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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. We will return to our consecutive 
exposition of Matthew's gospel in a few weeks' time, but this 
morning we're going to look at Matthew chapter 6, specifically 
verses 5 to 13. Matthew 6, beginning in verse 
5, 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 that 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. Let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you that the heavens 
declare your glory and your majesty. The creation itself reflects 
the splendor of our great God. And how we praise you, not only 
for your work of creation, but for your sovereignty in upholding 
all things by the word of your power. We praise you for providence, 
that you govern all your creatures and all their actions. And on 
the Sabbath day, we certainly reflect upon the greatness of 
the work of redemption. We thank you, Lord God Most High, 
for so great a salvation. We thank you for sovereign grace 
and for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of 
the Holy Spirit. applying these things secured 
by Christ to the elect. We would pray today that you 
would cause us to worship you in spirit and truth, cause us 
to receive with thanksgiving your word, and to that end we 
pray for the ministry and the aid of your Holy Spirit. We ask 
that he would guide us and lead us and affect us with your truth 
and cause us to genuinely seek you in the private place. And 
as well, our Father, forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions. Wash us in the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and it's in His most blessed name that we pray. 
Amen. Well, this morning's message 
is a bit of a New Testament application with reference to our Bible study 
on Wednesday night. For those who were not present 
on Wednesday night, we were in 1 Kings chapter 18. And essentially 
what we have in 1 Kings chapter 18 is a contest at Carmel. And essentially what happens 
is that Ahab becomes the king of the northern tribes in Israel, 
and Ahab commits idolatry, rebellion against the living and the true 
God. He does this in the first place by marrying Jezebel. He 
goes and he worships Baal along with Jezebel. And then he ups 
the ante even more and builds a temple and an altar to Baal 
right there in Israel. Now, God's answer to this is 
to dispatch Elijah. Elijah the Tishbite arrives on 
the scene, unannounced, unexpected, and essentially puts his finger 
into the face of Ahab and says, there will be drought. There 
will be drought in the land of Israel. Now, that's bad news 
for Ahab, because Baal is the god of the storm. And if the 
god of the storm can't bring rain, then it shows him to be 
the loser that he is. And so then, we see this three-year 
period, God then announces to Elijah that he's going to end 
the drought. And so Elijah comes back to Ahab 
and essentially tells him that, but then says, we need to have 
this contest at Carmel. Because God knows the hearts 
of people. They would, in the long run, 
ascribe the rain to Baal. And God doesn't want that to 
happen. So God has Elijah orchestrate this contest and essentially 
what Elijah says to the false prophets of Baal is that you 
are to take a bullock, you are to put it on the altar, put no 
fire on it and under it and then call upon your gods and have 
him come and consume that sacrifice by fire. Now the false prophets 
of Baal try. They try with all their might. 
They try very hard. They try all day long, but there's 
no answer. There's no voice. No one pays 
attention. Why? Because there's no bail. 
He's a fake. He's a fraud. He is an idol, 
a fiction of man's imaginations. Now, of course, Elijah prepares 
a bullock, and he not only puts it on the altar, but he douses 
it in water. Now, kids, you know that water 
doesn't burn, does it? Elijah is stacking the deck against 
the God of Israel to highlight the fact that when this sacrifice 
is consumed by fire, it was indeed the God of Israel. So he douses 
the sacrifice, he douses the altar, he even makes a pit around 
the altar and fills that with water. Elijah doesn't pray all 
day, he doesn't dance around the altar, he doesn't cut himself 
and bleed upon himself. He simply utters a prayer, acknowledging 
God's glory, acknowledging the fact that he wants to be validated 
as a prophet, not because he had esteem issues, but because 
he wanted Israel to know that he was the messenger of God and 
he wanted the well-being of Israel. So after that short prayer covered 
in about a verse and a half in 1 Kings 18, guess what Yahweh 
does? He sends fire down and consumes 
the sacrifice. He consumes the altar and the 
fire even licks up the water that is in the trench around 
that particular offering. So that's the scene. That's the 
stage upon which I want to consider this New Testament application 
of that Old Testament scene. Because you see, the prophets 
of Baal thought that they could manipulate their God. They thought 
that they could coerce their God. They thought that they could 
make their God function, make their God act, make their God 
perform. And as I read Matthew chapter 
6 in our Lord's instruction with reference to prayer, He is cautioning 
His disciples against that sort of praying. He is cautioning 
His disciples against the sort of prayer that thinks that God 
is our servant. that thinks God is domesticated, 
that God works for us, and that if we do enough, if we pray enough, 
if we engage enough, then we'll get the blessings that we want 
from God. Jesus tells us God already knows 
what you need before you ask. Now notice Jesus doesn't conclude, 
therefore don't pray. Jesus isn't a hyper-Calvinist. 
