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This section in the Sermon on 
the Mount deals with piety, true piety, and false. He deals specifically 
with giving of alms in verses 1 to 4, prayer in verses 5 to 
15, and then fasting in verses 16 to 18. So there's cautions 
on the wrong way to do these things and encouragements on 
the right way to do these things. So we're looking specifically 
at prayer, and we're going to focus in on verses 5 to 13. So 
I'll read that section. And when you pray, you shall 
not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in 
the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may 
be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they 
have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into 
your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your 
father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret 
will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use 
vain repetitions as the heathen do. for they think they will 
be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, 
for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask 
him. In this manner, therefore, pray. 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 forgive our debtors. 
and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 
one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. 
Amen. As I said, Jesus is teaching 
here on religious observance, those things that we do as God's 
people. And as we see in this particular 
section, it's not just God's people that do these things. 
They do it incorrectly, they do it falsely, they do it for 
means or ends, rather, that are not altogether good. But Jesus 
speaks specifically with reference to the motivation in prayer in 
verses 5 and 6, and then the manner of prayer in verses 7 
and 8, and then finally he gives a model for prayer in verses 
9 to 13. So the motivation, the manner, 
and then a model, a suggested model. Now that model isn't supposed 
to just simply be recited. and do exactly what he says not 
to do in terms of the manner. When I was a child growing up 
in the Roman Catholic Church, it was simply repeat or recite 
these prayers. It was just a matter of sort 
of rote or vain repetition. And so that's not the manner 
in which we are to utilize the Lord's Prayer. Rather, sort of 
like heads, or it's an outline, and it serves to function, to 
call us to reflect upon those things necessary in terms of 
emphasis in our prayer life. So we'll see that as we move 
through this section. But notice first with reference 
to the motivation with reference to prayer in verses 5 and 6. 
Notice the assumption that Jesus makes. Verse 5, he says, and 
when you pray, It's not a command. It's not an imperative. He's 
not telling the people of God or the disciples that are gathered 
before him that they must pray. Now the Bible does command prayer. 
We see that in various of the epistles, for instance. But here 
Jesus assumes that kingdom citizens will pray. Jesus assumes that 
the people of God will pray. If you turn to the book of Acts, 
Acts chapter 9, you'll see something interesting concerning the conversion 
of Saul of Tarsus. In Acts chapter 9, we see specifically 
that this man was converted by God, by his grace and for his 
glory. And then we see concerning the 
Saul of Tarsus, if you look specifically at 9.10, now there was a certain 
disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him the Lord said in a 
vision, Ananias. And he said, here I am, Lord. 
So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street called Straight, 
and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, 
for behold, he is praying. Now Saul of Tarsus had been a 
Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus had been a very religious man, and 
no doubt a man that had prayed, but most likely he prayed in 
the manner condemned by our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter six. So when Jesus identifies him 
as he is praying, this is a characteristic or an identifier of those who 
are in Christ. Now, if Swalbin said that if 
you want to humble a Christian, ask him about his prayer life, 
and I'm not intending to do that tonight, but there is that sense 
where we need to grow, we need to learn, we need to spend more 
time, carve out more time in the closet, and at the family 
altar, and in the corporate prayer meeting, that sort of thing. 
But part and parcel of being a believer in Jesus Christ is 
that one praise. You don't have to be cajoled, 
you don't have to be manipulated or coerced, you may have to be 
exhorted and encouraged, maybe, as I said, to do it a bit more, 
to be a bit more consistent, but this is part of being God's 
people. John Gill comments on Jesus' 
statement there in Acts 9. He says, so as he had never prayed 
before, now he prayed with the spirit and with the understanding 
from a feeling sense of his wants for spiritual blessings such 
as he had no knowledge of nor desire after before. As soon 
as any are quickened by his grace, they cry unto him. Prayer is 
the breath of a regenerate man and shows him to be alive. He 
who before was breathing out threatenings and slaughter against 
the disciples of Christ, now breathes after communion with 
Christ and them. So back to Matthew chapter 6, 
again in verse 5, and when you pray. You see that as you move 
through this particular section. Verse 7, and when you pray. So 
the idea is not that Jesus here is commanding a new thing, but 
rather he is seeking to correct abuses in the way that the people 
of God pray. Now notice he compares the true 
prayer with the hypocrite. Notice, in terms of motivation, 
verse 5, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. 
So again, it is the case that the true child of God prays, 
but it's also the case that the not true child of God prays. 
