What Is Prayer

WHAT IS PRAYER?

Matthew 6: 4-13

As I look at what Jesus says here in this passage, I have to confess that my prayer life is not what it should be.

And I suspect that that is true for many of you.
And that is too bad because prayer is essential to our spiritual growth and survival as children of God.

You have heard it said that the “family that prays together stays together.”

Well, just as prayer strengthens the relationship in a family it also strengthens our relationship with God.

In 1 Thess. 5:17 the apostle Paul says, “Pray without ceasing.”

In Colossians 4:2 the apostle Paul says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving…”

Then Luke 21:36, Jesus speaking of the judgment that was to come on Jerusalem tells His disciples; “Keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

And then Rom. 12:12 the apostle Paul says, “Be devoted to prayer…”

The context for each of these admonitions to pray is a time of trial, persecution, difficulties in life.
And when you consider what is going on in our culture; and when you consider some of the health issues that many are dealing with; prayer is not only needed but essential for our spiritual survival.

Whether it is a prayer of thanksgiving, or praise, or adoration, or confession of sin, or a personal petition, or intercession for the needs of others, or strength in a time of trial or persecution, prayer is essential to our spiritual growth and survival.

And I can assure you that prayer is important to those that we pray for.

Now, for just a few minutes, to help us have a deeper, richer, more meaningful prayer life I would like to learn some things from this passage about prayer, perhaps to correct some misconceptions.

When I first became a Christian nearly 50 years ago, I was asked to lead a prayer.
I nearly panicked. I didn’t know how.
In recent years I have been hesitant to lead a prayer in public because I was convinced my prayers didn’t do any good; that God didn’t hear me.

I have noticed that some of our men are hesitant to lead a prayer in our assemblies; I don’t know why for sure; but if you have some misconceptions like I did, hopefully our study will help you.

I want to begin by asking the question, “What is prayer?” Look starting in vs. 5:

“And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

First, understand that scripture nowhere condemns public prayer; Acts 4:24-31 we have an example of public prayer.

And scripture does not condemn individual prayer in a public place; (giving thanks in a restaurant; or having a prayer with someone in a hospital waiting room).
Scripture does not condemn that.

What the Lord does condemn is ostentatious praying; praying intended to impress others or to attract attention to one’s self in order to be honored by men; to show how righteous and religious you are.

And when Jesus says, “go into your inner room and shut the door”, don’t take that to extremes.

To interpret that with rigid legalism would be guilty of the Pharisaism which Jesus warns about.
If all of our praying were to be done in secret we would have to give up praying in worship assemblies, family prayers, and praying with individuals.
What Jesus is emphasizing here is praying in sincerity and not to be seen by men.

Now, notice in verse 6, Jesus says that when you pray, you are to “pray to your Father.”

The word “pray” means to “make supplication…to humbly request or ask for something either for self or for someone else.”
Examples: Ask for strength, courage, wisdom, love, healing, provision, for forgiveness, all sorts of things.

And who is the prayer to be addressed to? Jesus says, “pray to your Father.”

Sometimes you hear someone get up to word a prayer and they will say, “Let’s talk to God.”
That’s what prayer is. It’s talking to God.

The Bible is God speaking to man…

And prayer is man speaking to God.
It is your heart talking to His heart.

Understand, prayer is not talking or communicating with other people!

Maybe I am wrong but I don’t know of any situation in the scriptures, other than the one here in these verses, where anyone, under the pretense of praying, talked to people instead of God.
There are examples where people were prayed for; Luke 23:34; “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what that are doing!”; John 17 where Jesus prayed for His disciples; Acts 12:12 where the brethren were praying for Peter; but I am not aware of any example where anyone primarily talked to people under the pretense of praying to God.
God is not the 3^rd party in a prayer.

Prayers are not intended to be sermons to the brethren about things that need to be corrected, or things that need to be taken care of, “and God you can listen in if You want to.”

That is not “talking to God.”
And that is not what prayer is all about.

If you or I used our prayers as sermons to each other about things that need to be corrected, or things that need to be taken care of, or things we need to learn, we just as well get up and read this (the Bible) because that is what this is all about.

If I am talking to God and my brothers or sisters listen in, that’s great.

But our prayers should not be constructed primarily to correct or admonish or even instruct our brothers and sisters with God simply listening in.
We miss the whole purpose of prayer when we do that.

Look at vs. 7: And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him. “Pray, then, in this way:

When I was a kid, periodically my mom would take me to church; and there was one man who, from time to time, would lead the opening prayer.