The fact that God knows what we have need of before we ask 
is the foundation upon which we do pray. But Jesus' cautions 
here are very similar to the sort of practice that we see 
in 1 Kings 18. And I suspect it's the same sort 
of thing that we see practiced in the church today. Not just 
by the Benny Hinns, and the Kenneth Copelands, and the Joel Osteens, 
and those who think that God is akin to a genie in a bottle. 
We just say the right things, we do the right things, we rub 
the bottle, and out pops the genie armed with all the wishes 
to satisfy our every desire. It's not just in those contexts 
that men abuse the grace of God. It can be in reform. It can be 
in evangelical circles. If I do this enough, then God 
will bless. If I pray enough, then God will 
bless. Now, I'm not discouraging you 
from praying. Certainly not discouraging you from reading the Bible. Not 
discouraging you from attending church. But are you doing it 
in order to get? Are we on a mercenary mission 
in our service to God? Do we treat him like the genie 
in the bottle? Do we treat him like a four-leaf 
clover? Is he just a holy horseshoe to 
make our lives a little bit better? Is that the way that we approach 
the God of heaven and earth? Let's just sort of frame our 
thoughts a little bit more. I know this is a longer introduction 
than normal, but I certainly wanted to set the stage with 
reference to 1 Kings 18. But J. Gressom Machen made this 
observation many years ago. He says, we value God solely 
for the things He can do. Now he's not saying this is right 
and this is good and this is the way we ought to be. He's 
making a comment considering the times in which he lived. 
We value God solely for the things He can do. We make of Him a mere 
means to an ulterior end. And God refuses to be treated 
so. You see, God's not just your 
servant to make your life better. God's not just your helper to 
make your husband a more domicile being. God's not just your helper 
to make your wife more submissive to you or to help take care of 
your kids. He goes on, God refuses to be 
treated so. Such a religion always fails 
in the hour of need. If we have regarded religion 
merely as a means of getting things, even lofty and unselfish 
things, then when the things that have been gotten are destroyed, 
our faith will fail. You see, brethren, we're not 
to put our trust in or our satisfaction in the things that God gives. The message of the Bible is that 
our satisfaction is in God. See, if I give my kid a gift, 
I don't want him to worship the gift. I don't want him to worship 
me, but I certainly want him to appreciate me. The gift is 
a means by which he ought to come and love to me. That sounds 
really bad and really mercenary, but you get the point. Christians 
oftentimes are more caught up in the gift than the giver. And 
I think that this is what Machen is saying. He says, when the 
things that have been gotten are destroyed, our faith will 
fail. When loved ones are taken away, when disappointment comes 
and failure, when noble ambitions are set at naught, then we turn 
away from God. We have tried religion, we say. 
We have tried prayer, and it has failed. Of course it has 
failed. God is not content to be an instrument 
in our hand or a servant at our beck and call. He is not content 
to minister to the worldly needs of those who care not a bit for 
him. Has it ever dawned on us that 
God is valuable for his own sake, that just as personal communion 
is the mightiest or the highest thing that we can know on earth, 
so personal communion with God is the sublimest height of all? 
If we value God for His own sake, then the loss of other things 
will draw us closer to Him. We shall then have recourse to 
Him in time of trouble as to the shadow of a great rock in 
a weary land. So I think that sets the stage. 
Go back to Matthew chapter 6 and let us consider what our Lord 
says and how there are indeed parallels between the practice 
condemned here and those false prophets of Baal. First of all, 
note the assumption of our Lord in this section. Essentially 
what we have here in chapter 6 is an emphasis on true religion, 
or acts of piety, or religious observance. He deals with almsgiving, 
and then he deals with prayer, and then he deals with fasting. 
And it's very intriguing that in the midst of all of this dealing 
on almsgiving, on praying, and on fasting, there is no imperative. There is no command. Christ does 
not command his disciples. I command you hereby to give 
alms. I command you hereby to pray. 