He goes through forms. He goes through externals. He 
engages in something that either appeases his conscience or perhaps 
impresses men, which is the design of the person in this particular 
context. And he's just foolhardy. He's 
not actually engaged in communion with God Most High. So he assumes 
the fact that the true disciple of Christ will pray. He gives 
this comparison in a negative way. You shall not be like the 
hypocrites. And then notice he underscores 
the issue. He says, for they love to pray standing in the 
synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may 
be seen by men. They love to be on display. They 
love to parade themselves. Notice, they love to pray standing 
in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets. That's 
a far cry different than saying that somebody loves to pray because 
they want to be in the presence of God, because they want to 
pour out their petitions before God, because they want to worship 
and serve God. You see the obvious contrast 
between the true child of God, who enjoys communion with God 
in the secret place, versus that man that wants to parade himself 
out in public as a prayerful man, as a religious man, as a 
holy man. And that's the recurring emphasis 
in all of this, or in the entirety of this section, in terms of 
almsgiving. We're not to sound an alarm and 
tell everybody, hey, look at the great big check I'm dropping 
in the box. or with reference to fasting. 
We don't walk around all sad and discontented, calling attention 
to the fact that we're fasting and we're very religious and 
very pious men. So obviously the Lord has a particular 
class of people in his crosshairs. It's the Pharisees. It's those 
externalists. It's those formalists. It's those 
who want to display their piety. not commune with God, but they 
want to be on display and they want to parade themselves. And 
then notice what he says at the end there, or in the middle of 
verse 5, that they may be seen by men. So that's their desire. The desire to pray in such a 
manner is not for the purpose of prayer and worship, but for 
self-exaltation. The practice in view is a very 
distorted version of prayer. When we go about prayer, again, 
it's not so we can call attention to ourselves. We don't have corporate 
prayer meetings so that the prayer can get the accolades of men. Wow, did you hear that brother 
pray? Now, there's a sense where there's an edification that comes 
from a type of prayer. There's nothing wrong with that. 
But it's not the case that, wow, that man is so awesome, he's 
so godly, he's so wonderful. Did you hear the flowery words 
that he utilized? The motivation here, in the hypocrite's 
heart, is pride and self-righteousness. It is not communion with God 
Most High. But then notice what he says, 
that they may be seen by men. That's their desire. Jesus says 
they also get that as their reward. Notice, assuredly I say to you, 
they have their reward. If it is the view of man instead 
of the ear of God that you are seeking, that's pretty easy to 
achieve. If you string together a whole 
group of flowery words, if your goal is to impress the person 
sitting around you, you can probably do that. You will be able to 
get that. And Jesus affirms that, assuredly 
I say to you, they have their reward. If you turn over to Luke's 
gospel in Luke chapter 18, you have a display of this sort of 
a fellow that Jesus is condemning in his instruction concerning 
prayer. In Luke 18 verse 9, also he spoke this parable to some 
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised 
others. Don't miss that connection. Self-righteousness 
always issues forth in a despising of others. Those two things go 
hand in hand. The self-righteous fellow does 
not think highly of other people. The self-righteous fellow thinks 
highly of himself. And more often than not, the 
self-righteous fellow not only doesn't think highly of his fellow, 
but he actually despises them. He disdains them. They do not 
meet the mark in terms of his particular requirement with reference 
to personal piety. So he spoke this parable to some 
who trusted in themselves self-justification, self-righteousness, that they 
were righteous and despised others. So he gives this parable. Two 
men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the 
other a tax collector. And I've said before, as I've 
commented on this passage, that in this particular moment, the 
people hearing this would have said, well, there's the hero, 
the Pharisee, and there's the wretch, the tax collector. I 
mean, that would have been the way that the mind would have 
naturally gravitated in that particular context. He says in 
verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed, I've always loved 
this language, thus with himself. That's not the target audience 
when it comes to prayer. We pray to God. We don't pray 
thus with ourselves. It's not ourselves that we ought 
to be trying to impress. It's not ourselves that we ought 
to be trying to, you know, gain the ear of. We ought to be seeking 
the face of God. So it says, he prayed thus with 
himself, and he says, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, 
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes 
of all that I possess. You see, that's indicative of 
the context, or rather, the situation that Jesus is speaking about. 
So verse 9, He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves 
that they were righteous. Well, how do people who trust 
in themselves that they are righteous pray? Well, they pray like this 
Pharisee. I thank you God that I'm not 
like everybody else. I thank you, God, that I'm a 
perfectly righteous fellow. I thank you that I engage in 
acts of piety. I thank you, God, that I fast. 
I thank you, God, that I pray. I thank you, God, that I'm such 
a wonderful specimen of a human being. And the tax collector, 
standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to 
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, 
a sinner. I tell you, this man, the tax 
collector, went down to his house justified rather than the other. 
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles 
himself will be exalted." So going back to Matthew chapter 
6, this is the sort of fellow that Jesus has, as I said, in 
his crosshairs. Spurgeon says, we are not where 
God sees when we court publicity and pray to obtain credit for 
our devotion. This is what they get. This is 
what they are seeking, and this is ultimately what they get. 
