Matthew 6:9-15 Therefore, Pray

A little girl was walking through the grocery store after school one evening with her mother. As they approached the bakery section, the mother decided to quiz her daughter about prayer. She knew that the Sunday school teacher at church had taught the class about praying each day and asking God for the things they needed. The mom said, “Elaine, can you tell me why we should pray for our daily bread?” The little girl paused for a moment, put her hand to her chin, turned her head slightly, and responded, “If we don’t keep getting new bread, then it will get stale.” Kids say some great things, don’t they? Yet, in all seriousness, we may ask ourselves about the staleness in our own lives. Is it because we have not asked our Father in prayer for the things we need?

 

Today’s Scripture text is about prayer. Last week we saw how the hypocrites and heathen pray. We also saw a glimpse of how the holy pray. This week we will fill in our understanding a little more as we study the famous text of what is called the Lord’s Prayer. It is not literally a prayer of the Lord, but a teaching moment for the disciples. The Lord Jesus wanted to teach His followers about prayer, so He gave them a model to go by. We can learn a lot from this passage if we open the eyes and ears of our spirits this day.

 

I invite you to read with me from Matthew 6:9-15. This is the Word of God (READ Scripture).

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

We are a body of believers, and no one is on their own. Even when we pray individually and privately, we still pray in conjunction with the church. He is "our" Father. He is not just my God and not just your God, but He is "our" Father. Fathers will answer questions and petitions from their children that they would not accept from anyone else in the world. God is our Father. We have a nearness with Him, but that closeness is balanced with His place. He is in heaven. It is important to know where God is when we pray. If He were anywhere else, there would be no use in praying to Him, but He is high and lifted up. He is omniscient, omnipotent, all-resourceful in His heavenly dwelling. He is sovereignly ruling all things. His name was revealed as Yahweh and then completed in the revelation of Jesus, "Yahweh saves." We want His name to be famous, so we pray to that end.

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

Notice that adoration and submission come prior to confession and supplication. We want God's will to be done as it is in heaven. And how is it done in heaven? It is done perfectly. How radical of a change would it be if God's will was completely and thoroughly done in all the world? One day that will come to pass. The kingdom originates in heaven, but is coming down among us.

Give us this day our daily bread

Notice the corporate nature of this line as well. Bread refers here to anything that we may need. Any notion that Christians are promised riches and treasures in this life is done away with in this phrase. Christians are those who must call out to God each day for help. "Give me what I need today, Father." In that ancient society, men were paid daily for their work. They would then go and by bread for that day. For the average person there was no storing up of either money or food. If one did not work, one did not eat. So you can see why one would pray for bread on a daily basis.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Let me first say that this does not mean that we can earn our forgiveness by forgiving others as if we can box God into a corner and force Him to do anything. What it does reveal is that God will only forgive the sorrowful. True penitence is a forgiving spirit. I think that our society proves that forgiveness is an uncharacteristic human act. It is not normal for people to forgive one another. Even Christians are guilty on this subject. We are good about praying for forgiveness privately for ourselves, but when it comes to forgiving someone else or asking for forgiveness for something we have done we have a very tough time. Yet, this is what we are called to do. We are to be ministers of reconciliation, even in our prayer lives.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Temptation = Trial = Corrective Discipline

This could mean generically that we are asking God to not abandon us during temptation so that it would overwhelm us or it could mean deliver us from the sin of not forgiving. It is obvious to me that verses twelve through fifteen all concern forgiveness. You see, the Lord wants forgiveness to be at the core of what we do and who we are as Christians.

Matthew 6:5-8 When You Pray

Matthew 6:5-8            When You Pray                                              WC McCarter

 

The Introduction

This week is an important week for us. Over 80 years ago people starting meeting together to worship God. Many of them were your families, your parents. Some of you were even there. My sermon today is about prayer. As many of you know, the Fort Trial Christian Church actually began as a prayer meeting in 1928 that grew into a church who built the old sanctuary. People like you and I, the Fort Trial people from the beginning, and all Christians are people of prayer. It is not “if” you pray, but “when” you pray.

 

READ Scripture- This is the Word of God

 

How the Hypocrites Pray (5)

For public recognition. The Lord is not against public prayer. He is against holier-than-thou language and preaching to others in prayer. Hypocrites were Greek actors who wore masks. Their reward is to be seen by men, and that is all they will receive.

 

How the Holy Pray (6)

Privately and purely. The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is seeking those who call out to Him authentically and purely. He wants you to simply talk to Him, lean on the everlasting arms.

 

How the Heathen Pray (7)

With vain repetitions. The Lord is not against persistent prayer. He is against repeating prayers or phrases with no thought to what you are saying. Some use vain repetitions thinking that they can manipulate God, maybe get the right formula, or show stamina (see Ecc 5:2).