I command you hereby to fast. He doesn't command, but rather 
assumes that this is indeed the practice of God's people. Those 
who have been saved by grace are not going to be cheapskates. 
They're not going to be stingy. They're not going to be Ebenezer 
Scrooge. They're going to be those who are benevolent and 
kind and gracious to their neighbors. By the same token, those who 
have been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus are not 
going to be strangers to the prayer closet. They're not going 
to be strangers to corporate prayer. They're not going to 
be strangers to family prayer. Jesus assumes that the people 
of God pray. Jesus assumes that when you are 
saved by grace through faith in Christ, when you have been 
conquered by the God of absolute sovereignty, when you have seen 
Christ as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, Christ assumes 
that you'll pray. Christ assumes that you'll breathe. Christ assumes that you will 
spend time in the presence of God Most High. And you see it 
here. Notice in verse 5, and when you 
pray. Verse six, but you, when you 
pray. Verse seven, and when you pray. Now I meet with people at times, 
and I've seen it in my own life, where we're not always as fervent 
in the private place as we ought to be. In fact, you'll meet a 
person, you'll ask them how their soul is, and they'll say, well, 
I'm struggling in terms of private prayer. It's been well said that 
if you want to humble a Christian, ask them about their prayer lives. 
I mean, now there are some terrible specimens out there that will 
say, yeah, it's going great. I just love God, and I'm always 
in his presence, and we just commune one to another. That's 
not the common report among God's people. But if you want to humble 
a Christian, ask him about his prayer life. Perhaps this morning 
you have fallen into a rut. Perhaps this morning your closet 
could testify it's not as familiar with you as it once was. You 
know what the answer is? Don't sit around and be miserable. Repent. You realize that oftentimes 
in Christianity, there are simple responses to problems? Simple 
responses to problems. We don't always pursue it that 
way. Well, I need to go sit on top of Mount Sham for 40 days 
and 40 nights, and I need to pray and fast to consider why 
I'm not praying and fasting. How about you just pray and fast? 
No Mount Sham needed. Somebody says, oh, I'm having 
difficulty getting up early in the morning. Put the alarm clock 
on the other side of the room. Why do we complicate life so 
much more than it has to be? If you are prayerless this morning, 
the answer is to start praying. If Christ assumes that you pray 
and you have gone through a season in your life presently where 
you're not praying, confess it to God, forsake it, and you will 
find mercy according to Proverbs 28, 13. Get up tomorrow and pray. Don't end the day today without 
prayer. If Christ assumes it, brethren, 
then we ought to be practicing it. If we're not practicing it, 
then start practicing it. You get that sort of result. 
Oh, I'm just a miserable wretch, and I'm a terrible human being, 
and I need to do this and that and the other. Well, instead 
of whining about it, go do that. Go do what you're supposed to 
do. Pastor Albert N. Martin is right. Protestants 
have an evangelical penance of their own. It's not papist. We 
don't go say 10 Hail Marys and an Our Father in order to pay 
our penance, but we have to feel bad before we'll ever get right 
with God. We can't just trust in the blood 
of Jesus Christ as Son, forgiving us or cleansing us from all sin. 
We have to feel bad to show God that we mean business. I'm not 
suggesting there's no feeling bad connected to our sinfulness, 
but there's no requirement that three hours of feeling bad is 
the penance due in order to start feeling good again. Repent. Young 
people, if you have fallen into prayerlessness, repent. Stop 
prayerlessness and start prayerfulness, not just young people, old people, 
whoever. We all have struggles in these 
areas. But the bottom line is that Christ 
assumes that men pray. Notice, secondly, the caution 
concerning motivation. He says, do not be like the hypocrites. Verse 5, when you pray, you shall 
not be like the hypocrites. This indicates that not just 
genuine believers pray. There's all kinds of people out 
there that pray. Jesus calls them hypocrites, those who do 
not have a relationship with the Father, those who are not 
connected to God through Christ the Lord, those who have not 
believed the gospel. So there is a form of hypocritical 
prayer. And you can tell hypocritical 
prayer, as Jesus describes it here, because he highlights their 
particular issue. Verse 5, 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. Not necessarily wrong to stand 
in a synagogue any more than it would be wrong to stand in 
a church and pray. We are told corporately to pray. 1 Timothy 2, chapter 2, verse 
1. What does Paul say? First of 
all, I exhort that prayer, supplications, intercessions, and giving of 
thanks be made for all men. Paul assumes the church will 
be a praying body. It's not necessarily wrong to 
love prayer. Jesus just said that these people 
love prayer, That's great, wouldn't it? That we'd have more people 
that love prayer, that love to commune with God in the private 
place. But the end of the verse highlights 
the particular abuse. They love to pray standing in 
the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may 
be seen by men. This is the problem of hypocritical 
prayer. They'd rather be seen by men 
than heard by God. You see why Jesus condemns this 
practice, don't you? When you seek out the Lord in 
prayer, is it to show how good a prayer you are? Is it to demonstrate 
your capability at the throne of grace? Are you advertising 
to others just how noble, holy, and pious you are? This is the 
vibe that Jesus presents, and this is the thing that he condemns. 