If this is all you want in a prayer life, is for somebody to say, 
what a great prayer, what a pious individual, what a holy person, 
you'll get your reward. Now notice, he gives the remedy 
in verse 6. So he gives, there's an assumption, 
there is a comparison, there is the issue, there is their 
desire, and now he comes to the remedy in verse 6. If this is 
how the hypocrite does it, if he parades himself, if he stands 
out before others, if he, you know, he thanks God that he's 
not like other men, especially the sorts of men that he's standing 
next to, if that's the kind of prayer that Jesus says is hypocritical, 
Look at what he says is true. So verse 6, but you, so there's 
the contrast, there's hypocrites that pray, but you, when you 
pray, there's that assumption again, not a command, I want 
you to pray, and I want you to do it this way. No, he assumes 
that you'll pray, but he assumes, or rather instructs, how you 
ought to pray when you do pray. So you, when you pray, go into 
your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your 
father who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret 
will reward you openly. So notice that emphasis on exclusion. He's not suggesting there's no 
place for family prayer. He's not suggesting there's no 
place for corporate prayer. 1 Timothy chapter 2, the apostle 
says, First of all, I exhort that prayer, supplication, intercessions, 
giving of thanks be made for all men. He's talking about church 
conduct. So there ought to be a corporate prayer meeting in 
the life of God's church. The prophet spoke of it being 
a house of prayer for all the nations. So Jesus is not disavowing 
us from family prayer or from corporate prayer, but he's emphasizing 
individual prayer. And again, it's an assumption. 
When you pray as a believer in Jesus Christ, as a blood-bought 
child of God, as a regenerate being, one of the things that 
will be indicative of your life is that you will be praying. 
Now, the room that Jesus speaks about was probably a small storage 
closet which was able to be locked. Now, you cannot say, well, I 
don't have that, so I can't pray individually. I remember years 
ago, there was a documentary about the diet craze in America, 
and there was that Subway diet. Remember, you eat the Subway 
sandwiches, and you'll magically lose weight. Well, it was just 
calorie deficit. It's not rocket science. You 
could eat anything insofar as you don't exceed the caloric 
intake. Well, they were interviewing 
these girls, and they said, well, I'd love to diet, but I can't 
afford Subway sandwiches. Well, therefore, I guess all 
bets are off. So you can't say, I don't have 
a personal space, so therefore, I'm not going to pray as an individual. The emphasis is on being alone 
with God. The absence of such a room does 
not mean the inability to pray in the manner prescribed. The 
idea is to seek God alone. See, if the hypocrite is seeking 
man, what, by way of contrast, should the true Christian pursue? He's not seeking man. He's not 
parading himself before man. Rather, he is seeking the face 
of God Most High. Notice as well what Jesus says, 
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have 
shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. Now I suggest that prayer is 
an exercise of faith. See, when you're in a public 
place, you don't need faith if your only target is a bunch of 
people around you that are going to leave later and say, boy, 
what a wonderful prayer, what a pious man. There's no need 
for faith. You can walk by sight in that 
particular situation. But I would suggest that with 
reference to the Christian life, one of the most The most significant 
exercises of faith is private prayer. We gather together in 
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're around other believers, 
we have a common bond, we have a common goal and a unity, and 
there's a bit of fervor that is built with that. In the family 
altar, you've got your family, you've got your loved ones there, 
you're seeking the face of God. When you go it alone, you and 
God, you need to believe that He is there, And you need to 
believe that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. So the 
act of prayer is an exercise of faith. And the exercise of 
faith is with reference to God. And when you have shut your door, 
pray to your Father who is in the secret place. You have to 
believe that He's there. When it's just men that you're 
targeting, you don't have to believe they're there. You can 
touch them, you can see them, you can feel them, you can smell 
them, you can surround yourself with them. And we ought to recall 
passages such as the prophet Isaiah. For thus says the high 
and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in 
the high and holy place and are with him who has a contrite and 
humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the 
heart of the contrite ones. Brethren, you know as well as 
I do, if you've ever engaged in private prayer, it's not a 
magical experience. You don't go into the closet 
and come out saying, wow, wasn't that significant and wasn't that 
awesome? There might be instances of that, 
there might be times like that, but it's not some sort of a formula 
where we follow the Lord into the closet and we come out changed 
men and women. It is an expression of our faith 
that He's there whether we feel like He's there or not. We don't 
have to believe when men are actually present. They're there. 
But when it comes to the closet, we need to rehearse Hebrews 11, 
6. Without faith it is impossible 
to please Him. For he who comes to God must 
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who 
diligently seek Him. And when you look at this particular 
passage, pray to your father who is in the secret place. And 
then notice he promises the reward, just like he does with the hypocrite. 
The hypocrite wants to be seen by men. They may be seen by men. That they may be seen by men. 
Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. Well, the 
same is true with the true believer. The same is true with the one 
who goes into the secret place. What does he get? He gets the 
promise of Jesus in terms of blessing. Notice the end of verse 
6. Pray to your father who... I'm sorry, and your father who 
sees in secret will reward you openly. Now brethren, you know 
as well as I, that doesn't mean you walk out of your closet and 
nuggets of gold start falling on you, okay? I prayed for a 
chicken dinner and I walked out to the kitchen and boy there 
it was with all the faith. That's not how it works you see. It's an act of faith. There are 
times when the believer prays and it fails. feels like the 
prayer's bouncing off the ceiling right back into our lap. But 
we're not supposed to proceed based on feeling. We're not there 
for an emotional high. We're not there for therapy. 
We're not there for some sort of a mystical exchange. We're 
there to express our faith. and dependence upon the living 
and true God, we're there to worship and we're there to trust 
that the things we make known to Him, the petitions we offer 
up to Him, we can in due time expect His response. That response 
may be a yes and it may be a no. The Lord does answer the prayers 
of His people. We just don't like the no's typically. We like the yeses, we like the 
chicken dinner, but we don't like the no chicken dinner. We 
don't like the negative response and we say things like, God just 
doesn't answer my prayer. Oh yes, he does. You just don't 
like the answer to that prayer. This is a tough pill that the 
people of God need to swallow. The Lord is our Father. And fathers 
oftentimes withhold things from their children because their 
children ask amiss. Their children think that all 
these good things will certainly prove beneficial to them. Well, 
as fathers and as mothers, we know. No, those good things aren't 
going to prove beneficial, so I'm going to withhold those good 
things from you so that you can learn some valuable lessons. 
Well, our Father does that with us as well, but the emphasis 
here is go into your secret place, meet with, commune with God alone, 
and the Lord will answer your prayer. So, we don't have any 
sort of quantification. Well, when you go into that closet, 
a light will come on. There'll be a feeling surge through 
your veins. There'll be, you know, some token, 
some sign. No, it's an act of faith. We 
need to believe what Jesus says. When we go into the closet, God 
is there. Whether we feel like he's there 
or not, God is there. That's the blessing of having 
an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God who is in tune with the wants 
of his children. Now notice, secondly, the manner 
of true prayer. So if the hypocrite gives us 
the motivation behind prayer, the heathen gives us the motivation 
to, or the manner with reference to prayer. So notice again the 
assumption, verse 7, the first part, and when you pray, He's 
not commanding, he's not giving imperative, he's not, you know, 
telling you something that you've not done. He's telling people 
who are blood-bought children of God how they are to pray. They're going to pray, but you 
need to pray in such a way. Now, notice the illustration 
that he gives in 7b. Do not use vain repetitions as 
the heathen do. Do not use vain repetitions as 
the heathen do. Sometimes I would, you know, 
you have those thoughts you'd like to go back in time. I'd 
like to go back to my Popish school with a regenerate heart 
and open Bible and ask the simple question, why do we just recite 
prayers in light of Matthew chapter 6? Why do we just engage in rote 
praying? You'd go into what was called 
the confessional You would go in there, you'd get on your knees, 
and you would say, bless me, Father, for I have sinned. And 
it's been two weeks since my last confession. And then you'd 
confess, first of all, a lie. You know, I've lied, because 
it wasn't two weeks. It'd probably been two months 
or two years. So, you know, that lie covers that. And then you 
go through your sort of litany of sins. And then for your punishment, 
or they called it penance, well, you've got to say 10 Hail Marys 
and, you know, to our fathers. Okay, so you go out there, you 
go on the pew, and you just rotely, you know, recite the Hail Marys 
and the Our Fathers, you've done your deal, and off you go. That 
is exactly what Jesus is saying not to do, okay? Look at what 
he says. When you pray, do not use vain 
repetitions as the heathen do. So when we get to the model prayer 
in verses 9 to 13, it's not a matter of just recite this as if it's 
a magic formula. Now, what Jesus is speaking to 
in this particular instance is the idea that length, verbiage, 
word use, word selection, word choice, and lots of it will bring 
the favor of the gods. In fact, there were some prayers 
that would just sort of go through a Rolodex of gods, hoping that 
their prayers would stick to one of them. Remember at the 
Areopagus in Acts chapter 17 as Paul is wandering around and 
he sees that altar to an unknown God. What's that indicative of? They want to cover their bases. 
They want to make sure that whatever gods are out there, they're going 
to appease. They're going to connect with. 
