Why & How Do We Pray?
Matthew 6:5-14,
Well, the Sermon on the Mount. Most of you I'm sure are very familiar with the sermon and the great discipline or habit, he focuses on more than any others, the matter of prayer. And here in chapter 6, he gives a three-peat you could say, a three-peat or three R's of repetition. Notice verse 6, “When you pray,” verse 7, “When you pray,” and then verse 8, “When you pray.” I would think that's the easiest thing to prove from our Bibles. If you take the whole bible, the Christian life will be a life shaped by prayer. Just the word pray is used over 300 times in our Bible. Plus you have those other verbs that are used to call us to prayer: beg, call, ask, plead, seek, knock.
We also have a great emphasis on corporate prayer. You go to the book of Acts. It comes through loud and clear in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4, 12 and 16 and you have those commands and exhortations and all of those church epistles calling us, the people of God, to pray and to pray for one another, Romans 12, Ephesians 6, Philippians 1, Colossians 4, 1 Thessalonians 5. But it's also clear from your Bible that prayer is hard work. It's not easy. I would say that it is probably the greatest, most difficult, regular, consistent discipline in the Christian life, prayer. Pastors would tell you that, all of us would tell you that. One of the biggest struggles we have is to maintain a consistent day by day prayer life. And I think Jesus understood that, that's why he gives a whole parable on perseverance in terms of praying, Luke chapter 18.
But the Bible just doesn't tell us or talk about struggle and difficulty when it comes to prayer, but it majors on the benefits, the blessings, the value, the good that can be accomplished by prayer. I have eleven reasons. You could probably add 100 more and some of them overlap I realize that, but going back to even what our brother Henry read earlier:
So we have reason upon reason upon reason to give ourselves to prayer. As we come to prayer let's not forget that we should be motivated and encouraged to pray for all of those reasons and many more.
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. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. 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 you in secret will reward you. 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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this, “Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Well, the Sermon on the Mount. Most of you I'm sure are very familiar with the sermon and the great discipline or habit, he focuses on more than any others, the matter of prayer. And here in chapter 6, he gives a three-peat you could say, a three-peat or three R's of repetition. Notice verse 6, “When you pray,” verse 7, “When you pray,” and then verse 8, “When you pray.” I would think that's the easiest thing to prove from our Bibles. If you take the whole bible, the Christian life will be a life shaped by prayer. Just the word pray is used over 300 times in our Bible. Plus you have those other verbs that are used to call us to prayer: beg, call, ask, plead, seek, knock.
We also have a great emphasis on corporate prayer. You go to the book of Acts. It comes through loud and clear in chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4, 12 and 16 and you have those commands and exhortations and all of those church epistles calling us, the people of God, to pray and to pray for one another, Romans 12, Ephesians 6, Philippians 1, Colossians 4, 1 Thessalonians 5. But it's also clear from your Bible that prayer is hard work. It's not easy. I would say that it is probably the greatest, most difficult, regular, consistent discipline in the Christian life, prayer. Pastors would tell you that, all of us would tell you that. One of the biggest struggles we have is to maintain a consistent day by day prayer life. And I think Jesus understood that, that's why he gives a whole parable on perseverance in terms of praying, Luke chapter 18.
But the Bible just doesn't tell us or talk about struggle and difficulty when it comes to prayer, but it majors on the benefits, the blessings, the value, the good that can be accomplished by prayer. I have eleven reasons. You could probably add 100 more and some of them overlap I realize that, but going back to even what our brother Henry read earlier:
- We pray to praise and honor and give glory to God. That first major petition, “Hallowed be your name.”
- We pray because we are in need as sinners and also as dependent creatures. We need forgiveness of sin. We need protection from evil. We need daily bread.
- We pray for the growth of the kingdom of God, “Thy kingdom come.”
- We pray out of gratitude to God, “In everything give thanks.”
- We pray to grow in grace to be conformed to Jesus Christ. Romans 8, that's the purpose for which Christ died, Peter tells us to be holy in all manner of life and you will not be a really holy Christian unless you are a person of prayer.
- We pray to cast our care upon him for he cares for us, 1 Peter chapter 5.
- We draw near to God. He promised if we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. So there's a relational element here when it comes to prayer. We want to draw near to God.
- We pray out of love for God. “If you love me,” Jesus said, “you will keep my commandments.” And there is a commandment to pray. We are commanded to pray.
- We pray out of love for one another, James chapter 5, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.”
- We pray for unity and peace of our church. I'm using an Old Testament text here, Psalm 122, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
- We pray because God answers prayer. That's what Jesus focuses on. You can read on in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be open to you.”
So we have reason upon reason upon reason to give ourselves to prayer. As we come to prayer let's not forget that we should be motivated and encouraged to pray for all of those reasons and many more.
Posted in Pastor Devotional