There is a kind of a person that loves to stand on the street, 
There is a kind of person that loves to stand in the synagogue 
and pray beautiful prayers in order to be seen by men. It really 
is a pathetic and a disgusting approach to prayer. If your desire 
and your goal is to gain approval from men, Jesus says you will 
be rewarded. If the end game in your prayer 
life is to impress somebody, you will indeed get what you're 
after. Men are easily impressed. Somebody 
stands on a street corner or stands in a synagogue and they 
pray long flowery prayers. We're just foolish enough to 
say, wow, did you hear that man pray? Wow, did you hear the eloquence 
with which he addressed God? Well, Jesus is saying he's not 
addressing God. He's essentially and ultimately 
addressing you. And this is the point. Notice, 
don't be like these hypocrites. They love to pray, standing in 
the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may 
be seen by men. Notice, assuredly I say to you, 
they have their reward. So what's the motivation in the 
hypocrite's heart? It's not God. It's not Him hearing 
us. It's not His praise, His glory, 
His honor, His worship. It's probably more of our self-exaltation, 
our self-righteousness, the display of our excellence and our goodness 
so that others can approve of that. That's wretched. That's 
the very antithesis to the gospel of grace. A self-righteous approach 
at the throne of grace is a direct assault upon the throne of grace. 
We don't come to the throne of grace invoking or pleading, rather, 
our merits and our goodness, do we? We come to the throne 
of grace imploring the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. 
That's not what makes these men tick. This is what Jesus prohibits 
in terms of His disciples. Don't be like the hypocrites. 
And as Christ is often wont to do, He not only gives us this 
prohibition, He not only gives us this caution, but notice He 
specifies a remedy in verse 6. 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 openly reward you." The hypocrite seeks an audience with 
men. So conversely, the true believer seeks an audience with 
God. Right? God alone. Now again, 
this doesn't argue against corporate prayer. Next time we gather for 
prayer up there on a Wednesday night or on a Sunday morning, 
don't say or don't invoke Matthew 6 and say, well, I'm just not 
going to pray because Jesus condemns that. I can only pray in my closet. That's not the point of the passage. You might survey your life. The 
inner room or the secret room that Jesus is talking about was 
most likely a storage closet in a home that could be secured. 
Now, don't go home and say, well, you know, in the absence of a 
storage closet that can be secured, I guess I'm not going to have 
secret prayer. We're all wise enough to know that the answer 
isn't don't pray because you don't have a closet, which we 
live in Canada. Everybody's got more closets 
than they know what to do with. You especially cannot find this, 
you can't weasel out of this, but I don't have any closet. 
We all have closets. Now, admittedly, most of us as 
men get that much of it while wives get that much of it, but 
we all have closets. What's Christ's point? If the 
hypocrite courts the favor of men, the true believer seeks 
the face of God alone. He doesn't do it in order to 
impress men. He doesn't do it in order to 
impress those closest to him. He doesn't do it so that biographers 
will write glowing stories about him. My son, Josh, is reading 
John G. Peyton, and those of you who 
have read it have that blessed image, a picture of John G. Peyton's 
father. John G. Payton's father had a 
secret place in the family home, and John G. says when father 
went into that place, or when our father went in there, you 
didn't mess with him. He was with God in that place, 
and that made an impression upon John G. Now, the father didn't 
go in there to make an impression upon John G. The father went 
in there to commune with his God. That's the point of our 
Savior. 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. You see, prayer is probably the 
largest expression of faith in the Christian life. I don't know 
if that's actually the case, but in my mind, it's certainly 
one of the largest expressions of faith in the life of faith. Right? Because when we go into 
that secret place, we believe God is there. Not like some, 
you know, Buddhist religion where he's on a shelf and we put bananas 
down there and, you know, candles and all that. We know he's there 
because God is spirit. He doesn't have a body like man. 
