I buy a used vehicle – especially from my brother in law – I need to make sure the battery is good!

Well – I knew what I had to do – I had to get out the jumper cables – jump start the battery – and take it to town to get a new battery.

I was hoping that when I went to the store that morning in Sally’s car and explained that mine had a dead battery and I was going to have to “jump it off” that someone would volunteer to help.

No such luck.

I was going to have to do it.

When I got back from the store I pulled Sally’s Explorer up to the tuck – and pulled to lever to raise the hood.

Now – I know that you have to pull a lever on the inside of a vehicle to raise the hood – then pull a lever under the hood to get it up the rest of the way.

I know that much about cars.

The problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to pull the lever under the hood of the Explorer.

What was I going to do?

I did what some men would never do – called Sally on my cell phone (she was in the house and I was out in the yard) – and asked her to come and help me.

When she took over, she couldn’t figure out how to get the hood up either.

So what did we do?

Again – what some men would never do – we got out the manual and read how to raise the hood.  It turned out that on most cars you push up on the lever under the hood – on the Explorer you push the lever to the left.  Once we did that, the hood went up nicely.

So – we got the hoods on the Explorer and my truck raised – put the jumper cables on the batteries – red to red and black to black (I know that much about it!) — cranked the Explorer – then cranked the truck.  I then drove it to town – got a new battery – and – as they say – I was “good to go”.

It took some instruction – it took reading the manual – for me to figure out how to get the hood up on the Explorer.

Now I know.

The point I’m making is this:

Sometimes we have to have some instructions before we can figure out how to do something.

You can probably think of situations where you needed some instructions on how to do something – but once you got the instructions you could figure it out. A little instruction can make a huge difference. Even if we have a lot to learn, just knowing where to begin can be a big help.

In our text this morning, Jesus gives us some instructions about prayer.

Prayer is one of the ways we touch Jesus – let Jesus touch us – and let Jesus change our lives.
Prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines we need to incorporate into our lives if we are going to grow in our faith – grow in our relationship with God – and put ourselves in a position where God can change us.

We touch Jesus as we pray.

But – here’s a question – how do we pray?

How are we supposed to pray?

I don’t know about you, but I still feel like a kindergartner when it comes to prayer.

I still feel I have so much to learn.

But I don’t draw back from prayer because I at least know where to begin.

In Matthew 6 Jesus gives us some fundamental and important instructions on prayer.

We all want our prayers to count.

We want to pray effectively.

Here we find the essential basics for that to happen.

Here we find some instructions on how to touch Jesus through prayer.

“And when you pray…” Jesus begins –

“when you pray” –

What should we do when we pray?

What should we keep in mind?

How should we begin and what should our attitude be?

Jesus’ first point is:

1. Be Sincere!

Don’t be like the hypocrites.

They pray out of the wrong motive.

They pray to be seen by others.

They are missing the most essential dynamic of prayer – prayer is a conversation with God, not a show. The word Matthew uses for hypocrite is the same word used in Greek for actor, showman.

Jesus is saying –when you pray — don’t put on a show — just talk with God.

Hypocrisy is something we all face. It’s a danger because we have made a public statement that we are followers of Jesus — but we are tempted to not truly follow Christ – but keep up the appearance that we are doing so. The temptation is to continue to go through the outward form of religion hoping no one will notice the change that’s occurred in our hearts.

Am I in secret the same way that I am in public?

Our true spiritual condition is reflected in what we do when nobody is looking. When we are in a state of trying to decide between two opinions — on the one hand wanting to serve the Lord — and on the other hand wanting to have our own way — it is hard not to be hypocritical.

Actually the solution is quite simple.

The solution is to follow God – reach out to God – and touch God.
That doesn’t mean we won’t have struggles – but there is a lot of difference between a person who is trying to do the right thing and having some difficulties in the process and a person who has resolutely chosen to do the wrong thing and tries to justify it.

Failure doesn’t make you a hypocrite — pretense and insincerity does.

The key to Matthew 6:5 is the Greek word, hopoos. The word means – purpose. The purpose of those being hypocrites is “to be seen of men”. It’s not public prayer that Jesus is condemning. It’s praying out of a motive “to be seen of men” that Jesus is condemning.

When you pray – Jesus says – be sincere.

Be real, be sincere, come to God to talk to God – let God talk to you – let God touch you – and let God change your life.

Don’t think you’re going to somehow manipulate God by saying just the right words or saying so many words that He finally wears down and gives you what you want.

In verse 7 Jesus says:

“when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”

Prayer is about a relationship between you and God.

You’re simply coming to God and talking with Him about what’s going on in your life.

It is a complete misunderstanding to think that you can say some magical formula enough times and your prayer will be heard. That’s the mentality the pagans had.

Jesus said, “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matt 6:8).

