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Food for Thought: The Purpose of Prayer

This then is how you should pray. Matthew 6...

Dr. Mark Ruppert

Matthew 6:9-15

One night a father heard his young daughter speaking, even though she was alone in her bedroom. The door was opened just enough so that he could see that his little girl was kneeling beside her bed in prayer. The father was curious to know what she would bring before God and so he paused outside her door and listened in. He was puzzled to hear her reciting her alphabet: “A, B, C, D, E, F, G…” She just kept repeating the alphabet. He didn’t want to interrupt her, but soon curiosity got the better of him and he broke into her prayer when he said, “Honey, what are you doing?” “I’m praying, Daddy,” she replied. “Well, why are you praying the alphabet?” he asked. She explained, “I started my prayers, but I wasn’t sure what to pray. So I decided to just say all the letters of the alphabet and let God put them together however he thinks best.”

I wonder how many of us have ever felt this way? You want to pray, you know you need to pray, but you just weren’t sure how or you didn’t know what to pray for. You were groping for the right words and you weren’t quite sure what would be acceptable to God.
Well, let me put our minds to rest because Jesus’ closest followers felt the same way. They had been watching Jesus how he would go off by Himself and talk to the Father above. They saw how He did it with confidence and assurance. He always seemed to have the right words and His prayers produced powerful answers. And that is precisely why one day, as we read in Luke 11:1 it says, “He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And Jesus did as they requested. He taught them the blueprints that He used in prayer. He taught them what we call today “The Lord’s Prayer.”

When you think about it, it would be more appropriate to call it “The Disciples Prayer” since it was given first to the followers of Jesus so they could pray with power. And so for the next several weeks we are going to be looking at one of the best know prayers ever said or ever written, the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

It was this past fall when I was finishing up my sermon series on the “Armor of God” when we were looking at Ephesians 6:18-20 where the Apostle Paul says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.” It was right after that sermon that someone came up to me and said you need to preach on how to pray. And as I thought about the New Year and how crucial prayer is in our daily lives; the more I thought about how important it is for all Christian churches to be praying churches and that the believer must learn how to pray; I thought, what better time of the year to begin a series on Prayer than the New Year. When you think about it prayer has been much discussed, much talked about, and much taught about; and yet, much misunderstood. If we are going to experience the fullness of communion with God and know the fullness of His blessings, then we must know how to pray. (John MacArthur) And the wonderful pattern of the Disciples’ Prayer will teach us just this.

Last Sunday the title of my sermon was “New Year’s Commitment.” And what I would like each of us to consider is making a New Year’s Commitment to Prayer. Let me be honest and speak from the heart. Prayer is not easy for many of us, Pastor included. I have to be intentional when it comes to praying.

It’s hard work for me, it doesn’t always come easy. And when you think about, developing a healthy prayer life is not easy in our modern world and yet it is not impossible. With all our busyness, distractions, material abundance, self-sufficiency and yes, even spiritual laziness, we can easily push prayer to the margins of our lives. But there is an answer. If we want to discover the power of prayer in our lives and the world, we need to see afresh the importance of prayer, not just in the emergencies of life but for all of life. Searching what the scriptures say about prayer can be a big help. But we need to make a commitment to make daily prayer a priority. Not the 2 or 3 minutes when we close our eyes before the busy day begins, but quiet, unhurried time with God.

So let’s begin. Let’s set the Context of the Prayer. The Prayer is found in the middle chapter of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon sounds the trumpet of the new age that Jesus came to introduce. The writer Matthew is presenting the King, King Jesus, and in chapters 5-7 the King is giving the standards of His Kingdom in contrast to the standards of the day. You see the Jews during Jesus time had somehow developed a system that they thought would guarantee their entrance into the Kingdom—but they were wrong. So what Jesus does is challenge their religious activity. In chapter 5 He tells them their theology, their understanding of God was inadequate; later in on in chapter 6, verses 19-34 He tells them their view of the material world was inadequate. And so in chapter 6 in telling them that their religious life was inadequate, He gives them three examples. If you look at Matthew 6:2-4 He tells them their Giving needs to be evaluated. In Matthew 6:5-7 He tells them their Praying needs to be evaluated. And in Matthew 6:16-18 He tells them their Fasting needs to be evaluated. Jesus is contrasting their standards and God’s standards. And of these three illustrations: Giving, Praying and Fasting, the greater importance is placed on prayer. Why? Well, Giving is important but one will only give properly when that person’s heart is filled with gratitude and out of personal communion with God. And fasting would also be seen as meaningless apart from prayer.