God is omnipresent. So faith drives us into that 
place knowing that God is indeed there and not only is he there, 
but he hears. And don't you love the assurance 
from our Savior? And let this serve as an enticement 
to bring you back to the closet. Jesus doesn't say he's there 
only if you feel like it. He's there only if you have the 
best time of prayer ever. He's there if you pray past 35 
seconds. He's there. He hears the prayers 
of his people. Have you ever considered what 
makes good prayer? You'll hear this at times. That 
was a good prayer meeting. Why was it a good prayer meeting? 
But you say, I had a good time of prayer this morning. Why was 
it a good time of prayer this morning? I think at times we 
associate it with our feelings. Well, my heart really seemed 
to be in it. I really felt the nearness of 
God. See, what Christ says in verse 
six takes that whole feeling element out. I'm not suggesting 
there's never to be feeling. I'm not suggesting we can't be 
warmed in a corporate prayer meeting. I'm not suggesting that 
the private place ought not to promote some sense of the peace 
of God. But those things, notwithstanding, 
true prayer happens. True prayer happens because God 
is in the secret place and God hears when you pray. Now, perhaps 
you've had this tension in your life before. You know you should 
pray. You think about praying. It's time to pray, but you feel 
like you should check email to see if there's any new prayer 
requests. You feel like you should go downstairs 
and check with your wife, is there anything I can pray for 
you about? There is this sense, that Roman 
seven sense, when I try or attempt to do good things, I find the 
supposing principle there. I think at times we fear private 
prayer because we fear that we're not going to get the feeling. 
We fear that we're not going to have the experience. We fear 
that we're not going to come out of the closet ready to conquer 
the world. Brethren, let that never keep 
you from prayer, because God is in the private place, and 
God hears you, even if it's not attended by fireworks, even if 
it's not attended by feelings, even if it's not that kind of 
prayer that fills your heart to overflowing. The point of 
the passage is, don't be like the hypocrite who wants an audience 
with men, but rather seek the face of God alone and be assured 
that that God is in the secret place and that God hears you. And not only does He hear you, 
but He'll reward you openly. I don't think that means you'll 
get everything you ask for in the presence of all the enemies 
of God so that you can make them spite their religion. No, I don't 
think that's it at all. The point is, is that as we seek 
the Lord, the Lord is indeed in our lives. He is present there. 
Again, not even as we seek Him. He's good, no matter what. I'm 
saying don't ever seek Him, but you know those valleys, brethren. 
Am I speaking to anybody who's ever gone through these troubles? 
I'm looking at Stoics and Spartans here. Oh no, never me, man. I 
just pray every day. Well, there's a lot of us that 
struggle, and there's a lot that have difficulties in the private 
place at times. Brethren, your performance or 
rather your status with God does not ultimately depend upon the 
private place. Standing with God depends on 
Calvary. Standing with God depends on 
Jesus. It's why our confession takes 
pains to explicate the doctrine of justification. Our status 
with God is secured because of the imputed righteousness of 
Jesus Christ, received by faith alone and the forgiveness of 
sins wrought out by Christ on the cross in his sufferings and 
death. But if you are absent from the 
secret place as a justified believer, as one who wants to grow in the 
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 
be often in prayer. and listen to the Savior in verse 
6. 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. 
Now note, a second caution. The caution concerning manner, 
and this brings us closer to our 1 Kings 18 passage. The caution concerning manner 
do not be like the heathen. The first was the caution concerning 
motivation. Don't be like the hypocrite seeking 
audience with men rather than the favor of God. And the second 
caution concerns manner. Do not be like the heathen. Again, 
that assumption is repeated in verse 7. And when you pray, notice, 
don't be like the long-winded heathen. Don't be like the long-winded 
heathen. Now this isn't a condemnation 
of long prayers. This isn't even a condemnation 
of praying the same thing again. It's a condemnation of the practice 
wherein the worshiper or professed worshiper thinks he can manipulate, 
coerce, or control God into providing for him. The prophets of Baal 
in 1 Kings 18 did it in a particular way. From the morning till the 
noon, they cried out to Baal. From the morning till the noon, 
they cried out to Baal. Then they leapt about the altar. The text is literally limped. 