And if they have to go sort of through the whole pantheon to 
find a God that's going to fulfill their needs or fulfill their 
desires, well then they're prepared to do that with the repetition 
of many words. The reality that the heathen 
is rolling through a list of God names looking for any that 
will listen. For you younger ones, Rolodex 
has been replaced by your cell phone's address book. We used 
to have these, you know, apparatus that you had to actually touch 
and manipulate and move and look at and write or type into the 
card and put it on there. Now you just do that through 
your phone. But that's kind of what the heathen would do. Take 
their address book, zip through the pantheon, throw out their 
prayers, use lots of words, and hopefully that prayer would stick 
to a god, that god would then visit you with some sort of a 
blessing. Knox Chamberlain says, one reason apparently for the 
pagans' many words is that they are bewildered polytheists searching 
for the right listener, or for the effectual name of the right 
listener. Related to this is the worshipper's 
expectation that, once he has a hearing, he can wear down the 
resistance of the God by endlessly repeating his request. Now, brethren, 
this ought not to be taken in contrast to the importunate widow 
in Luke 18. The Lord Jesus does teach the 
necessity of importunate prayer. Give God no rest, God says to 
the prophet Isaiah. I think it's in Isaiah chapter 
62. Give him no rest until he makes Jerusalem a praise in all 
the earth. There's nothing wrong with earnest, 
fervent, and lengthy prayer. What Jesus is discountencing 
is this whole idea of vain repetition, as if it's the words themselves 
that convey or fetch, rather, the power from God. And then 
notice their specific purpose. Jesus specifies it here. When 
you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do for... For 
why do they do that? For they think that they will 
be heard for their many words. Again, he's not against using 
many words. He's not against You know, Luther 
praying for several hours. He's not against Whitefield getting 
up at 4 a.m. and spending time in his Greek 
New Testament and then hours in prayer. He's not saying don't 
do that. He is saying this attempt to 
manipulate God by using words, by vain repetition. God is not 
manipulating, what's the word? You cannot manipulate Him. He 
is not to be coerced. You cannot do what the heathen 
is doing. for they think that they will be heard for their 
many words. The attempt to manipulate, coerce, or control God by many 
words and techniques is what Jesus is saying not to do. Spurgeon says to repeat a form 
of prayer A very large number of times has always seemed to 
the ignorantly religious to be a praiseworthy thing, but assuredly 
it is not so. It is a mere exercise of memory 
and of the organs of noise making, and it is absurd to imagine that 
such a parrot exercise can be pleasing to the living God. The 
Mahatmatins and Papists keep to this heathenish custom, but 
we must not imitate them. I think he's absolutely positively 
bang on. Now, there is a precedent for 
this practice in the Book of First Kings. In fact, you can 
turn there. This is, in some ways, one of 
the best sort of illustrations of this act or this attempt to 
manipulate God, in this case, Baal. Now, you could manipulate 
Baal, at least as far as they were concerned. I realize there 
was no Baal. But as far as they were concerned, 
that was the way that you did business with Baal. Remember, 
there was a god contest in 1 Kings chapter 18, Yahweh versus Baal. And Elijah lays down the terms 
of this particular contest. So if you notice at 1 Kings 18 
verse 20, Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered 
the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all 
the people and said, how long will you falter between two opinions? 
If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him. but the people answered him not 
a word." So you know the story, they propose a particular test, 
we have an altar, we have our sacrifice, and whatever God responds 
with fire is the true and living God. So notice how the heathen 
attempt to manipulate Baal. specifically at verse 26. Now they took the bowl which 
was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of 
Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, no one 
answered. Then they leaped about the altar 
which they had made. And so it was at noon that Elijah 
mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is 
meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps 
he is sleeping and must be awakened. So they cried aloud and cut themselves, 
as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed 
out on them. And when midday was passed, they 
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. 
But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. 
What are they doing? They're trying to manipulate 
their God. They're trying to coerce their God. They're trying 
to get their God to perform based on their performance. So, we've 
put in X amount of effort, we've put in X amount of attention, 
therefore Bill, you need to bring fire down and consume the sacrifice. This is what Jesus is saying 
you're not supposed to do. If you conversely drop down to 
verse 36 and notice Elijah's prayer. It came to pass, at the 
time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet 
came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, 
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I 
am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your 
word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that 
you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts 
back to you again. 20 seconds? Is that what it took 
me to read those two verses? 15 seconds? I'm not real good 
at sort of that time quantification. But it wasn't a long prayer. 
This wasn't, you know, the pastoral prayer. This wasn't, you know, 
the let's bring this home prayer. This was a very simple, very 
direct, very earnest prayer. And God answers the prayer. Notice 
in verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the 
burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust. 
and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all 
the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, 
the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God. So back to our passage 
in Matthew chapter 6, don't use vain repetitions as the heathen 
do for, they think that they will be heard for their many 
words. And then he applies this particular 
section in verse 8. He says, therefore, do not be 
like them. So he's cautioned us against 
being like the hypocrites, the most likely Pharisees, those 
religious formalists, those externalists. And now he says in verse 8, concerning 
verses 6 and 7, do not be like them, the heathen, those who 
think they can coerce, manipulate, and in a manner formulaic get 
their God to bless that. He says, therefore do not be 
like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before 
you ask him. So again, the idea is not ever 
to never repeat yourself in prayer. The idea is not, well on Monday 
I prayed for, you know, my Aunt Bessie, so I can never pray for 
her again. That's not what he's saying. 