And now let me share something about the History of Jewish Prayer. First, let me say that the Jews were characteristically and preeminently a praying people. ‘The Holy One’, said the rabbis, ‘yearns for the prayers of the righteous.’ Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 107:6 says, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Psalm 91:15 says, “When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.” So you see, there was a great heritage of prayer for the Jews that was very real for these disciples of Jesus. When the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and therefore sacrificing in the Temple was impossible, prayer became the supreme sacrifice and offering for the Jew. And yet even before the destruction of the Temple many rabbis would have said that prayer is even greater in the sight of God than sacrifice.

The Old Testament Jew believed the following things about prayer:

• First, God welcomed their Prayers. They believed that they should pray because God wanted them to pray. Unlike the pagans who came to God in fear and trembling the Jew came in total confidence that God wanted them to pray to Him.
• Second, Prayer released the Power of God. The rabbis taught that prayer was not only communication with God but it was like a weapon that released the power of God.
• Third, God would listen to all their prayers. We read an interesting verse in Psalm 65:2 which says, “O you who answer prayers!” The Jew believed God heard their prayers. There is a Jewish commentary on the Old Testament called the Midrash that says this about Psalm 65:2. “A human king can hearken to two or three people at once, but he cannot hearken to more; God is not so, for all men pray to Him and He hearkens to them all simultaneously. Men’s ears become satisfied with hearing, but God’s ears are never satisfied. He is never wearied with men’s prayers.”
• Fourth, Prayer should be constant. The Jewish teachers tried to teach that people needed to avoid praying only when times got tough and things got desperate. They wanted the people to pray all the time. There is a collection of Jewish rabbinical laws, law decisions and comments on the laws of Moses called the Talmud which said, “Honor the physician before you have need of him. The Holy One says, ‘Just as it is my office to cause the rain and the dew to fall. And make the plants to grow to sustain man, so art thou bound to pray before me, and to praise me in accordance with my works’; thou shalt not say, ‘I in prosperity, wherefore shall I pray? But when misfortune befalls me then I will come and supplicate.’ Before misfortune comes, anticipate and pray.”

And then let me just quickly mention the 8 Jewish elements of prayer. First, Love and Praise to a worthy God. Second, Gratitude and Thanksgiving. The rabbis summed it up by saying, “All prayers will someday be discontinued—except the prayers of thanksgiving.” Third, Recognizing the Holiness of God. When they prayed they saw it as coming face to face with God. Fourth, a Desire to Obey and Please God. The Jew was to only pray to God if their heart was right. It wasn’t to be in a ritualistic, superficial approach but with a true commitment to obedience. Fifth, Confession of Sin and a Pure Heart. The rabbis said, “When you weep over your sin, God hears your prayer,” “The gate of tears is never shut,” and “if you can bring but nothing else to god, bring Him your tears and He will hear.” Sixth, Unselfishenss. The Jews believed in community and so their prayers took in not only their own personal issues but also the entire nation. The highest prayer was always the prayer of the community. Seven, Perseverance. The Jew believed they were to pray continually and not give up. We read in Deuteronomy 9:18,25 after the people had made and then worshipped the golden calf that Moses prayed for his people’s sin for 40 days in a row. Now that’s perseverance. And finally, eighth, Humility. It was the true Jew who came to a time of prayer where they submitted themselves to the will of God.

So as you see, the disciples were a part of a great heritage of prayer. The true Jew saw prayer and life go hand in hand. So join me next Sunday as we begin to focus on the prayer that Jesus taught.

Key Points

Introduction: One night a father heard his young daughter speaking, even though she was alone in her bedroom

One of Jesus’ disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1

Making a New Year’s Commitment to Pray

The Context of the Prayer
The prayer is found in the middle chapter of the Sermon on the
Mount Matthew 5,6 &7

Jesus challenges their religious activity- their theology, their
view of the material world, their religious life

Three examples in chapter 6- Giving, Praying & Fasting

The History of Jewish Prayer
The Jews were characteristically and preeminently a praying
people

The Old Testament Jew believed the following about prayer:

1. God __________ their prayers

2. Prayer ________ the power of God

3. God would listen to ____ their prayers Psalm 65:2

4. Prayer should be _________

Eight Jewish Elements of Prayer
1. Love and _______
2. Gratitude and ________
3. Recognizing the _______ of God
4. A desire to obey and ______ God
5. Confession of sin and a pure ______
6. Unselfishness
7. Perseverance
8. Humility

Conclusion: Join me next Sunday as we begin to focus on the prayer that Jesus taught

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)