It's the same word used by Elijah in verse 21. How long will you 
limp between two options? Elijah could be condemning them 
by way of a pun or a figure of speech, essentially asserting 
that the service of Baal is to limp along in life. But anyways, 
these false prophets, they call upon Baal from morning till noon, 
then they leap about the altar, and they continue to cry unto 
Baal. I mean, it's a pathetic scene. 
Actually, initially, it's foolishness. It's almost amusing. And I think 
that Elijah interprets it that way because in verse 27, he comes 
and mocks them. Elijah, the Tishbite, says to 
them, where is your God? Maybe he's meditating. Maybe 
he's talking to some of the other gods. I always get this vision 
of Elijah, you know, slapping his knees while he's saying this, 
because this is funny stuff. As Matthew Henry says, idolatry 
is wretched, wicked, and foolish, and it's right to scorn it. It's 
right to show it. It's right to point out the folly 
in it. And that is what Elijah does 
in verse 27. He even suggests that their God 
is in the washroom. Imagine that. Their God is in 
the washroom. He's busy. Again, I think Elijah's 
just got a smile on his face, he's got tongue and cheek, and 
he's slapping his knees while he's doing it. I mean, how do 
you rip on these false prophets with a straight face? It's kind 
of like when Jesus says to those Pharisees, you hypocrites, you 
strain out the camel, or you strain out the gnat, and you 
swallow the camel. No one cracked a smile when they 
heard that. No one smiled when they heard 
that. Don't you get the image of these 
Pharisees? They're taking pains to sift 
out the gnat so that it doesn't pollute their wine or their water, 
and yet they're gonna drink a cup and swallow a camel. That's funny. That's funny. What was happening 
there at Carmel as well? But they moved from funny or 
mockable and reproachable to downright frenzy. You see, when 
Elijah issues this mockery, this challenge, they redouble their 
efforts. They actually take knives, they 
take lances, and they cut themselves. They cut their bodies and they 
bleed all over themselves. The idea is simple. Baal likes 
blood, we'll give him blood. See, in a psalm that mocks idolatry, 
Psalm 115, we read in verse eight that those who worship idols 
will become like them. This is how in or wherein the 
false prophets of Baal mirrored, reflected, imaged their false 
god. Baal likes blood, we'll bleed 
for him so that he'll bring the fire to bear. So it moves from 
folly to perversity. It moves from folly to downright 
frenzy and wickedness. What happens after all that? 
They've tried to manipulate, they've tried to coerce, they 
have tried to take Bale's arm, put it behind his back, and make 
him bring fire down upon their bullet. There was no voice, no 
one answered, and no one paid attention. You see, Christ is 
telling the people of God, don't be like the heathen. They think 
they will be heard, not because God is omnipresent, not because 
God is omniscient, not because God is good, not because God 
is gracious, not because God is kind, but they think they'll 
be heard for their many words. You see, that's a problem, brethren, 
and again, don't take this as an argument to not pray. Well, 
Jesus says, God already knows what I need before I ask, and 
he's not into these long prayers, so I just won't pray. No, that's 
the wrong conclusion to make. Vain repetitions. That doesn't 
mean you husbands ought not to pray for your wives every day. 
Doesn't mean that you wives ought not to pray for your husbands 
every day. Doesn't mean that you parents ought not to pray 
for your children every day. Doesn't mean that you children 
ought not to pray for your parents every day. That's not a vain 
repetition. A vain repetition is what happened 
to us when we're in papist school. And we went into the confessional 
box, and they said, here's your punishment. Go say 10 Hail Marys, 
and then our father. Imagine punishing kids by telling 
them to pray. Let's associate punishment and 
prayer. That's wise. That'll endear them 
to the cross. That'll make them holy, happy, 
and well-adjusted. You see, the whole papal system 
is founded upon a repetition. Even with this prayer, this model 
prayer that Jesus gives, he didn't intend it to be vainly repeated 
as if it was some formula to manipulate, coerce, or make the 
God function. It's not a formula to make God 
act. They're heads given to the people 
of God to make us think and to express ourselves in a particular 
way at the throne of grace. Don't just recite the Lord's 
Prayer. Pray the Lord's Prayer. Be concerned 
for the glory of God's name. Our Father, who art in heaven, 
hallowed be your name. Does that find expression in 
your prayer closet? Be concerned for God's kingdom. Thy kingdom come. Lord, we pray 
that through the preaching of the gospel today, the kingdom 
of grace would manifest itself. And certainly we pray for the 
kingdom of glory to manifest itself at the end of the age. 