He's using the concept of vain repetition going through a set 
of words so that we can manipulate or coerce the God in order to 
get what it is we want. Pray for your Aunt Mabel every 
single day. That's perfectly acceptable. God is not against 
that. It's the vain repetition that's involved. The manner of 
biblical prayer is not length or wordiness, but communion with 
the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
It's not a matter of length. And again, it can be lengthy. 
It's not a matter of the specific word choice. As a pastor, people 
have said, there's guys I've talked to, well, I'm a little 
bit nervous to pray in public because some of those other guys, 
they pray so wonderfully. Pray. Don't let that ever stop 
you from praying. Pray. It's a public prayer meeting. It's not a pause meeting. It's 
a time for prayer. It's a time to express our hearts 
before the living and true God. And to be quite candid, the guy 
who's praying long and with some experience in the public place, 
when he hears that new beginner, he's edified, he's strengthened, 
he's blessed, he's encouraged. It's not the length, it's not 
the flowery words, it's not the verbiage, it's none of that. 
It's the blood-bought child of God is going to his father and 
fetching a blessing for the people of God. That is an encouragement 
to every Christian. It is a blessed and wonderful 
thing that the Lord has given to the church. So when he says 
to avoid vain repetition, he grounds it ultimately in the 
sovereignty of God. For your father knows the things 
you have need of before you ask him. You can draw the conclusion 
here, at least an implication, that theology dictates methodology. Theology dictates methodology. If you're God's bail, then yeah, 
vain repetitions, cut yourself, dance around an altar. If your 
God is that impotent, and your God is that powerless, and your 
God is that feeble, and it takes you cutting yourself and dancing 
around an idol to get his attention, well, yeah, that's the methodology 
you have to employ when you've got bad theology. But when your 
God is the sovereign God, the living and the true God, the 
God who knows exactly what you need before you ever ask it, 
that theology dictates the methodology. So don't be like the hypocrite 
who stands out and prays thus with himself, and don't be like 
the heathen who engages in vain repetition. Our view of God reflects, 
or rather should reflect, in our methodology in the public 
prayer meeting, the family altar, the private prayer meeting, or 
the private prayer time. All that we see or know concerning 
God ought to affect the way that we approach that God. So the 
heathen, who has a feeble God, is going to use feeble means 
in order to try to solicit that God to act on his behalf. But 
we, who have a sovereign God, who knows what we need before 
we ask, we go in faith and seek blessing without our hands out, 
waiting for that immediate sort of answer to prayer, knowing 
that He has everything under control, and knowing that He 
will work all things for our good in His time and for His 
glory. And Isaiah, it says, it shall 
come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while 
they are still speaking, I will hear. And it's interesting because 
you've probably heard this as persons affiliated or connected 
to the Reformed faith, and you have a high view of the sovereignty 
of God. You've probably heard people 
say, if God is sovereign, why pray? If God knows what you have 
need of before you ask, then why pray? See, again, that's 
a faulty view of prayer. It's the idea that, you know, 
the God is to be appealed to by the worshipper in order to 
get certain things. First and foremost, according 
to the scripture, prayer is worship. And prayer is an expression of 
our dependence upon God. It's not in the first place a 
transactional sort of a situation where we get from our Father. 
No, it's a time where we give worship to our Father and we 
express our dependence upon our Father. And the heathen and the 
hypocrite will solely and alone treat it as transactional. We 
just pray because we need something. We just pray because we get something. We just pray because, you know, 
that's the means by which we get some sort of emotional stability 
or whatever it is that we have lacking. is being met, that particular 
need is being met. So if we have bad theology, we're 
gonna have a bad methodology, and I think that comes from verse 
eight. And then notice, finally, the 
model given by Jesus for prayer. So it's not to be used like, 
we're not to be, you know, like the hypocrite to be seen by men 
standing out and reciting this prayer on Wellington Avenue, 
you know, for everybody to see and reward us because we're super 
pious people. But as well, we're not supposed 
to just recite it in a mindless sort of a way, as if the words 
were magical, as if it was some sort of hocus pocus, not vain 
repetition. And if you notice the prayer, 
we're not going to get too detailed. I just want to kind of give you 
a bit of an overview. He says, in this manner, therefore, 
pray. And so this is a suggestive outline. And if you notice, the 
God word petitions come first. And I think there's a parallel 
here between the Ten Commandments, for instance, and this. When 
you look at the commandments, man doesn't come first, God comes 
first. When you look at this particular 
model prayer, man doesn't come first, God comes first. So notice, 
our father in heaven, the reverence that we show to God, our father 
in heaven, that whole idea of father bespeaks the doctrine 
of adoption. He chose us in him before the 
foundation of the world and love having predestinated us unto 
adoption as sons. So we're able to call him our 
father in a redemptive sense because of the work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. So He is our Father, He is in 
Heaven, which underscores His sovereignty, His power, and His 
glory. Now notice the first petition. It has to do with God's name. But when you have time and when 
you are engaged in prayer, this is a great model to follow. Hallowed 
be your name, God's name, God's glory, God's honor. Not only 
on my lips, but on the lips of my children and my grandchildren. 
