Matthew 6:5-9. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 18, 2024.
We continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus exposes, or corrects, the supposed righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, which he calls “hypocrites” in this section.
Last week we looked at the issue of charitable giving. We now deal with the area of prayer.
Let’s look at our passage.
This section is expanded compared to the section on deeds of mercy (charitable deeds) and the coming section on fasting. In fact, it has three sections: this first one that explains the teaching of Jesus regarding prayer (5-8), a model prayer (9-13), and then a last section that gives a further explanation (14-15).
This section does exactly the same thing with prayer that Jesus did with the section on charitable deeds. It contrasts how the hypocrites pray with how Jesus wants his followers to pray. It essentially boils down to wanting to be seen and heard by people versus wanting to be heard by God.
We should take this as a challenge to us from the master not only to pray, but to pray rightly. Today, the Spirit of God helps us to sense that original challenge that Jesus gave to the people when he taught. Do I pray? And, how do I pray?
Just as the hypocrites did charitable deeds only to be seen by others, so they pray in order to be seen by others. In fact, Jesus adds the descriptive word “love.” They love to pray in the synagogue or on the street corner because people will see them. They love the glory that people give to them for their apparent righteousness. Yet, they neither love God, nor love others. In truth, they pretty much love themselves. They for sure do not love praying in secret.
If you are the kind of person that marvels at certain people when they pray- maybe their flowery language stirs your heart, then you should be careful. Seek to become a praying person yourself, rather than marveling at the praying abilities of others. In fact, when are We the People going to stop being so easily stirred up by the presentations of others, both for the good or for the bad? We should stop being so easily amazed because we are atrocious at knowing whether the image that is presented is only skin deep, or whether it goes all the way to the bone. When we are not in tune with the Holy Spirit through prayer, we do things like help out in stoning Stephen in Acts 7.
Jesus tells us that such praying receives the reward it wants, the glory of people. God may be offended by such praying, but He lets them have what they want, the adoration of the people (at least as much as the people will give).
God is not offended like we are as humans. Rather, He removes the restraints would have spared you great damage. Humans were never designed to have the adoration of crowds, the worship of them as people do for Musicians, Actors, Athletes, etc. If you look at the lives of people who reach the top of glamor and glory, their lives collapse under the weight of such false worship.
Of course, not everyone who prays in public is fake. In fact, we could not even have a public worship service without praying, singing, preaching in public. However, the point is not to put more value on such public acts than they are truly worth. If public prayer does not have a foundation of secret prayer, then it is worthless, whether people know so, or not.
Thus, Jesus tells his followers not to love to pray like that. Instead, we are to find a secret place to pray in. The word for “room” in verse six is a word that was used for a storage closet. They were typically small rooms in the middle of a structure that would not have windows. His point is not so much the exact place, but that it is a place where no one will see you. It could actually be translated “hidden place.”
I know, I know. Mom’s are saying right now that there is no such thing as a hidden place! Of course, how much glory would you expect to receive from your child seeing you pray, or knowing that you are praying? Jesus is not creating a law of prayer. He is doing heart surgery here, and we should not become bogged down in snarky retorts. Jesus is pointing us to the intention of our prayer. A person who only prays in public has a heart problem. They are not in relationship with God, but seeking satisfaction somewhere else.
Jesus emphasizes that your (singular) Father in heaven is also in the secret, or hidden, place. This phrase would have reminded them of the same phrase in the Old Testament, like Psalm 91. David learned that, even though God was in heaven, He was also in those hidden places when no one was looking. David spent tons of time praying out in the field with the sheep. God met him there.
Even though God is everywhere, He recognizes that prayer done when no one is watching truly has the intention of relating with Him. This private audience with the King of the Universe happens to also be a private audience with your heavenly Father. Have you ever thought about the reality that our minds are the original secret place? You can be in public, but meet with God in the secret place of your mind, and those in the place would never know.
Let me just point out that God as a Father is mentioned 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount. One time it is “our Father” (The Lord’ Prayer, Matthew 6:9). Also, Jesus refers to God as “My Father” one time in Matthew 7:21. The other 15 times Jesus says that He is “your Father.” Five of these are a singular “your/you.” The other ten are plural. Yes, God is individually your heavenly Father, but the emphasis is on us as a group.
Again, Jesus promises that secret prayer will have its reward in the open. He doesn’t guarantee what that will look like. In fact, the resurrection and being with Jesus is put forth as our ultimate reward. We must be careful of thinking that if we pray alone enough, then God will have to give us some really cool things publicly. Pray because you want to know God, not because you want stuff from Him. He is your reward!
Jesus gives another warning in the practice of prayer in verse 7, but this time, he looks to the religious practices of the Gentiles, instead of the hypocrites within Israel. The word translated “vain repetition” is hard to translate without more context. It is clear though that it has to do with praying many words. The point has to do with lack of true heart-content. It is more about rituals, incantations, or techniques that are supposed to help gain the attention of the “gods.”
In Gentile spirituality, the so-called gods did not care for humans, so they had to learn techniques and formulas for drawing their help. They would even hedge their bets by worshiping many different gods. Surely one of them would come through for them. We should not repeat phrases like a mantra over and over. We should not speak a certain power syllable over and over. There really is no end to the empty techniques that false religion will conjure for its acolytes.
The One True God in heaven, your heavenly Father, is not impressed by such empty tricks. We cannot treat God like some sort of cosmic machine that we can put in the right amount of quarters, or pull the lever just right, in order to get what we want. Instead, we are to speak to our Father simply, and clearly.
