WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.120 Look together at Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 5. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:10.160 So if you have a Bible, I would encourage you to open to that passage as we consider it together this morning. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:23.280 In his book, Prayer, The Great Adventure, Pastor David Jeremiah says that prayer took on a new meaning for him when he was diagnosed with cancer. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:30.239 He wrote in his book, and I quote, I discovered a dimension to prayer that I had never known before. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:37.119 Jesus enrolled me in his intensive course on prayer, and I became an eager learner. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:41.119 And what lesson struck home with most force? 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:48.799 I discovered something that had been true all along, even though I had not thought much about it. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.439 I discovered I was helpless without God. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.200 And that was the beginning of the adventure for me. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:07.439 Prayer is one of those spiritual disciplines that I think most everyone understands is part of faith. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.519 It's part of walking and living the life of Christ. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:15.120 We know that it's expected. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:20.079 I mean, we have a sense of that, I think, that Christ expects us to pray. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.079 We know that we are to communicate with our God in that way. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:29.280 He's not here present physically with us to talk with, person to person. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:38.480 Somewhere inside of us, I think most of us know that prayer, prayer can be a wonderful adventure with God. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:43.040 But we don't do it. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.159 Or maybe we don't do it very much. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.560 Our excuses can go on and on. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:54.000 I've used some of these excuses, perhaps you have too. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:55.840 I don't have enough time. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:02.719 Yeah, there's the today I can't I can't take the time I normally have because I've got something else going on. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:05.760 I don't know what to say. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.039 I don't know how to pray. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:11.919 It feels weird. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.080 I don't want anyone to hear me. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.599 God doesn't answer me the way I want, anyway. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:22.960 Have you used any of those excuses? 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.280 If you are, you're just normal. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.560 At one time or another, I think most of us have used at least one of those excuses. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:35.599 I'm also certain that most of us know that those excuses don't go very far with God. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:48.319 Of course, we're made to feel even more guilty when we hear those stories of super spiritual Christians that get up at four in the morning and pray for four hours before they start their day. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:49.599 You ever heard of those? 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:53.759 Boy, they make me feel very, very insufficient. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:01.439 The truth is, though, that any Christian can pray. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:06.400 The truth is that all Christians should pray. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.800 The truth is that many do not know how to pray. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.800 And if you don't know how to pray, don't feel guilty. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:22.240 Don't take yourself down a guilty trip of making yourself feel less and less of a Christian. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:27.919 Don't feel guilty if you don't know how to pray, but don't stay there either. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.199 Learn how to pray. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:35.840 Even the original 12 disciples didn't know how to pray. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:48.800 Back in Luke's gospel in Luke chapter 11 in the parallel account to Matthew's gospel, we see Jesus' teaching on the subject of prayer came in response to a question from the disciples. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.840 Lord, would you teach us how to pray? 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.919 Like John the Baptist disciples taught his disciples. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:02.879 You and I should bear no guilt when we realize that we don't know how to pray. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:05.360 However, we should not remain there. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.080 Don't let anything keep you in that place. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:11.520 Learn from Jesus how to pray. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:18.720 What often happens, I think, is that we figure that we don't know how to pray, and so we don't. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.079 We're content to remain ignorant. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:28.079 Or perhaps our discomfort with prayer keeps us from doing it. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.839 It feels awkward or in some sense unnatural. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.040 It's weird talking to someone we can't see. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:37.839 So the result is that we don't try. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:45.279 Most of the guys in here will have an understanding of that first time that you wanted to ask a girl out on a date. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:47.600 It's weird. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:49.680 Sometimes you don't do it. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:51.759 Because you don't know how. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:52.720 Feels awkward. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:53.680 It feels weird, right? 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:55.120 You know those sorts of things. 00:04:55.279 --> 00:05:03.680 We have those same feelings with prayer, but the problem with that kind of thinking is that a portion of prayer is learned by simply doing. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.079 It's like the young bird kicked out of its nest by its parent. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:14.480 You can only be taught so much, and the rest comes by practical learning, by being forced to fly. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.000 Much in prayer is learned by doing. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.439 There are, however, a few things that we can learn from Jesus. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:27.759 There are some things about prayer, some truths that can be taught. 