Not only on our lips, but our next-door neighbors, the world. 
Psalm 67, make his face to shine upon the nations. Let all the 
nations be glad. You see, it's not just this, 
hallowed be your name and then off you go. You think through 
that particular statement and you apply it in its various ways. There's a lot of people on this 
earth that blaspheme. There's a lot of people on this 
earth that don't hallow the name of God. And so it's a good time 
for us to pray for the success of evangelism, the missionary 
enterprise, the making of disciples, the planting of churches, all 
under that sort of framework of God's name being glorified. 
How is God's name glorified? Through the proclamation of the 
gospel, from the turning of wretched sinners into believers in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And then he moves on from the 
name to the kingdom. Your kingdom come. Now typically 
when we consider that statement we think of the eschatological 
or consummated kingdom. I think the Puritans made a good 
distinction. There's the kingdom of grace 
and there's the kingdom of glory. And John the Apostle ends the 
book of Revelation considering or contemplating the kingdom 
of glory. Even so, come Lord Jesus. I think that's the heartbeat 
of all of God's people. I mean, in the light of the world 
that we live in, don't you find yourself at times saying, even 
so, come Lord Jesus? I mean, right the wrongs, correct 
the problems, vindicate your elect who cry to you day and 
night. But it's not only that kingdom of glory, but the kingdom 
of grace. We pray this on a Sunday morning. 
We pray this when the gospel message is going out. We want 
the kingdom of grace to come. Colossians 1.13, the apostle 
speaks of being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into 
the kingdom of the Son of His love. So he speaks concerning 
God's name, God's kingdom, God's will. Notice, your will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. It's here that you might stop 
to consider. Heaven doesn't have, you know, 
mutilation of children for gender transition. Heaven doesn't have 
abortion clinics. Heaven doesn't have euthanasia. 
If Jesus teaches us to pray that the will of God be done on earth 
as it is in heaven, then we ought to pray specifically concerning 
the various sins, the various crimes going on rampantly in 
our own age. Not only may I do your will, 
God, not only may my wife and children and grandchildren do 
your will, but may this city, may this community, may people, 
by and large, to the proclamation of the gospel, the coming of 
the kingdom of grace, the salvation of sinners, may they reverence 
your name, and may they do your will. So again, with reference 
to prayer, it's the name of God, the kingdom of God, the will 
of God, and then he turns our direction or our focus toward 
ourselves. And here it's temporal provision, 
verse 11, and then spiritual provision in verses 12 and 13. So the idea is clear. God's name, 
God's kingdom, God's will before your food. before your forgiveness, 
before your protection. Not that your food, forgiveness, 
and protection are non-incidental, or that they're not important, 
but there is a packing order. We come with a concern for God's 
name, kingdom, and will, and then we pray for those man-word 
petitions. Notice verse 11, give us this 
day our daily bread. Again, not just, I want to eat 
my next meal, which is a perfectly legitimate prayer, but job security, 
job promotion, the needs of other brothers and sisters, perhaps 
in our church, the brother got laid off or whatever, people 
in our church. This is typically the category 
I think of when we pray for the infirm or the shut-ins. They 
have need not just for daily bread, but for encouragement 
and for strength physically and all that sort of thing. So he's 
not just giving us points to just recite as vain repetition 
in the way that the heathen do, He's calling us to reflect upon 
these things and expand our horizons and think through these as heads 
of doctrine so that we can flesh out specifically some very concrete 
needs in terms of our own prayer life. So temporal provision and 
then notice the spiritual provision in verses 12 and 13a. and forgive 
us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Interesting. We ask 
for daily bread, we ask for daily forgiveness. What's the implication? 
We need daily bread, we need daily forgiveness. We're going 
to continue in sin, not as reigning sin, but remaining corruption. 
