Sermon for MHBC (27 March 2022). You can watch on our website or on Facebook or YouTube. Live at 11:00am on Sundays. Also available as a podcast here or by searching “Monument Heights Baptist Church” in your favorite podcast app.
For many years I’ve been fascinated by the subject of prayer. And I have to say that it’s not because I am some model of prayer. In fact, I am ashamed to say it, but I believe my prayer life is inadequate. That sense of inadequacy has driven me over the years to consider the role of prayer.
Perhaps for some people prayer comes naturally. I can’t say that that is the case for me. Actually, prayer feels like a struggle to me. It’s both wonderful and the last thing I want to do and the first thing to get set aside.
We are continuing this mini-series on the believer’s privileges and today I obviously want to talk about the privilege of prayer. And I want to have that conversation by looking at Matthew 6:5–13, which is the passage where Jesus provides his most concentrated teaching on prayer. Now I’ve just told you that I find prayer to be a struggle. This passage identifies that struggle. I can state it this way: The primary barrier to true prayer is our reluctance to resign ourselves to God’s will.
You’ll see this same reluctance in the two examples of false prayer that Jesus gives. And if you think really hard about your own prayer life or struggle with prayer or lack of prayer, then you might see that behind that struggle is the reluctance to resign yourself to God’s will.
Now lots of people can pray and do pray. How is prayer a unique privilege to the believer? The privilege lies in the character of God. In Christ, we have communion with the Father who loves us. Our unique relationship with God as a providing Father allows to experience the joy of resting in the provision of God. Let me summarize it this way: Prayer is the believer’s privilege because it positions us to rest in the provision of our Heavenly Father.
When we talk about the provision or the providence of God, we are talking about God’s ability to see the future. Both provision and providence come from the Latin word provideo, which refers to looking ahead or foresight. Prayer is the believer’s privilege because prayer is fundamentally about God’s provision for us.
Let’s look at those truths in the text.
Our text has three movements. Jesus gives two contrasts and then he gives us a model prayer—the prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer.
Let’s begin with the first movement in vv. 5 and 6.
1. Prayer is about communion with God.
Look at v. 5 with me: And when you pray. Notice this assumes that followers of Jesus do pray. It’s a given. You must not be like the hypocrites. Why? For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners. Why do they do that? So that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
The issue here is motivation. The issue isn’t public prayer. We see that commanded elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus is concerned with the motivation. He says don’t be like the hypocrites, which in the original refers to actors. Don’t be like the actors whose motivation is to be seen by people. Notice what Jesus says. He says they are cutting themselves off from the real privilege of prayer. They get their reward from the people who are so impressed with their prayers. So that’s the negative example.
Jesus gives the contrast in v. 6: But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. The reward of prayer is communion with our Father. The right motivation for prayer is communion with the Father.
This is the very pattern we find in Jesus’s life. I’ll just give one of several examples. Matthew 14:23: And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Jesus gives us an example. His motive for prayer is communion with the Father.
But this is where reluctance can sneak up on us. If we view prayer as a duty instead of a delight, if it is a chore rather than communion, we can expect reluctance. Furthermore, if we are doubtful about God’s character, then we may hesitate to find a secret place where no one sees us and where we may feel tremendously alone and unsettled. So the motivation for prayer must be about communing with God.
Think carefully about the invitation here. God is inviting us to a close communion with Him. Come into the inner room and commune with the Father. Those who have accepted this invitation have experienced such joy in the presence of God that everything else becomes secondary.
What they have experienced is the raw, unfiltered goodness of God.
2. Prayer is about the goodness of God.
Look at v. 7: And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Prayers of the ancient world often focused on methods and specific words to get the attention of the gods.
You may remember the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. The prophets of Baal pray endlessly. They cut themselves. They really want to get Baal’s attention. They think that if they are fervent enough Baal will answer them. But the passage in 1 Kings is haunting. Listen to what it says: And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention (v. 29). But when Elijah prays, he prays simply, trusting that the Lord is always paying attention.
Here’s the comforting news for people like me who struggle with prayer. Prayer is simple. A faithful prayer life doesn’t necessarily look like the heroic efforts we see in the movies. Look how Jesus describes a faithful prayer life is in v. 8: Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. All of that effort isn’t necessary. Why? Because your Father is good and He knows. Prayer is simple because it is fundamentally about trusting in God’s provision. He knows. Prayer isn’t jumping for attention. Prayer is positioning ourselves at the feet of a good God who already knows what we need.
3. Prayer is about the providence of God.
Notice how v. 9 connects to what Jesus just said: Pray then like this. That word then is a logical connection to the previous verse. A lot of translations make this connection clear by using the word therefore. Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need, therefore, in light of that reality, pray like this.”
Then Jesus teaches us the model prayer, and what I want you to point out is how this prayer highlights the providence of God; how we His provision for all of creation. Look at the rest of vv. 9–10. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Now obviously the Lord’s Prayer is rich, and we could spend a ton of time talking about virtually every word, but I want you to notice how this whole thing is framed. It is addressed to a heavenly Father. We ask that His reputation, His goodness, His kindness, His holiness, would be magnified in the world. Then there is a request for His will to be carried out everywhere, so once again, the posture of prayer is resting in God’s will.
And it’s also resting in God’s provision. Continue with v. 11: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Every single request brings us under the provision of God. We are asking for daily needs and forgiveness and freedom from evil. Just asking these things means we are recognizing that our Father is good and wise, and He will provide for us.
Now I wrestled with whether I wanted to stop at v. 13 this morning or continue through vv. 14–15. Those verses are almost an aside comment to one part of the Lord’s Prayer, but I decided to keep vv. 14–15 because I think they tie this all together. I think the verses offer a perfect illustration of what a life of prayer does. What does a life of prayer do? It positions us to rest in the provision of God.
Look at these last two verses: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The will of God is for His grace and goodness, which reside fully in Christ, to permeate all of creation. But the way God does this runs counter to the ways of the world. The mighty wisdom of God is on display in the humility of Christ. He works through weakness. In the same way, forgiveness is not easy or natural, but when we forgive think about what we are doing. We are resting in the provision of God. We are trusting that He will right every wrong. We are trusting that He knows our needs and we don’t need to throw our weight around. We are trusting in His goodness. So prayer positions us to rest in the will of God. And here we see how closely related prayer and forgiveness are. Prayer is resting in the will of God and so is forgiveness, because every time we forgive, we are resting in the will of our Heavenly Father who desires us to offer the same grace that He has shown us. Remember what I said earlier: The primary barrier to true prayer is our reluctance to resign ourselves to God’s will. This is exactly what Jesus is telling us. If we are unforgiving, our prayer life will suffer because the issue is our reluctance to rest in God’s will.
When you think about prayer, think about resting in God’s provision. And Christians are uniquely able to do this because they are aware of God’s provision. In Christ, God has acted decisively to deliver us from sin, Satan, and death. Prayer is a natural response to the One who has lavished His grace on us.