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:39.600 In our study in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we've come to a section in which Jesus instructs us in issues of living out our faith, of practical righteousness. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:44.959 In other words, it's expected that God's children will be like him. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:50.480 That as we live out our faith, we will do so much like Jesus lived. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:06:02.160 Three of the most important and most common faith issues of the first century were giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.399 Three issues that Jesus addresses in Matthew chapter 6. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:23.839 Now Jesus tells us and teaches us that those religious, faith-filled actions are not so much about what you do, not so much about how you live it out, but what the heart attitude is. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:31.120 Jesus says the proper way to give, to fast, and to pray is with the proper attitude. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:37.199 And he says, basically, it's you need to do that without getting any attention for it. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:50.079 If you can give to the needy, if you can pray, and if you can fast in secret without anyone knowing, then you are more likely to have the right heart attitude. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:58.079 However, if you have a need for others to see and know what you're doing in your faith, then you're more like the Pharisees than the Son of God. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:05.839 And last time we looked at the first illustration in verses 1 through 4 of Matthew chapter 6, that is giving. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.439 Now we shift to the second illustration of prayer. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:16.480 But Matthew interrupts his flow of writing here to present a more extended section of Jesus' teaching on prayer. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.360 He spends more ink on prayer in this place than he did on giving and fasting. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.000 And so we're going to follow that same pattern. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:30.720 We're going to slow down and consider in greater detail what Jesus has to teach us about prayer. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:38.879 And as we consider verses five through eight this morning, we will learn what we should know before we pray. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:44.399 Before we ever utter a prayer to our God, what is it that we should know? 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.000 Look with me at Matthew chapter six, beginning in verse five. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:08:01.199 Jesus says, And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.519 Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:15.920 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:25.519 And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:33.039 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.679 Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you and the Father in heaven. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:47.840 Coming before you in the power of the Spirit, telling you that we we sometimes don't know how to pray. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.279 We admit that, we confess that. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:56.480 Sometimes we're uncomfortable, sometimes we don't have words, sometimes we just don't do it. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:58.799 Help us. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.600 As you taught your disciples, teach us. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:06.480 Cause us to be to be receptive to what you say here. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:15.200 Maybe even to begin to change who we are and what we're like and how we approach speaking with you. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:18.080 We ask this for your glory, Lord Jesus. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:18.879 Amen. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:30.639 My dad had a ministry to young men over the course of three, four decades, probably. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:41.279 He would take boys and teenagers from the churches that he served and also from those same communities on a week-long backpacking trip into the Montana Mountains. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.440 He did that year after year after year. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:47.679 And the benefit for me as his son was that I got to go along every year. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:10:02.000 But each year, as we arrived at the trailhead in the mountains and finalized all of the gear that we were taking and got our packs all filled, my dad would give us the same instructions every single year. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.759 He would say, remember that you are far from help. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.600 There's only so much we can do if you get hurt. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:11.840 Be extra careful. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:15.279 If you break a leg, we don't have too many options. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.159 So don't step on wet logs. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:19.840 They're slippery. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:31.519 Avoid wet rocks, because those are slippery too, and you will slip and twist an ankle or fall into the water, and the water is extremely cold, so if you fall in, you could easily get hypothermia. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:38.000 Those reminders came every single year before we ever took a step on the trail. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:40.960 Sometimes they came during the week too. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.279 Because we needed the reminders. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:50.480 See, for young men, walking and running and climbing and jumping are second nature. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.200 We don't even think about doing those things. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:54.720 We just do them. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:02.559 It's a natural activity, but we still needed those simple instructions before we embarked on our adventure. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.440 Jesus does something similar here. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.840 Prayer ought to be second nature for God's children. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.799 Speaking with our Father who is in heaven ought to be second nature to us. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:21.200 We ought to be able to speak with our Father and with our brother the Lord Jesus as naturally as anything. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:26.879 But there are some guidelines that are good for us to know before we pray. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:31.039 And we find three of those guidelines here in this passage. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:42.639 If you've been following along, you will see that Jesus continues his pattern of reminding his listeners of what they commonly saw taking place in their world. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:50.399 Then he offered his rebuttal, his correction of that false worship, of that fake righteousness, that false living. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:59.519 And so he told us in the first four verses of chapter six that when you give to the needy, don't go around sounding a trumpet so that everybody knows what you're doing. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:03.919 Instead, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:11.200 And so he says to us now in the section on prayer, don't be like the hypocrites. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.279 Don't be like the hypocrites. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:17.840 Instead, go into your own room, close the door, and pray. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.039 So here then is our first guideline. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:22.639 Be genuine. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:26.480 When it comes to praying, we must be genuine. 00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:27.440 Don't be fake. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.200 Don't be something that you're not. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:30.000 Be real. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.440 Be who you are. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:32.639 Here's why. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:38.559 Hypocrites generate a false impression of holiness. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:46.799 They put up a front that makes it appear as though they're righteous, as though they're right with God, when the reality is they're not. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:52.960 In our world, hypocrite has come to have an entirely negative connotation. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:13:00.080 But in Greek and Roman societies, its primary meaning was mostly similar to our word for actor. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.320 We use that term in a positive sense today. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:09.840 They referred to someone who played a part in a play at the theater, usually by donning a mask. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.639 So they were pretending to be someone or something that they were not. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:22.879 Actors take on a persona that we know is not their real being. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:34.960 In the realm of faith, someone who is acting like something they are not is a hypocrite. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:45.440 In particular, Jesus addresses here those who are who are not especially holy, but they want people to believe that they are. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:52.480 So they act in such a way as to make people believe that there's something that they are not. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:59.840 In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, the hypocrites want others to believe that they're tight with God, that they're right with him. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:04.399 They're walking step in step with God, they're doing what God wants them to do. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:12.799 Everything's good, they're righteous, they're God's children, but the reality is they have a level of righteousness that's just like the Pharisees that Jesus says isn't enough. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:19.039 Here, Jesus focuses on people that love attention. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:24.639 Like those who want everyone to know about their supposed generosity. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:35.519 This group wants to display their holiness by praying in the most public of places, where the most people are present, where the most people can hear and see them do this. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.279 They want an audience. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.960 But Martin Lloyd-Jones reminds us that there might be a subtle shift in this pattern today. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.039 Because we can have the same attitude even in private. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.440 It doesn't have to be in public. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:05.039 If we want people to know that we pray an hour every morning before we start our day, that's not any different than desiring attention in public. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.200 They want attention. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:23.120 But they do it with a particular intention, that they may be seen by others. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:30.799 Now we shouldn't get too caught up in the literalness of that word seen so that we miss the point. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:39.200 The point is a heart that wants attention, that wants its acting to be noticed. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.840 My son does quite a few things that are blatantly disobedient. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.399 He also does a lot of things in a desire to get attention. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:59.120 Jesus is saying there are people who perform religious acts to get attention. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:05.039 In the first century, that acting was displayed in at times in public prayers. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.080 And that could still be true today. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.759 We can get attention for the length of time that we pray. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:18.080 Although today the tendency would be to complain about long prayers rather than to see them as holiness. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.159 But we can gain attention even if we pray in secret. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:27.600 It wouldn't surprise me to hear someone say, Oh, I no, I don't pray in public. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.639 I pray in secret every day. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:36.559 And the desire is to gain attention for praying in secret. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:43.759 What's the attitude and intention of your heart when you pray? 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:53.600 If you pray to gain attention, to be noticed, to present an image of yourself that is false, then your righteousness is more like the Pharisees than it is the Son of God. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:58.639 They do it, these hypocrites do this kind of thing. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:06.240 They have this kind of heart attitude and they do their praying to gain attention because they can earn an immediate reward. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.200 Being a hypocrite is enticing. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:10.319 It is. 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:25.839 Why did Eve take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and eat it and give it to her husband so that he could eat? 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.640 Well, we're told exactly why. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:37.279 She saw that the tree was good to eat, that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:39.440 She was enticed by it. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.599 It's the same way with living out our faith today. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:49.680 Even something that is good and beneficial can be turned and used for sin and evil. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:51.359 Listen to me carefully. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:53.839 You can pray sinfully. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:56.880 You can pray sinfully. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:00.400 It's possible to pray in a sinful way. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.799 Have you ever considered that? 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.559 That's what Jesus describes here. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.640 Hypocrites pray to be noticed. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:21.839 Prayer is an action that takes us in spirit right to the throne room of the King of the universe. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:28.799 Takes us right into his presence, into that holy of holies. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:36.319 And since prayer takes us into that presence of God, sin follows us right into the presence of God. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.200 Why would we ever take sin with us into the presence of God? 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.079 Well, we bring sin even into our prayer because we believe it's worth it. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.079 There's a part of us that somehow believes there's something of value there. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.160 There's something that I can gain from being fake in my prayer. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.400 And that's nothing new. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.519 God has seen that in his people for ages and ages. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.160 Consider Isaiah chapter 48, verse 1. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:16.559 God says to Israel, hear, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:19.200 Oh, yes, we believe in God. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.039 Oh, we're God's people. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:24.960 But God says, it's all fake. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.400 It's all false. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.559 But they did it anyway. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.200 Because there was an immediate reward for doing it. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:47.680 Why did I why did I so often disregard my dad's warning to not walk on wet logs? 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:50.880 Yes, I did that. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:56.240 Why did I so often use wet rocks as stepping stones? 00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:59.759 I'll tell you why. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:01.920 It was a thrill. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:08.480 There was something exciting about making it across a log partially submerged in a lake or stream. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.720 Can I have broken an ankle or a leg or even died? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:14.000 Sure. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:15.839 But it was exciting. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:19.759 Sin is like that. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:23.920 Even when we pray. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.680 The sin here is hypocrisy. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:32.319 Showing others, putting something out there that you are not. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:33.839 And what's the reward? 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:36.160 Immediate attention. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.160 We get noticed. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.359 Other people in church think highly of us. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.720 Maybe someone in our small group that we're seeking to impress notices us. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.640 And so we begin to be asked to pray. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.839 Maybe we get asked to lead a prayer meeting or a Bible study. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.960 There's immediate reward. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:21:02.960 But Jesus uses a verb tense here that suggests not that you receive all of the reward all at once, but there's this ongoing nature of the reward. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:07.519 They're receiving their reward as they're performing their publicity stunt. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.079 But like all sin, that ends at some point. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:14.640 And the reward is gone. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:16.079 It's over. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.680 It doesn't last. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:27.359 So there's this underlying implication here that Jesus wants us to fight against sin in our prayer life. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:34.160 Recognize that sin can invade even your communication with your God. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:41.759 So we need to be aware of how much sin has invaded our hearts and our lives as it concerns speaking with God. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:46.400 Because selfishness and pride can drive our prayers. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.640 Root it out. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:50.799 Get rid of it. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:58.160 Jesus says, Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.759 This is a parallel statement. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:05.599 To verse 3 of do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.359 It's not intended to be strictly literal. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.200 It's impossible for your hands to not know what the other is doing. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:20.240 In the same way, it's impossible to go into your closet and shut the door and pray in dark without sin following you in there. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:30.640 Just by going into an enclosed space and shutting the door and turning off the light so that people can't see doesn't mean that sin isn't there. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:36.640 You don't leave selfishness and pride behind when you go into a tiny room and pray in the dark. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:48.960 See, what Jesus is doing is he's pointing us away from the work of sin in our lives, the work of sin to make even righteous things, righteous actions, sinful. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:57.519 So if you have any sense of pride in being seen when you pray, then pray in private. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.160 In a secret place instead. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:08.160 If you have a sense of pride in people knowing that you pray, then pray in secret without anyone ever knowing. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:15.599 Kill the sin of pride and hypocrisy in your prayer life. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:21.279 So before we pray, we need to check our attitudes. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:37.839 Are you able to find just as much joy, just as much connection to your Father who is in heaven by praying in a cramped, uncomfortable place as you can by everyone knowing that you're praying? 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:46.559 Does praying without any attention whatsoever bring you joy and fulfillment and contentment? 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.799 Or do you need more? 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.440 Now, Jesus isn't condemning praying in public. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.079 He's not even condemning long prayers. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:00.960 He's condemning the attitude of desiring attention. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.160 And so he says, be genuine. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:12.640 Don't put on a show because prayer is about speaking with your father, not about getting attention for it. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.880 Guideline number two, then, is be careful to not manipulate. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:23.200 Jesus points to a common problem among religious people. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:28.880 They often use vague and useless language with meaningless repetition. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:37.440 When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:39.519 Jesus used an interesting word here. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.640 It's found only in this spot in the New Testament. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:50.079 But because it's not used anywhere else, it's a little bit difficult to arrive at a final, precise definition. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:52.720 It's the Greek word bottle a geo. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:58.160 And the New American Standard translates it as meaningless repetition. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:04.160 The NIV translates it as do not keep on babbling like the pagans. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:10.319 You're using the King James or the New King James, you're familiar with the phrase vain repetitions. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.519 So what does it mean? 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:19.839 Well, it's probably an onomopoetic word, that's just a big word that linguists use. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.440 That it sounds like what it means. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:25.039 And it means like what it sounds. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.519 Bottle of gao sounds like babbling. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:31.359 So it's probably referring to babbling. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:41.519 Babbling on and on and on, saying the same things over and over again, or babbling on and on using meaningless words, stuff that doesn't mean anything. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:48.799 See, Gentile religions were filled with sounds and prayers and repetitions that had no real meaning or effect. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:51.680 It was just repetition for the sake of repetition. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:56.720 Many, many modern worship songs do the same thing, sadly. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:01.359 Much of the modern charismatic tongues movement falls into this category. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:05.279 Meaningless babbling to draw attention, to heighten emotions. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:08.079 And there are other modern corollaries. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:18.160 Endless chanting, saying endless our fathers, if you're from a Catholic background, using prayer beads, the lighting of endless candles, the process of like Teodivina. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:20.000 We could go on and on and on. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:24.480 In fact, John Calvin wrote quite extensively about this issue. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:33.039 And he says in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, we find popery, by just pause, that's not the stuff that smells good. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.279 That's Roman Catholic theology, he's referring to the Pope. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:46.240 We find popery to be so deeply imbued with this error that it believes the efficacy of prayer to lie chiefly in talkativeness. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:50.079 In other words, your prayer becomes effective the more you talk. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.799 The greater number of words that a man utters, the more diligently he is supposed to have prayed. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:01.920 Long and tedious chanting also as if it were to soothe the ears of God. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:09.839 That continues today, not only in Catholicism, but in Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and other religions. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:25.440 In fact, I just spoke with somebody this morning after the first service who told me about speaking with a Muslim person who was talking to them about doing their duty as a Muslim and their praying. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:30.400 And they were taught to say these Muslim prayers over and over again, even though they didn't speak Arabic. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:32.799 Bainless repetition. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.720 Bottle of geo, babbling on and on and on. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.119 There's some biblical illustrations that I'd like to point out to you. 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:44.319 The first one is 1 Kings chapter 18. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:53.279 One of my favorite passages of scripture, I have many of them, but this is a passage of scripture that proves God has a sense of humor. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:54.079 It's true. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:55.119 Follow along with me. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:58.319 1 Kings chapter 18, beginning in verse 25. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.000 Elijah, the prophet Elijah, is on the top of Mount Carmel in Israel. 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:05.599 And he's up there with the 400 prophets, false prophets of Baal. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.960 And they're there because of a challenge that's been issued. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:14.640 Elijah has said, Hey, let's both offer sacrifices and see which God is real. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:15.920 I love this. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:18.079 Verse 25 of 1 Kings 18. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:24.880 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose for yourselves one bowl and prepare it first, for you are many. 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:28.640 And call upon the name of your God, but put no fire to it. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:36.160 They took that bowl that was given to them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.079 It's at least three hours. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:39.599 Probably longer. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.720 O Baal, answer us. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.000 There was no voice and no one answered. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.960 So they limped around the altar that they had made. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:56.640 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Why don't you cry louder? 00:28:57.200 --> 00:28:59.119 He is God after all. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:02.400 Maybe he's thinking. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.160 Maybe he's in the bathroom. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:08.559 Maybe he's on a journey. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:11.680 Perhaps he's asleep and must be awakened. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:18.799 They cried aloud and cut themselves after the custom that they had with swords and lances until blood gushed out on them. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:25.119 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:27.440 That's three o'clock in the afternoon. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:32.319 They've been babbling on and on for six hours, hoping to get the attention of their God. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.079 New Testament example. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:39.920 Book of Acts, Acts chapter 19. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:50.400 This is when the Apostle Paul is in the city of Ephesus, probably when the church in Ephesus is just getting its start. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.920 Book of Acts, Acts chapter 19. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.279 There's an issue that takes place here. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:05.119 People are coming to Christ, and as people come to trust in Christ, they're no longer buying idols. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:08.799 And the idol makers are getting upset. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:20.240 They gathered together, Acts chapter 19, verse 25, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, Hey, you know that it's from this business that we have our wealth. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:31.440 You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:50.160 And there is danger, not only that this trade of ours may come to disrepute, in other words, we're going to lose our source of income, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, that she may be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:56.160 When they heard this, they were enraged and started crying out, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:58.319 So the city was filled with confusion. 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:05.039 They rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.799 Paul wished to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:14.000 Even some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and urged him not to venture into the theater. 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:20.880 Some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not even know why they had gathered together. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:25.519 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:30.720 And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:40.400 But when they recognized that he was a Jew for about two hours, they all cried aloud with one voice, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:42.240 Two hours. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:47.200 You imagine going on for two hours, great as Artemis of the Ephesians, over and over and over again. 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:59.279 My friends, Jesus makes it clear to follow him means to pray with clarity, with sense, and with purpose in your words. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:03.039 Consider Paul, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:10.960 He says, In church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue that people can't understand. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:14.079 Babbling on and on. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:22.000 But see, religious people, just like the hypocrites, have a particular intention of babbling on and on when they pray. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:23.519 What does Jesus say? 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:28.079 For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:33.599 Hey, if we talk more, God will hear us. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:37.680 The more we talk, the more God is obligated to respond to us. 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:41.200 Notice that Jesus doesn't say that long prayers are bad. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:43.920 He says it's the intention of the heart. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:49.519 Do you think that God will hear you if you pray longer? 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:58.000 I would argue that longer prayers and spending four hours in prayer is probably not what most people should do. 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.880 There's most likely sin in it. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:04.880 Now there's a shift in audience here. 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:11.039 In the first instance, the attention was desired from other people, from the crowds out in the marketplace. 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:14.319 But here, there's a proper audience. 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:16.079 They want God to hear them. 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.559 They want God to hear their prayer. 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:27.200 But they believe that they must convince him to listen by babbling and droning on and on. 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:30.559 It's a form of manipulation. 00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:38.480 When Elijah mocked the priests of Baal, he suggested that maybe Baal couldn't hear them. 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.759 Maybe he's busy and might miss what they say. 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:54.079 If you believe that you need to pray longer to sort of twist God's arm or for him to hear you, then your God is a different God than the God of the Bible. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:33:57.759 Now there's something missing here. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:33:59.920 There's something missing. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.079 It seems to be on purpose. 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:04.319 So we have to ask why. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:08.480 Jesus doesn't say that these religious people earn a reward. 00:34:09.679 --> 00:34:14.960 Over and over again, we've been seeing, hey, these people do this and they do it to earn a reward. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.039 But these religious people don't earn a reward. 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:21.440 Makes you wonder why. 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:22.960 Why? 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:39.119 If your audience is God alone, you're genuinely wanting God to hear you, but you are praying to Him in a completely unacceptable way, then you're simply wasting your breath. 00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:48.800 Fight the pride that wants to control God through your prayer. 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:55.519 How much of our prayers are trying to convince God to do it our way? 00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:01.760 Is God God or are we the ones who are in control? 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:06.639 And so again, we are reminded to check our attitudes. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:13.760 Are we trying, in our prayers, are we trying even inadvertently? 00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:18.639 We don't do it on purpose, but do we try to twist God's arm into doing what we want? 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:31.119 Are there things that we do, maybe even mindlessly, that point to an inner desire to manipulate God, to get him to do what we want. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:33.679