Prayer is not informing God of what we need. Prayer is discussing what we feel we need with Him — and the conversation should be two way. We talk to God– but we also listen to what He has to say to us.

Pray sincerely.

Touch Jesus – pray.

The first point Jesus makes about prayer is to be sincere.

The next point is –

2. Be Personal!

Now we come to what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”.

In this prayer we have several major requests – which can be broken down into two categories.    The first two requests are about God – and the last three requests are about us. The pronoun “your” dominates in the first two. The pronouns “us” and “our” dominate in the last three.

Notice the priority of the requests.

What is usually on our mind most when we come to God?

We’re usually thinking about what we need God to do for us.

If we were designing this prayer, most of us would begin in the middle of it — “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts…”

In other words — take care of me God.

That’s a valid part of prayer – but it is not the first priority of prayer.

Where do we begin when praying?

We begin with God.

Touch Jesus
Let Jesus touch you.

Pray

Prayer needs to be made in the context of a wonderful relationship we can have with God — not a mechanical parroting of words or a ritualistic religious exercise.  Prayer needs to be made in the context of a conversation.

Jesus tells us to begin our prayers as if we were having a conversation with a person:

Begin here – Jesus says – begin by saying: “Our Father”.
That’s very personal.

That is the most important part of prayer.

Too many conferences on prayer tell you how to “name it and claim it” – how to “rebuke the devil and praise God” and do this and do that. But – the thing is — God is not fooled by good technique. The foundation for prayer is a relationship with God.

It’s amazing how life begins to come into perspective with those two words. There may not be money to pay the rent. There may be health problems — relationship problems — money problems — but we can — by the grace of God – reach out and touch Jesus and have our lives changed by Him when we pray – and we can begin with those two words, “Our Father.”

It is that relationship that gives us the boldness to even come to God. It is that relationship that gives us confidence to make our requests known to Him. It is that relationship that provides us the assurance that the prayer will make a difference.

Our faith rests upon our relationship with God as our heavenly Father – and our prayers need to begin with that relationship. In prayer, we ask things of God believing we will receive what He wills for us because He is our Father and His heart is filled with love toward us.

Touch Jesus
Let Jesus touch you.

Pray

Let your prayer be sincere and personal.

Thirdly – Jesus teaches us to:

3. Be Respectful!

That may initially seem contradictory to being personal — but it isn’t.

There is a beautiful balance taught in Scripture concerning our relationship with God.  On the one hand, we have full acceptance and favor through Christ with the Eternal God. That is a great source of comfort and assurance. On the other hand, we never forget just how awesome our Father God is. He is our Father “in heaven”.

Even earthly fathers are to be respected. How much more our heavenly Father.

We need to enjoy the comfort of knowing the grace of God and our Father’s love toward us and at the same time honor Him for who He is.

“Hallowed be your name” – Jesus teaches us to pray.

It’s our prayer that God would receive the glory and honor due Him. When we pray the words  “Hallowed be your name” we are considering the greatness of God Almighty.  He is the Lord of heaven and earth. This is the time to set your heart on His glory. This is where true worship begins.

Do you see how Jesus is teaching us the right attitude in prayer?

Before we ever make one petition concerning our needs, we get our hearts right toward God. We get our priorities right before Him as well. When we say “Hallowed be your name.” we are saying — up front –

“I don’t want any prayer answered that doesn’t glorify You. Your glory is far more important to me than my person comfort. Your honor is much more important than my promotion.”

Our attitude toward God and His place in our lives has much more to do with the effectiveness of our prayers than the techniques we may learn. So far we have seen that Jesus is teaching us to be sincere, be personal, be reverent — and now we come to another point of instruction.

4. Be Submissive

Jesus teaches us to pray:

“Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

How is God’s will done in heaven?

It is done in perfect obedience.

That’s how it should be done on earth also.
The kingdom of God has to do with the rulership of the King. We are again saying up front, before any petition is made for our own needs –

“I am committed to Your will, God, even if it runs counter to what I think I want you to do.”

It is recognition of God’s wisdom, God’s sovereignty, and God’s right to rule – our lives and  everything else.

We long for the day when Jesus will return in His glorified body and put down all opposition on the earth even as it is now in heaven. We pray for the final eschatological rule of God when righteousness is uncontested and every knee bows. But in the mean time we apply that to our current situation as well. We want God’s will in everything now because there is absolutely nothing better for us than His will.

The key to effectual prayer has to do with attitudes of heart — attitudes of sincerity and personal intimacy with God — attitudes of respect and submission to the authority of God.

These are some of Jesus’ instructions about prayer.

Prayer is one of the ways we touch Jesus – let Jesus touch us – and let Jesus change our lives.
Prayer is one of the spiritual disciplines we need to incorporate into our lives if we are going to grow in our faith – grow in our relationship with God – and put ourselves in a position where God can change us.

Indeed – let’s learn to touch Jesus.

Let’s learn to pray. Amen