Can you imagine speaking to your earthly dad in such ways? He would probably call the men in white coats to come and take you away, if you did. God wants us to approach Him as a child to a Father. He wants to have real relationship with us as that signals.
Jesus even tells us that our heavenly Father already knows what we need before we ask. God is omniscient. He knows what you need way better than even you do. He is intimately aware of your needs. He is paying attention to your life, regardless of what it seems like to you. You think you are cursed because of your experience of life, but Jesus tells you that you are blessed (Matthew 5:3-12). You don’t have to employ tricks and techniques to draw His attention. You just have to really pray to Him in the hidden place. Don’t pray rote prayers over and over again in particular sequences while making certain signs. This is not what Jesus wanted our prayers to become.
Let’s look at the first part of this prayer. It starts out with the words, “In this manner, therefore, pray.” The emphasis is that this creates a template or model that we can use in our own praying times. Yes, we can pray it, but it is not a mantra or incantation that “always works.” If we will pay attention to the components of this prayer, then we will be instructed in how to pray, and in what to pray about.
I will lay the prayer out to demonstrate the structure of the prayer.
“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.”
The first line is the address. Who am I addressing when I pray? It is interesting that Jesus has made the point that God is “your (singular) Father.” Yet, in this model prayer, he uses the plural concept of “Our Father.” Think of it. You are approaching God alone in a hidden place, and yet you address Him as a part of a group.
There is an obvious lack of the concept of “I” and “me” in this prayer. I am reminded of the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18:12-14. His prayer keeps repeating “I,” and when he does mention others, it is in contempt and derision. Yes, the tax collector also uses the first person pronoun of “me.” However, the prayer of repentance and humility is always heard. This is not about never using first person pronouns. Rather, it is recognizing that Jesus is signaling something important to us by their absence. Perhaps my prayers are far to self oriented? Do you think?
The key is not so much never using the pronouns, “I,” “me” or “mine.” It is about being fully aware that your heavenly Father is also your brother’s heavenly Father. We should approach God alone, but not as ones who are alone. Even people who are not God’s child are desired to be so by Him. He is bringing us into a larger community, His family. And, He wants us to care for one another, even in our secret prayers.
This address is followed by three requests that focus on God and His purpose, rather than on me and my purposes.
Israel had fourteen centuries of wavering between focus on God’s purposes and focus on their own purposes. At some point, we must become a broken person that realizes “our purposes” generally get in the way of God’s. Also, His purposes are more beneficial to us and others than the purposes that we come up for ourselves.
We generally even pray for God’s purposes selfishly. You can pray for God to bring in the Kingdom, but why do you do so? Do you want the Kingdom because then you will be bossing people around? Are you focused more on how good your experience will be instead of the glory of God blessing all the earth?
Israel, in general, had come to a place where they couldn’t wait for God to put the Romans in their place under the boot of Israel. Yet, Jesus showed the remnant the heart of God wanted to take the light of the Gospel to that Gentile world and invite them into the Kingdom in a good way.
Let’s look at the form of the three request first. The form of the first one, “hallowed be Your name,” is true of them all. The verb is first followed by the subject. The other two would look something like this: “Come be Your Kingdom. Done be Your will!” These are also imperatives (commands). However, they are in the third person singular. This has the effect of begging the question of just who is to do these things. Perhaps, it is both God and us.
The first request speaks of God’s name. This is His reputation, and the way people view Him. The prayer is that God’s name, person, and reputation be seen and treated as holy. In fact, the most holy thing in the universe. Holy means that something is set apart for God’s purposes. This may seem redundant (how can God not be holy, i.e., about His own purposes). Yet, the emphasis is on how others see Him. God is perfect in His character and attributes. He is not like sinful humans, nor like the sinful spiritual beings. However, we don’t always see and treat God as such. People have no problem slandering God, and attributing things to Him that are not true. It is a prayer for God to be respected by all. So, this should start with me.
The second request is that the Kingdom of heaven would be brought in, or that it would come. This is clearly a reference to the Kingdom of Messiah. We are praying for its full realization on earth, instead of just being in heaven. This does involve living out the Kingdom today in our lives. We are to be an expression now, of a coming Kingdom later when Christ returns.
Is my life an ever-clearer expression of the values of Jesus? May God help us to give ourselves to being an expression of the coming King and His perfect Kingdom that is coming.
The third request is that God’s will would be done. Sometimes God’s will seems to be at odds with His Kingdom. When Jesus went to the cross, it seemed to be the opposite of bringing in the Kingdom. Submission to God’s will as the All-Wise One is important. We can be a person who expects God to do particular things in our life, and when He doesn’t, we can be disillusioned. “God, you said I would be blessed, but now there is a cross in front of me!” We don’t always understand why God does what He does.
When we pray for God’s purpose, we are praying for the greatest good to come about. In fact, there are layers to the will of God. God put a curse upon the earth. Is it His will that it last forever? No! What I do with it is important. Wrestling with God like Jacob did is rewarded with intimacy. Yes, the wicked man will be judged and go to the Lake of Fire, but God wants us to resist that by telling him the Gospel, the love of God. God wants us to plead with the man that He resist God’s will properly, that is, through repentance and seeking mercy.
All of this connects to the greatest commandment. When you love God with all of your being, you will pray for His purposes to come first. All of this is a desire to have the goodness of God expressed on the earth, and not just in my secret times of prayer with Him.
For the sake of time, we will pause here and pick up on the second half of the Lord’s Prayer next week.