WEBVTT 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.480 Matthew six, verses seven and eight. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:27.760 Jesus says, When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:37.520 Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:51.840 It was Robert Murray McShane, the Scottish evangelist, who wrote, What a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and no more. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:00.640 When a person is in the solitude of their own house, praying from their heart to the Lord, that is the mark of a person. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.239 People do things in public all the time. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:15.599 They put on airs, they put on a mask, so to speak, they act away before other people to convey what they believe about God towards others, but that's not the real person. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:26.480 The real person, the real window into a person's heart, the real demonstration of who a person is, is how they act before the Lord when only the Lord sees them. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:31.760 You know, when people act away in public, that's for your benefit. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:33.040 You know that, right? 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.239 Somebody's acting a certain way in front of you, you are the intended recipient of that. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:42.000 But the Lord knows the heart. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:48.480 And so the heart is truly on display without the filters of others. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:55.280 When a person is alone before the Lord, last week we saw in verse 6, Jesus said, Don't pray out in public like everybody. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.200 Go into your room. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:59.760 Your closet, as some translations say. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.280 And of course the Jews didn't have a closet in their house, but it'd be an inner room, a room you can't even see from the windows. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:06.159 Go there. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.039 And only the Lord can see into that room. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.360 So he knows who you really are in prayer. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:17.919 Your social media posts don't define you. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.000 They're done for other people. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.800 The bumper stickers on your car don't define you. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:25.680 They're there explicitly for other people. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:33.039 But how you are with the Lord and Him alone, praying in solitude, that's what defines you. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:37.520 I'll never forget reading a book on prayer many, many, many years ago. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:03:00.639 That the author described being at a conference and in the hotel room the night before the conference began, he happened across the conference speaker who was praying on his knees in the hallway of the hotel, and he eavesdropped on his prayer, and that influenced the author of this book on prayer the rest of his life to see how sober this man was and the eavesdrop on his prayer before God. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.080 What a hero of the faith. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:12.800 And I just stumbled over that so big time reading it, and I thought, who prays on their knees in the hallway of a hotel? 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:15.360 That's very odd. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.319 Who's that for? 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:20.800 Who's that for? 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:31.520 Well, your relationship with the Lord is fully on display when it's by yourself and he sees it. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:33.439 I mean, you can just ask yourself some basic questions. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:35.520 Do you pray when you're by yourself? 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:39.120 Do you pray when the only one who would hear your prayer is the Lord? 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:40.800 That's where your prayer life is on display. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:44.319 That's where your theology is on display. 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:51.520 So we ought to pray simply, to pray quietly, to pray privately, to let a request be made known to God. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:52.560 That's the language of the Bible. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:04:00.879 Well, here, as we start this series on prayer, the first two verses we're looking at this morning, they are a negative approach to prayer. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.199 Here's where Jesus says, do not do this. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:08.000 In fact, in this little section here, the most recurring phrase is don't be like these people. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.879 Don't be like the hypocrites, don't be like the Gentiles, don't be like them. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.240 So Jesus starts his instruction on prayer by telling us how not to pray. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:23.759 It reminds me of one of those clickbait articles that says, you know, how to get your college application rejected. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:29.199 You know, an admissions counselor says, These are the signs they look for before they reject, and you're like, oh, I'm applying for college. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:30.800 Click, I want to read that. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:34.240 This is how Jesus begins. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.920 How to have your prayer not heard, written by the person who hears all the prayers. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.560 Jesus in his deity is the recipient of prayers. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:52.079 And so when he says, hey, here's three quick ways to get me to hang up the phone. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:54.319 You should pay attention. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.639 In fact, I'll give that an outline for you this morning. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.399 Three bad methods of prayer. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.519 This would not be a best-selling book title, you know. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:05.199 Everybody would buy a book, three good methods of prayer. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.439 Here's three bad methods of prayer. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.319 Three wrong approaches to prayer. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.720 And when you see an outline like that, your first instinct might be to say, that sounds kind of judgy. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.279 Who are you to judge somebody's prayers? 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:24.399 To which I'll just say, first of all, it's Jesus who says this, and he can judge prayers, he receives them. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.000 Secondly, it reminds me a bit of a prayer class I had in seminary. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:50.720 My first semester in seminary, we had to take a class called Prayer and the Pastor, and the professor assigned us, our assignment was we had to pray an hour a day all semester, and we had to turn in a written report authenticating that we did pray for an hour a day, and we had to provide a little one-page summary of our prayers for that week. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.279 Now, this was like an old school professor. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.519 I'm talking elbow patches on the jacket, Dr. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:56.240 Roscup. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:06:02.959 He's in heaven now, but an old school professor who uh like still used a typewriter. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:10.399 And he would take off points if you didn't have two spaces after a period, because that's typewriter etiquette. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:16.879 Like I don't even haven't seen a typewriter in my life, but he had one in his office, and that was that. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.519 Well, he was grading our prayer requests. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.879 And my first assignment, I'm like cranking out the one-page thing right before class starts. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.720 I'm printing it, and one of my roommates who was ahead of me in seminary sees me. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:31.439 He's like, What are you doing? 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:32.399 I'm printing my assignment for Dr. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:37.040 Ruscup, and he goes, Oh, you poor soul, you have no idea what you're getting into right now. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:39.680 You're printing it right before class starts. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.000 I'm like, it's my prayer life. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:43.680 Nobody can critique this. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.240 Ha ha ha ha ha. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:50.959 When I got that assignment back in my mailbox, that paper bled. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:54.399 It had so much red ink on it, circling this. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:56.000 You would pray for that question mark? 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:57.120 No, this is a bad request. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:57.839 Pray this instead. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.360 I'm like, yowzers. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.360 Well, here Jesus is grading the prayer assignment. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.040 And he says, This is how not to pray. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.079 Don't be like this. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.439 The recurring word. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:17.279 Uh homoeusius means of like substance of something. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.279 That's the word that's used in this passage. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:25.519 Don't have like substance with the Gentiles. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.720 Now that's a problem for us. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.319 Because we're Gentiles. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.199 So Jesus says, you want to pray, don't pray like the Gentiles. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:36.560 And you're like, hello. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.279 I got bad news, Lord. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:40.800 That's all I got to work with. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.279 Well, the point of comparison here isn't your ethnic identity. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.000 The point of comparison here is your method of prayer. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.720 And so let me give you the three ways Jesus says not to pray. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:52.399 First is repetition. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.279 Don't pray with repetition. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:02.399 Saying the same prayer request over and over and over and over again. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:09.360 Now, this, of course, is a slap at the Jews when Jesus says this, because earlier we looked at this last week in verse 5. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.879 He says, don't be like the hypocrites. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.959 He's describing the synagogue leaders. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:18.240 They're on the street corners, they're praying in front of the synagogues to be seen by others, Jesus says. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.240 And here he compares that in verse 7 to praying like the Gentiles. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.120 That's the worst insult you can give to a synagogue leader. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:27.759 Like, hey, nice prayer, Rabbi. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.040 It sounds like what you would hear at the Temple of Dionysus. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.279 It sounds like one of the prayers to the Roman Pantheon. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.639 Very articulate. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:39.519 That's where Jesus begins. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:43.679 He says, when you pray like them, you're heaping up words. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:44.960 Look at verse 7. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.000 When you pray, don't heap up these phrases. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.440 It's putting them in piles at your front door. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:53.360 Putting them in piles. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:00.080 We have kind of a rule in our house that if something needs to go upstairs, you can leave it at the bottom of the stairs. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.960 And the next time somebody goes upstairs, they'll take it. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.919 Or somebody needs to go downstairs, leave it at the top of the stairs. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.840 The next time somebody goes downstairs, they'll take it. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.639 And that's a great rule in practice, man, because you don't want to just walk up the stairs or drop off a pair of socks. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:13.679 Just leave them there. 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:18.080 But what, I mean, have you met a person before? 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:19.679 I mean, what happens? 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.720 There's, you can't get to the stairs. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.559 That's what our prayer requests are like when they're just repetition. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:33.919 They're piling things up at God's door, just putting them in a big pile right at God's door. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:38.159 And Jesus says, God's not going to pick those up. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.720 You don't pile up your prayer requests at his door. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:45.679 You don't repeat the same thing over and over and over again, thinking, I'm playing the odds here. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.559 The more times I say it, the more likely God is to answer, right? 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.720 It's simple mathematics. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.200 There's a 5% chance God's going to answer my prayer. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:10:00.159 I pray that thing 5,000 times, my odds can only increase. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:04.879 Well, that's not what prayer is. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.279 Prayer is not this idea that if you say it enough times, God will be forced to act. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:16.879 I remember going to Bhutan and ministering in Bhutan, and the Bhutan means Kingdom of Buddha. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:18.320 This is true in Buddhism. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.120 You know, in Buddhism, there's not even a concept of a personal God. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.879 There's no person who receives prayer requests, but everybody prays. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:25.840 You understand that, right? 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.440 Everybody prays. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:35.840 Bhutan is covered with these flags, these prayer flags that are all over the place. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:44.240 And they're like those grand opening flags that you see in the United States, like the Peruvian chicken places, you know, those triangle flags that go down. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:49.440 And only in Bhutan, you write your prayers on those. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.679 And you put them up on a banner. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:59.440 And they're designed so that when the wind blows, the flag twirls and the prayer wraps around the cord, and then when the wind pauses, it unwraps. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:01.279 Then when it blows again, it wraps up again. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.480 So these things stream all over the canyons and over the valleys. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:05.840 Bhutan's very mountainous. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:06.559 They're all over. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:08.080 They're like telephone wires. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:09.679 They're everywhere. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:17.120 And the idea is you string them like that because as the wind blows by them and they twirl, the prayer is taken up in the wind. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:25.840 And the more it twirls, the more the prayer is taken up, and the more it unflurals, the more the prayer is recycled and given over and over and over again. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.480 And it's this idea that the more it spins, the more the prayer goes. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.080 That's this repetition, this heaping up of the phrases. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.480 I'll say it over and over and over again, and God will answer it. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:43.519 In Catholicism, the idea that you pray and you you light the candle. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.799 You guys know where the candle is lit, I'm sure many of you do. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:57.120 There's the idea that as long as the candle is burning, the prayer is ascending, the prayer is before God or whichever particular saint it is offered to, as long as the candle is a light. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:12.240 And you can even buy the candles at the basilicas or the churches where those prayers are often offered, and you know, a little bit of money will get you a little short candle, and a lot of money will get you a big candle, and there's the idea that the bigger the candle, the more the prayer is before God. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:19.279 You know, LifeHack, the dollar store, sells those the big versions of those candles. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:29.679 But the idea is as long as the flame is burning, the prayer is before its intended recipient. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.600 And Jesus says, that's just heaping up phrases. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:38.879 It's a personless prayer. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.080 It's not praying to a person. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.320 Because a person would hear you and respond. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:52.000 It's more a mathematical thing, it's more a manipulation thing. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.879 It's a personless prayer. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.559 It sounds like logically contradictory, but it's almost like an atheistic prayer. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:10.399 I was at a board meeting for the Master's University, and we had a guy who described himself as an atheist there, and we began our board meeting in prayer. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:16.240 When we were done praying, he said, That's exactly what I do. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:18.080 And we're like, oh really? 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:19.279 Tell us more. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:26.080 And he said, When you guys pray, you're praying to a higher power outside of yourself, above you. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:30.480 When I pray, I'm praying to a higher power inside of me. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:32.559 But it's the same thing. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:35.440 Okay. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:39.039 Notice that logic. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.039 Even the atheist prays. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:48.720 It's this appeal to something, somewhere, someone, even myself. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:54.399 And the more frequently I do it, the more inclined he would be to answer. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:59.279 It's sound and fury signifying nothing. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.919 It's the repetition of an empty prayer. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.679 Zero plus zero plus zero plus zero plus zero equals. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.279 I mean, that's the problem with this kind of prayer. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.840 It's heaping up, Jesus says, these empty, empty words. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:22.000 You don't need to repeat your prayer over and over and over again for God to hear it. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.360 Somebody once asked me, would you pray for my son? 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:32.480 He's got leukemia, doesn't look good, would you pray for him? 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.639 And of course I said yes. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:40.720 And then the other person said, We're also asking the Mormons that we know, the Catholics we know. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:43.600 I even have a Muslim co-worker, we're asking him to pray. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:48.080 If we get somebody from every religion, all of our bases are covered. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.399 I mean, that's a statement of desperation, isn't it? 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.519 It's somebody who's desperate to have a prayer answered. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:56.799 Desperate. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:04.399 And I think the more it's prayed, the more likely God would be to answer it. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:19.519 And, you know, when I tag the Buddhist prayer flags in it, or the atheist praying in himself, or the candles, or covering all the bases, it's very easy for us to go, oh, so so glad I don't pray that way. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:22.879 But we fall into this trap so many times, don't we? 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:29.360 We think, man, if I can get 20 of my friends to pray for this, then God will hear. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:30.960 It's a prayer request, mind you. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.320 Of course I'm not gossiping. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:33.840 It's a prayer request. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:40.639 But it needs to be amplified to as many people as possible, because then certainly the Lord will hear. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:48.159 If I get a thousand people to share this on Facebook that they're praying for it, then the Lord has to answer. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:52.879 That's the same kind of vain repetition. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.120 You know, if you pray for something, the Lord hears. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.799 The Lord knows what you need before you even pray for it. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.840 Now, sometimes our prayers just can become a spectacle. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.679 God's not drawn to a parade. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:09.200 God's not more inclined to answer something, it's not democratic. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.879 God doesn't order his prayer requests. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.519 Uh, you know, it's like the person at the elevator button who keeps cla. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.000 Like that's not the way the circuits work. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.559 You know, if it's pressed once, like, no, no, no. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.399 I talked to an elevator guy once who said, if you press it 20 times, it hits a different circuit. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:23.840 That's not true. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.240 Prayer isn't like that. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.399 You bring it before the Lord, the Lord hears, and the Lord knows. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:40.320 Now, people will often bring up Luke 18, where Jesus told the parable to the effect that they ought to always pray and not lose heart. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.080 And it becomes the parable of the dishonest judge. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:45.200 Remember? 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:51.600 And it's the judge who won't listen to the widow, and so the widow goes to him night and day, night and day, night and day, night and day. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:59.360 And finally the judge is like, okay, already, even though I'm a dishonest judge, even though I don't fear God and don't like widows, I'm definitely giving her what she wants. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:00.879 So she goes away. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.960 So doesn't that mean that you should pray all the time? 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:13.440 Well, yes, it does mean you pray all the time, but it doesn't mean you're manipulating God like the widow had to manipulate the judge, because it's called the parable of the dishonest judge. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:19.519 In a parable that Jesus calls the parable the dishonest judge, the point of comparison is not God to the dishonest judge. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:20.400 You understand that. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.200 Jesus is not comparing God to a dishonest judge. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:30.240 He's it's a parable of contrast where Jesus is saying, this dishonest judge needs to be persuaded. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.279 God doesn't need to be persuaded. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:40.319 God hears and God knows, and God's not distracted to something else. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:47.200 You know how it might be at home, your kid comes up to you and says, Hey, it's lunchtime. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:48.240 I'm hungry. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.720 Like, alright, I'll make lunch in a minute. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.720 And then you go about your day. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:55.920 You're doing, and then your your kid comes back 15 minutes later. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:59.599 Uh, Dad, I'm still hungry. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.119 Like, oh yeah, I remember you. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.400 Yeah, I'm gonna go, I'll go make lunch right now. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:09.119 And then I'm distracted again. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:13.279 You can tell DJ was out of town this last week by this illustration. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:15.599 I'm distracted again. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.119 Now it's like 30 minutes. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.279 Hey, dad, we're still hungry. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.640 Oh yeah, I was I'm making lunch right now. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:25.279 And I need a little help along the way. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:26.480 God is not like that. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.400 God doesn't forget what he was doing, he doesn't forget that you're hungry. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.759 His knowledge is is constant and before him. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:36.880 So he doesn't have to be manipulated. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:41.519 Now, you can pray, somebody asked me between services, such a good question. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:46.480 Well, I have a dis uh an unsaved family member and I want to pray for them all the time. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:48.319 Are you saying that's that's wrong or whatever? 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:55.680 No, because what you will find when you are praying the same thing over and over again, you will find, even in your mind, it's the same prayer for 20 years. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:01.440 You will find that your prayers do in fact change because effective prayer is working on you. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:08.799 You'll maybe the first year or so you're praying the same thing over and over again, and you're praying, you know, Lord, heal this disease, heal this disease, heal this disease. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:13.440 Year two, you're praying, Lord, would you sanctify me through this disease, sanctify me this disease? 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:19.039 Year three, you're praying, God help me value godliness over my what's going on in my health. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:24.640 You're gonna see your prayers are constantly actually reflecting your changing, because you're changing. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.119 Reflecting your changing and growing heart. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.119 That's not what Jesus is talking about here. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:37.279 Jesus is talking about the heaping up of words before God, like if I repeat and repeat and repeat my prayer, then he will be forced to answer. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:39.759 And the language it's used, then he'll be forced to hear it. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:41.759 Like God doesn't hear it the first time. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.440 Like the prophets of Baal. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:53.519 Remember, they're praying to Baal, and Baal doesn't answer, and so they start lancing themselves and prancing around and dancing, thinking, now we'll get Baal to hear, and Elijah's Elijah's mocking them. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.279 Remember, he what maybe he went on vacation. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:57.279 Maybe you should cry louder. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:19:59.519 That's the problem. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.440 But God is not like that. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.319 What the contrast with Elijah's prayer. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:12.319 Remember, Elijah poured water on the altar and then sat down and prayed. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.119 God, you got me into this mess. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:16.240 You better get me out. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.880 That's basically Elijah's prayer. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:21.440 So don't pray through repetition. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:29.759 Secondly, don't pray through recitation, saying somebody else's words, reciting prayer like it's a formula. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:39.039 This is the idea that here's a prayer that works, so let me say these words to get what I want. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.640 Recitation usually is a window into a heart that wants something, that needs something. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.759 It's really a heartless prayer. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.720 It's prayer using words that aren't connected to your heart. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.160 This is the, I mean, the rosary would be a great example of this from the world. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.160 Here's a memorized prayer, arguably the most prayed prayer ever. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:07.759 It's a prayer that's memorized, and you you actually repeat it, and it corresponds to your need. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:09.920 You're you can even be assigned it in penance. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:15.920 You confess a sin, and this could be a consequence of that sin would be praying the rosary. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:19.759 Or number of them, five of them, ten of them, one a day. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.200 It's different words, and it becomes formulaic. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.839 It's the formula to get this, or the formula to get that. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:31.759 Recitation. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.960 Praying somebody else's prayers. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:38.000 This is one of the reasons I don't do the sinner's prayer. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.839 Every now and then I'm asked, why don't you recite the sinner's prayer at the end of services or something? 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:46.960 Because the sinner's prayers that's what somebody else says. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.119 You don't need to get saved by repeating this formula. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.759 And then if you say it just right and you really mean it, then you're saved and don't let anyone ever question that because you said this. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.920 Prayer, I mean that's just not in the Bible. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:11.279 That's somebody else's words that you think you're saved if you pray them and you really, really, really, really, really, really mean it. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:15.519 As an early Christian, I was, you know, new in the faith. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:24.400 I'm listening to Christian radio all the time, and you know, like every hour the Christian station in my town would have the sinner's prayer at the end of the hour and repeat it. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.400 If you want to become a Christian, repeat this prayer. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.039 And man, I got saved a hundred times. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:31.920 Because I was like, maybe it didn't work last time. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:38.400 This time I really, really mean I got saved listening to Jars of Clay over and over and over and over and over again. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:41.680 Recitation. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:51.759 Martin Luther said that for him, the Reformation was predominantly about how people pray. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:59.359 And when I read that line, I found that line in the Joel Beakey book on the Puritans in Prayer, I came across that line and it struck me weird. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:02.079 Like the first time I read it, I thought that's not really right. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:13.759 The Reformation is about the gospel and about justification by faith alone and rescuing the gospel from the dark ages and all of that, the sacred system. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:16.640 That's what the Reformation was about, not prayer. 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:22.720 But the more I read of Luther's teaching on prayer, the more you understand what he's talking about here. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:28.799 Luther's looking at the way the prayers worked as a consequence of penance or a consequence of sin. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:34.240 And he's realizing what's missing from that whole approach to God is in fact the gospel. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:36.960 The person has sinned and they're desperate. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:56.160 They want their sin taken away, they are afraid of hell, they need their sin uh expiated, they need it expunged from them, they need it taken away from them, they need to be absolved of it, and they don't know where to go, and they're told, say this prayer and say it in this way, and on these steps, and in this closet, or in that road, and if you do it like this, then you can be saved. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:03.519 And he gets desperate, the person the sinner does, and is doing anything to get his sin removed, and he'll say it five times, ten times, a hundred times. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:09.279 But what's in all of that, what's missing from all of that is the cross. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:16.720 Your sin is forgiven by Jesus Christ, and that shapes the way that you pray. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:25.839 I asked a Catholic priest once why it's so common in Catholicism to pray to Mary. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:41.200 And his answer, I've shared it maybe once before here, so it might sound familiar to you, but his answer was imagine a teenager wears holes in his shoes and he needs new shoes. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.920 And he can go to dad and ask dad for new shoes, but dad is working all day. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:57.200 Dad's trying to save money and pay rent and buy food, and dad's working, and so he receives a request for shoes like a need, like you know, the baby bird with the mouth open, and dad's disinclined. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.880 Dad's more likely to say, hey, go get a job yourself. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:09.359 But if you go to mom, mom loves you and likes your feet. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:16.079 Mom will then go to dad and say, hey, Junior needs shoes. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.599 And dad's more inclined to listen to mom than to you. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:22.319 There's a certain logic to that. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:24.480 I mean, at a worldly level, that makes sense. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:26.559 You can see why that would resonate. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:29.839 But what's missing from that is the gospel. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.079 What's missing from that is that, you know, you want to fix that analogy. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:34.799 How about this? 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:36.240 God has a son. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:41.519 And God gave his son for you. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:49.680 His son died on the cross burying your sins and rose from the grave, offering you new life. 00:25:49.839 --> 00:25:56.000 And so now when you approach God, you're not approaching God as the Son, you know, in need, begging for scraps. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:57.759 You're approaching God in Christ. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:00.880 You're in his only beloved son, his only begotten son. 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:01.759 You're in him. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:11.920 And so, well, the one who didn't spare his only son but gave him up for your sin, will he fail to give you everything you need once you are in his son? 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:14.480 Of course not. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:18.079 Recitation is absent that. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.720 Recitation is this idea that I can say it, that I've earned it. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.000 And again, recitation, in a sense, it's a shortcut. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:32.640 But if you think about it, it's actually probably harder to memorize somebody else's prayer than it is to just speak from your own heart. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:39.599 What motivates the person who prays these recited prayers, it's probably desperation. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:46.960 It's probably really, really feeling like I need my sins dealt with, or I need my cancer cured, or I need my marriage back together. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:47.680 I'm desperate. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:48.799 I'll try anything. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:51.599 And so you start with that logic. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.319 If I do this enough times, the Lord will answer. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:03.599 Some people pray like they're applying for a mortgage. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:06.880 Here's all my debt. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.359 Here's my savings account. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.720 Here's my projected paycheck for the next 30 years. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.519 Hopefully my savings offsets my debt. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:20.000 Hopefully my future income is enough to persuade you to give me what I need now. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:25.279 So, Lord, here's my sin, I know about it, but here's all the good things I've done. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.599 Does that cancel it out? 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:28.799 Hopefully. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:38.960 And now, because I need this other extra thing, I pledge to pray this prayer once a week for the rest of my life, or I pledge to, you know, be thoroughly devoted to church. 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:42.880 Lord, if you answer this prayer right now, you know I'm a good person, you know I need it. 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:45.839 If you answer this prayer, I will go on a mission trip next summer. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:50.400 I will go to I'll be so devoted to Jesus, I'll go to church three times a month for sure. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.960 Here on out, Lord, answer my prayer. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.160 That's not, God's not a mortgage broker. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.359 God hears your prayer because he knows what you need. 00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:07.759 You're not trying to wrestle his ears towards you. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:15.680 You're not trying to bend the ear of God by heaping up words on his head or repeating a chant over and over again. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.240 And of course there's a danger in this in our world too. 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:24.240 Like, we're about to preach through the Lord's prayer here over the next few months, and I I know it might go through some of your minds. 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:29.279 Like, hey, Jesse's teaching the Lord's Prayer, shouldn't we be reciting it at church? 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:33.039 And I, you know, it's good to memorize the Lord's Prayer. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:34.079 It's good to pray scripture. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:40.160 Scripture is a very good guide to how to pray because it's shaping your prayers along the lines of the Lord's will. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:49.440 But just repeating somebody else's prayer, even if it's Jesus' prayer, that might be good training wheels, but you're gonna need to take the training wheels off your bike. 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:54.640 I mean, Jesus teaches you the Lord's prayer so that you learn how to pray, not so you repeat the prayer back to him. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.319 He knows it already. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:28:59.599 So it is helpful to learn. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:01.039 He can teach you to pray. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.039 What it's a great outline for prayer. 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:10.880 But you want to take it and apply it and use it more than recite it. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:15.920 So, first bad method of prayer, repetition, second, recitation, third, rambling. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:18.960 Some of you felt convicted on that one. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:20.880 Rambling. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:26.720 Jesus says in verse 7 when you pray, don't heap up empty phrases. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:31.359 It's a great word. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:33.200 One of my favorite Greek words. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.799 It's so good, you're, I don't think you're ready for it yet. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:44.240 It's an onomonopoetic word, which means it's a word that sounds like what it means, like buzz in English, buzzz. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.759 The word means what it sounds like. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:49.119