The Dynamic f prayer
Notes
Transcript
“The Dynamic of Prayer
Matthew 6:1, 5–8
Sermon 3
By Dr. Jerry Sutton
Once there was a rich man who had a son to whom he promised an annual allowance. Every year on the same day, he would give his son the entire amount. After a while, it happened that the only time the father saw his son was on the day of allowance. So the father changed his plan and only gave the son enough for the day. Then the next day the son would return. From then on, the father saw his son every day. This is how God deals with us.
Introduction:
Turn with me in your bibles to :
Matt 6:1-8
1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
NIV
As Jesus moved into the middle section of the Sermon on the Mount, He tells His hearers, “Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
(v. 1).
Here, in the first half of this chapter Jesus introduces the concept of motive, why we do what we do in the spiritual arena.
He addresses the issues of giving (vv. 1–4),
prayer (vv. 5–15),
and fasting (vv. 16–18).
He concludes by emphasizing the importance of laying up treasures in heaven. (vv. 19-21)
In the portion on prayer, He addresses two dimensions.
First, He addresses the dynamics of prayer, particularly identifying the concepts of the authentic and the counterfeit.
Second, He paints a word picture of the Father’s design for prayer.
He says simply, “when you pray” (or “pattern”) . This is not so much a prayer to be prayed as it is a pattern or design to be followed.
Consider, therefore, the dynamics of prayer.
Notice the repetition of the phrase “when you pray” (vv. 5–7). This recurring phrase (3 times) provides a convenient outline for our study of the dynamics of prayer.
Consider Jesus’ teaching:
POINT I
First, Jesus tells us not to pray like the hypocrites (v. 5).
The word hypocrite is traditionally translated as a “play actor.”
Such a person is utterly devoid of sincerity.
Mathew Henry says this; The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions.
a hypocrite,- one who outwardly plays the part of a religious man to perfection, but is inwardly alien to the spirit of true religion.
Alexander Souter, A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1917), 270.
Yet, notice that both the hypocrite and the authentic believer pray.
The issue is not the presence of prayer but the motive that drives prayer.
Jesus explains that the hypocrite loves to pray. But he loves to pray standing in the synagogue and on the street corner.
Why in these places? So they can be seen by men.
His motive is the affirmation of fellow human beings, and not the ear of God.
Here the Pharisees might be seen, reciting their appointed prayers—probably the well-known eighteen acts of devotion which were appointed for the use of devout Israelites—and with the tallith or veil of prayer over their head.
Of these hypocrites Jesus says,
“They have their reward in full.” If your motive is the applause of men, you’d best enjoy it, because that is all the reward you will get.
So, if we are going to pray alright, we must not pray with the impure motive of being seen and heard by others.
POINT II
Second, we are to direct our prayer to our Father in heaven (v. 6).
When you pray, Jesus says, there is a right way.
Now, He is not discrediting public prayer, but rather, He is helping us see that the true motive in prayer is to speak strictly to our heavenly Father, whose ear is ever attentive to the voice of His children.
So, Jesus provides guidelines that facilitate this essential.
Jesus tells us to go into our rooms and shut the doors (v. 6).
When we are alone, we are together with God.
By being alone we are in fact in a position to be in God’s presence without distractions.
Now we are to pray to our Father, who is in the secret place.
Perhaps no one else is aware of us being alone with God, but God is absolutely attentive.
He longs for you to enter this secret place of prayer!
The result is that our Father, who sees in secret, will reward us openly.
From the mouth of Jesus, this is an accomplished fact, a promise waiting to be embraced, a journey just waiting for your entrance.
He will reward you openly!
POINT III
Third, Jesus warns us to avoid the use of meaningless repetition in our prayer (v. 7).
In fact, His counsel is that when we pray, we are not to use “vain repetitions,” like those of the unbeliever.
Put content in your prayer.
Be specific in your prayer.
God, who knows and understands, waits for you.
When blind Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” he got nowhere.
When Jesus asked him, “What do you want?” he responded, “I want to see.”
When he got specific, God responded, and his sight was restored! Turn with me to (Mark 10:46–52.)
God wants us to be specific in our prayers.
“When Jesus instructs the person of prayer not to use “vain repetition” He explains the reason.
They think they will be heard for their many words.
Then Jesus tells us that the Father does not answer prayer based upon the volume of our words, but because of the attitude of our hearts as we utterly depend upon Him in our human helplessness.
Jesus then exhorts us to pray with a word of confident comfort, “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask” (v. 8).
Conclusion:
Some years ago, a young girl was very sick and not expected to recover. Because of her love for Jesus, she was troubled that she had not been able to do more for Him in her short life. Her pastor suggested that she make a list of people in their little town who needed Christ and pray that they might put their faith in Him. She took his advice, made a list, and prayed often for each person.Some time later God began to stir a revival in the village. The girl heard of the people who were coming to Christ and prayed even more. As she heard reports, she checked off the names of those who had been led to the Lord.After the girl died, a prayer list with the names of 56 people was found under her pillow. All had put their faith in Christ—the last one on the night before her death.Such is the power of definite, specific, fervent prayer. Do you have a prayer list?
So here is God’s design for prayer.
We are to pray with the motive of being heard by God.
We are to pray expecting God alone to answer our prayer.
And we are to pray, being specific about our needs, understanding that the Father knows before we even ask.
PRAY: Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield (The Navigators).
Pause
Rejoice
Ask
Yield
Excerpt From
Nelson's Preacher's Sourcebook
Thomas Nelson
https://books.apple.com/us/book/nelsons-preachers-sourcebook/id6443651804
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