His prayers went on, and on, and on, and on and it was not uncommon for him to start repeating himself.
And when he was praying one thing I noticed is after about 15 minutes people quit listening.

Here in vs. 7 Jesus is saying, “You don’t have to think that you have to pray long, lengthy prayers like the pagans do, for God to hear and bless you.”

Why?
Jesus says because, “Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.”

This may be a hindrance for some who have been asked to lead a prayer for our assemblies and they are hesitant because they are not sure of what to say; and consequently their prayer won’t be very long; and their prayer may not be as eloquent as others they have heard.

Your prayer doesn’t have to be long! In fact look at what Jesus says in vs. 9:

He says, “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.

10’Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

11’Give us this day our daily bread. 12’And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13’And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]’

How long did it take to read that prayer?

It takes about 15-18 seconds to read this prayer and the point is, a prayer doesn’t have to be long and drawn out.

I am not saying that a prayer should only be a few seconds long. What I am saying is, when it comes to public prayers, if they are too long, those who are listening in often quit listening.

And as far as a prayer needing to be “eloquent” enough; eloquent to who: God or people?

I have seen men get up and word some of the most beautiful, eloquent prayers; and then go home afterwards and verbally abuse their wives.
God is not concerned about how eloquent a prayer is. God is concerned about a prayer being sincere with pure motives.

Now look at vs. 10: ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

A failure to understand this kept me from leading a public prayer for several years.
I would pray and petition God for something and it seemed that my prayer went unheard; that maybe my prayer was no good.

When my daughter came down sick I prayed and prayed that God would make her well; and when she didn’t…I lost my confidence in prayer.

The problem was, I wanted my “will to be done” instead of God’s will.

I don’t know for sure what God is doing with her illness; I am confident somewhere He is using it for His purpose; perhaps to prove my faith; perhaps to teach me something.

But just because my will does not match up with His will does not mean that He is angry with me and I should stop praying.

Remember in Matthew 26:39, Jesus was in the garden and knowing that He would soon be crucified, prayed 3 times that God “would let this cup pass from Him” and remember what He said: “Yet, not as I will but as Thou wilt.”

Have you ever thought about what would have happened if Jesus would have gotten His way? If God would have let that “cup pass from Him?”
We don’t know what would have happened but aren’t we thankful that God didn’t take that cup from Him.

Our will may not match up with God’s will and when it doesn’t we are often disappointed.

But our God is a loving, compassionate; merciful, evangelistic God who is trying to save all who will be saved; and just because our will doesn’t agree with His is no reason to quit praying.

Our prayer should always be one of “not my will, but Thy will be done” and humbly accept whatever He wills.

So what are some things to pray for? Well, in 1 John 5:14, the construction of the verse in the Greek basically says, “Ask for anything you want; but allow God to mark things off your list according to His will.”

He always knows what is good for us and what will harm us; give Him the divine prerogative to protect us.

I have already mentioned somethings we can pray for: courage, wisdom, love, healing, provision, for forgiveness; peace. But look starting in vs. 10 again. Jesus says, “Thy kingdom come.”

Praying for “God’s kingdom to come” means praying that the qualities of His kingdom would be evident in our lives.
You might hear it phrased, “Help me to be a better disciple; or a better Christian; or help me be a better example to others.”
This is something we all need; to be a better, more complete Christian.

In vs. 11 Jesus says, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Not only can we pray for ourselves and our own needs, we can also pray for the needs of others.
And we can give thanks each day for God’s providential care.

Vs. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We can give thanks each day for what God has done for us and continues to do because He is the only one who can forgive us and He has done so through His Son.
And it would be arrogant of us to ask God for forgiveness and not extend it to others.
We can pray daily that we would be more like Christ and more willing to forgive.

And then vs. 13: And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

“God, as weak as we are by nature and as prone as we are to sin, do not permit us to enter into situations which would expose us to temptation and the possibility of falling.”
“Deliver us from evil.”

There is so much we can pray for…so much we need to pray for. We have a strong adversary and we need to devote ourselves to prayer and be alert in it.

Prayer is important for our spiritual growth and survival.
Prayer strengthens our relationship with God as well as with each other.
Our prayers should be directed to God, if others listen in that is great, but God is not to be the 3^rd party in the conversation.
Whether it is a private prayer or a public prayer, we are to be sincere and have pure motives; and not pray just to be seen by men.
Prayers are not intended to be sermons.
Prayers do not have to be long.
They do not have to be eloquent; just sincere instead.
Our prayer should always be one of “not my will, but Thy will be done” and humbly accept whatever He wills.

Prayer is very important; it is essential; it is very much needed.