What about God's will? Does that find expression in 
your prayer life? Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is 
in heaven, in your private life, among your family members, in 
your church, and in this wretched nation. Because there's no abortion 
clinics, there is no authorized euthanasia, and there's certainly 
no sodomy in the courts of heaven. And Christ says, we're to pray 
that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Does this 
find expression in our prayer lives? Do we ask God for our 
daily bread? Do we ask God for our daily forgiveness? Do we ask God for our daily protection? Do we recognize the priority 
established by Christ? When you pray, don't first come 
asking for your food. When you pray, don't first come 
asking for your forgiveness. When you pray, don't first come 
asking for your protection. Who comes first in the matter 
of prayer? It's God. God's name, God's kingdom, 
God's will, then your food, then your forgiveness, then your protection. Christ did not give the Lord's 
Prayer so that we could just rattle it off mindlessly, thinking 
that God would be manipulated into blessing us. thinking that 
God would be coerced into blessing us, as if somehow God's saying, 
wow, they made it through the whole rosary, or those Protestants 
made it through their 40-day prayer vigil. Well, I'm going 
to reward them with the new building they've been asking for for those 
40 days. Brethren, God's not Baal. That's Christ's point. He cannot be manipulated. He 
cannot be coerced. He cannot be made to act. He is not a domesticated God, 
the way Baal was. He is not the sort of God that 
functions for our benefit. We often forget this creator-creature 
distinction. We often put ourselves on the 
same level or see him as just a bit more than us. God's not 
man writ large. God is God. If you think that by your prayers, 
by your attendance, upon the means, now again, don't hear 
me say, don't pray, don't attend means. You know I have a heart 
for you to be at church. What makes pastors happy? Show 
up. We don't need parking spots. 
We don't need lunch. Just show up. You wanna make 
your pastor smile? Show up. It's a good thing. Show 
up. But that showing up isn't gonna 
secure your benefits with God. So hear me today. My emphasis 
on attending to the means of grace is not because that's the 
way to get things. I haven't been transposed with 
Joel Osteen this morning or Benny Hinn just with, you know, smaller, 
modester hair. Attend to the means of grace, 
brethren, but don't attend as if it's bail. Christ discourages 
that. Christ says, and when you pray, 
do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think 
that they will be heard for their many words. The idea that length 
will bring the favor of the gods. And there's even this idea that 
rattling through the gods might alert the God in charge of that 
particular to act on our behalf. So you've got to remember the 
Pantheon, as it were, was a bizarre mixture, not only in the time 
of Christ, but in the Canaanite deities as well. For those who 
haven't been at the Wednesday night studies, remember Baal 
is in charge of rain. So you see the direct assault 
when Elijah comes and says, there ain't going to be no rain. Don't 
think that's haphazard or it's coincidental or, wow, that was 
a lucky break that that's what Elijah attacked. It was to expose 
the folly of Baalism in Israel. Now, Baal wasn't reigning for 
three years on the earth. How do you think Baal apologists 
dealt with that? How did they vindicate Baal? 
Well, there was a story that Baal would be subject to Maat, 
the god of death, and Maat would take Baal down into the underworld, 
and at a certain time, one of the other goddesses, with help, 
would fetch Baal out from under the underworld and bring him 
back so that he could function and produce rain. Now, I know 
that sounds bizarre to us, and it sounds odd, and it sounds 
strange, but I suspect in their day, it probably would have seemed 
odd and bizarre that people worshiped phones today. I don't worship my phone. Brethren, 
if there's something more important to you than God, it's probably 
worship. I don't worship phone. What about 
money? What about work? What about legitimate, lawful 
things? If they take priority over God, that's an idol, just 
like Baal, just like Asherah.