 

The Conclusion

God knows what we need even before we ask Him. There is nothing wrong with public prayer, but when it is done just as a show then the only reward that will be bestowed will be the praise of others. There is nothing wrong with frequent prayers or saying some of the same things time and again, but if it done aimlessly then the prayer will not be heard. We must not be like the hypocrites or the heathen. We are holy.

 

We must trust our Father in heaven who is all-knowing and all-resourceful. James teaches that some Christians do not have simply because they do not ask. We must be those who ask. We need to be those who stand in the gap for our families, for our church, and for others.

Matthew 6:1-4 When You Do a Charitable Deed

Matthew 6:1-4            When You Do a Charitable Deed                 WC McCarter 

The Introduction

There is a story about a man who had some land, but he did not keep it to himself so that he may gain interest. He did not draw plans to build on it or to sale it for a personal profit. What in the world would someone with land do with it if they did not do these things? Well, I can tell you that his friends had already given him a new name. They called him “Son of Encouragement.” Now that is a name to be given. This “Son of Encouragement” decided to sell his land and he brought the money to the church leaders so that they could help those who lacking. You may know him as Barnabas.

Yet, Barnabas was not the only one who did this in the early church. Several people who owned land and houses were selling their properties and giving it to the church so that the poor may be helped. The Christians shared in all that they had with one another.  

Another couple also came to the Apostles with an offering from selling a personal possession. Everyone must have thought that this man and woman were wonderful for helping those in need. Yet, the Apostles realize that the couple had lied. Apparently the couple had promised to give all of the money, but didn’t yet pretended that they did. You know this couple as Ananias and Sapphira and there sin was that of hypocrisy. They wanted to gain the notoriety of someone like Barnabas, but they did not want to go as far in the charitable giving as he had. The Apostle Peter does not focus on their dishonesty as much as he does their hypocrisy. Both the man and woman die. 

Today’s sermon concerns the subject of charitable giving and working with the warning to check our motives. It is not “if” you do a charitable deed, but “when” you do. Thus, a passage like this concerns us all. This first phrase that we will read begins with, “Take heed. . .” which can also be said as, “Be careful. . . .” We will be careful in our understanding of this passage, and we must be careful in our application of the text.

READ Scripture- This is the Word of God 

Do not sound a trumpet

There were no government programs to assist those in need in first century Judaism. Therefore the people who could give would help the poor and needy in their communities. This was a major part of their societal system. Yet, much like many aspects of religion today, that system had become corrupt. People gave not because of the goodness of their heart, but because of their appetite for praise from others. Sounding your trumpet could be taken two ways. It could be taken figuratively as making yourself sound good (tooting your own horn). It could be taken literally in that when someone threw their money in the offering boxes the clanging could be heard by all those around.

The word hypocrite comes from the word for Greek actors who wore various masks on stage to play various characters. The Pharisees/scribes were masking themselves with external works of righteousness. They were even masking their true motivations from themselves. You may expect a hypocrite at a theater, but not in church!

They have their reward

Rewards are affirmative recognitions and recompense for praiseworthy moral conduct. Webster’s says that reward is something given or done in return to acknowledge merit. Pharisees were constantly seeking/expecting a reward. This is the sin of the pride of life. Where are you seeking your reward? You will find it, but it may not be as lasting as you first thought. You can seek reward from your Father in heaven or the people around you. You get to make the choice. For those who do things just to be seen by others Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” They have the reward of short-lived praise from others and nothing more. But those who are charitable because of their concern for others and the things of God will be rewarded by God. These rewards may not only be in the future. God may reward you with blessings now. You may receive a clear conscience, answered prayer, satisfaction from helping others, overcoming temptation, etc.

Do not let your left know

It is one thing to keep up with charitable giving for budgeting and accountability reasons. It is another thing to put up wall plaques that list the biggest contributors. Of course no one can hide from their left hand what their right is doing. This is a saying that forces one to think about what is being done. For the most part we should be doing things privately with no big parade. Others will surely know that we have done things, we do not have to keep it a secret from everyone like we are playing a game, but we should be quiet about our charitable giving. Let me also say, there is nothing worse than someone who makes a big deal about keeping the secret or those who quietly do something good, but later bring up what all they have done. Do what you do for the approval of God, not praise of men.

The Conclusion

What is Jesus teaching? He assumes (and in His assumption, commands) that we will do charitable deeds. When we do, we are to check our motives. He has already taught us to be salt in a decaying and corrupted earth. He has told us to let our light shine into the desperate darkness of the world. He said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” That sounds very public while our passage today sounds very private. Jesus is teaching from two different angles. If you find it more tempting to be “hush-hush” about your faith, Jesus says to be firm in your commitment to the things of God. If you find it tempting to be boisterous and self-glorifying, Jesus says that you better check your motives.

 

Once again, the Sermon on the Mount is teaching us to be different. The Lord was primarily teaching the crowds to be different than the Pharisees, but also to not be like to pagans around them. We, too, must steer clear of the pharisaical attitude. Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven,” and He says, “Do not be like them.”