The Lord Jesus sees that as a unique part of the provision of God 
for his children. Forgive us our debts as we forgive 
our debtors. In other words, And that's expanded 
in verses 14 and 15. There is amplification to that 
petition in verses 14 and 15. I think the idea is simple. If 
you're not forgiving others, that's a sure sign that you yourself 
have not been forgiven. In the epistles, I think it's 
Ephesians and Colossians, the apostle says, forgiving one another 
even as God in Christ forgave you. There ought not to be that 
mindset in the forgiven sinner that I'm not going to forgive 
this person. Now there's the place for repentance, there's 
the place for seeking forgiveness, there's the place for all those 
things in terms of our relationships in the family of God. But as 
a general rule, the person who's been forgiven is going to forgive 
others. That's the reflex. You don't 
hold on to some thing that somebody did against you 17 years ago 
in light of the fact that God has cleansed all of your sin. 
You're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to have a large-heartedness 
when it comes to this. And then notice, he ends on this 
idea of protection. This idea of protection, verse 
13, do not lead us into temptation, which underscores the sovereignty 
of God. Now brethren, we don't pray this and then walk into 
a, you know, a house of prostitution. We don't pray this and then walk 
into, you know, a place where we're very tempted. We need to 
live consistently with what we pray. Owen says, he who prays 
as he ought will endeavor to live as he prays. So, you know, 
when you say, Lord, lead me not into temptation, and then you 
just run right into a tempting place. Say, well, but I prayed 
and, you know, I just ended up here. No, you have to live in 
light of what you pray. But this emphasis on protection, 
do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 
one. And then there's this doxological 
orientation. If you have one of the newer 
versions, it relegates, for yours is the kingdom and the power 
and the glory forever, amen, to the margin. It's interesting 
because it's a reading in the Didache. And the Didache can 
be dated to about AD 110. So there is early manuscript 
evidence and proof for the inclusion of that doxology in the Lord's 
Prayer. It's perfectly consistent with 
the prayer, and it puts us in that orientation. Yours is the 
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. So that's 
Jesus' instruction on prayer. We ought to be careful to not 
follow the negative examples, the hypocrite and the heathen. 
We ought not to want to see men see us, but rather we want to 
be heard by God. And as well, I mentioned it briefly, 
but the place of prayer in the sovereignty of God. Verse eight, 
for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask 
him. Prayer is commanded by God. There's a lot of reasons why 
we would answer, somebody would answer, we could answer somebody 
and say, well, why do you pray? Well, it's commanded by God. 
It is commanded by God and we should pray. As well, prayer 
is an act of worship. It is an act of worship. If it's 
simply transactional in your mindset, then you need to change 
your mindset. It's not just transactional. It's not just to fetch things 
from God, but it's a time to worship and praise God. And as 
well, prayer is communion with the triune God directed to the 
Father through the Son by the Spirit. Our confession, I think, 
is helpful here. Prayer with thanksgiving, being 
one part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. 
but that it may be accepted it is to be made in the name of 
the Son by the help of the Spirit according to his will with understanding, 
reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance. 
So good sort of tips there in 22.1 on prayer. As mentioned 
earlier, prayer is an exercise of faith. Prayer is an expression 
of our dependence upon God. And that's something that we 
need to rehearse constantly. There's a self-dependence and 
an independent spirit that just about all the sons of Adam, and 
even believers in Christ, possess. We want to do it on our own. We want to go it alone. Well, 
in prayer, we're casting ourselves upon God Most High and seeking 
His grace and seeking His guidance. As well, prayer is a means of 
conformity to God's will. Ryle says, may we resolve that 
by God's help, our hearts shall go together with our lips. It's 
a good petition or a good thought. As well, prayer is a means of 
expressing our thankfulness to God, and prayer is a means of 
unburdening ourselves upon the one who cares for us. And I'll 
end with this quote from John Calvin. See, people think John 
Calvin was just this theology machine and all he ever did was 
write on predestination and election and, you know, irritate all the 
Arminians. That's very much a misrepresentation 
of Calvin. He says, believers do not pray 
with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, 
or of exciting him to do his duty, or urging him as though 
he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray, in 
order that they may arouse themselves to seek Him, that they may exercise 
their faith in meditating on His promises, that they may relieve 
themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into His bosom, 
in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope 
and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things." 
Yes is an act of worship to God, but prayer, yes, is for us as 
well. It puts us in a proper frame 
and in a proper response to the true and living God. Well, let's 
close in a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you that our Lord has not left us alone in the world. You've 
given us the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us. as well you've 
given us the word to inform us. And I pray that we would take 
these things to heart, that we would not be like the hypocrite 
or the heathen, but as genuine believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us as individuals, as families 
in this church, and as a church, to be earnest in prayer, to call 
upon you, and to know that you are God most high, that you know 
our needs even before we open our mouths, and to find great 
comfort and solace in that fact. And we ask that you would go 
with us now, watch over our entire church, bring us together on 
the Lord's Day that we may worship you in spirit and truth. And 
we pray through Jesus Christ.