Matthew 6:5 – 13
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the [a] 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. 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 [b] openly. 7 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. 8 “Therefore, do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. [c] For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
This morning, I am glad that I am speaking to Christians who already know the Lord’s prayer – you already know it – most of us by heart
Prayer is a crucial part of our Christian life
Billy Graham – the greatest evangelist said “The three most important things you can do are to pray, pray, pray
The Bible say that Jesus retreated – went away and prayed. He prayed all the time and
especially we see Him on the day He was about to undergo the most difficult, yet most
important task of His life – He prayed so fervently, earnestly and in agony that his sweat
became like great drops of blood falling on the ground From the text we just read – Jesus is speaking to the crowd and laying some foundational stuff about prayer
Don’t be like the hypocrites – they show off – Its really for them – to show that they are
righteous – they are looking for outside approval
And Jesus states “They have their reward” – the reward is to be seen by men and that’s all they get – they don’t get heavenly rewards at all
He goes on to say “When you pray- let it be a secret time between you and God – The father who sees you in secret will reward you openly
Such a contrast – the ones that pray to be seen – get no rewards but the once in the secret place – they get public rewards Jesus retreated and prayed – in the secret place/ one on one with the King of Kings – and 2000+ years later He is still setting people free, giving us hope -Publicly
I will say this though, there is time for corporate prayers – let this not be an excuse not to be part of the Body – Pastor I can’t come to prayer meeting because – I have a secret time with the Lord – yet the fruits are “Publicly” lacking
There is enough evidence that praying together does yield fruits and no only are we
encouraging each other but Christ is coming back for the Church not an individual
There are many examples of how powerful it is when we pray together;
Acts 1:14 (Ampc) – All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves
steadfastly to prayer, [waiting together] with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Acts 2:42 (Nlt)- All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to
fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper [a] ), and to prayer
Acts 12:5(Nlt)- But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him
Jesus continues to say – 7 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
Christians’ prayers are measured by weight, and not by length. Many of the most prevailing prayers have been as short as they were strong. (Spurgeon)
Ecclesiastes 5:2 – Do not be hasty with your mouth [speaking careless words or vows] or
impulsive in thought to bring up a matter before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore, let your words be few. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray- Our Father in heaven…
This right here means the most for me:
o I was raised by my grandparent – My grandma loved the Lord with all her everything
o It was about when I was 6 or 7 years that I realized that I didn’t have a Father
o And I remember in tears asking God – I don’t have a Father, could you be my father
o And it wasn’t until about 10 years ago as I said “Our – My Father” that I realized that
it “took”
o All along, He had been my Father, even before I asked – He knew me before I was
born- He had watched over me in all situations, great, good, bad and ugly
When I here Jesus say , Pray like this – Our Father who is at in heaven
And not only is He my Father, but He is in heaven
When people brag about their father being stronger or such – I am like, oooh lets goo-
My father own the universe and like everything in it – and even though he does
Luke 12:7 – He knows the number of hairs in my head
Zephaniah 3:17 (Nkjv) The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
And He finds time to walk and talk with me – Leviticus 26:12 (NLT) – “I will walk among
you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
If you only knew who my Father – you would want to be by His side
You would want to hang out with Him
The more you know Him the more you want to know Him
I know that in this room, there are countless testimonies of how you have encountered God
I pray that you understand how precious this is. That He is a father like no other
Point One: From the beginning
Genesis 3:8 (Ampc) And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:10 (NLT) “He replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid
because I was naked.'”
From the beginning, God has always sought a time (Relationship) with man
But sin, business, misinformation, shame, lack of knowledge has left that to be a one-way interaction
God is walking and seeking a “private time” to spend it with His children …only to find us hiding
If Adam and Eve knew the compassion that God had, they would not have hidden from Him
Right there God doesn’t turn “Human” on them – how dare you do that, are you stupid, you will never amount to anything, you are a disgrace, I wish you were never born, I am done with you, you are on your own – the things that we hear from our earthly fathers, parent, leaders, friends
The opposite is true: Genesis 3:21 (NLT) And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife
He takes one of his creations that He has said was good – and clothes their shame with
sacrifice
Most Bible scholars interpret this as the first blood sacrifice, a foreshadowing of Jesus, the
Lamb of God. God Himself provided a covering for their shame—symbolic of the covering we receive through Christ.
There are consequences for sin – And yes, they were kicked out of the garden of Eden- But God pursuit of a relationship with us didn’t stop there
The venue had changed (Same God – His Love never changing) and now more than ever, the stakes were higher – to a point of sacrificing His own Son
That He wishes that no one would perish but everyone, each one of His loved Kids would have eternal life – a forever relationship
This pursuit of a relationship has not stopped – He sent us -The Holy Spirit – A helper,
Counselor, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby) – John 14:26
And if you only knew who was asking you to spend time with Him – Nothing would come between you and Him
We would seek God and His righteousness and everything else would follow – Matthew 6:33
Point Two: Relationship not routine
Over the last few months, God started waking me up to pray at the “wrong time” – I mean, 2am-3am..sometime earlier
At first it was cool/interesting – I must be waking up to pray for My family, the church, my business, individuals – Clearly God wanted me to wake up and pray
As weeks went by, it became a burden…. between my work schedule and life schedule e.t.c waking up in the middle of the night was tough
Then when I realized that this was a season and I was either going to be obedient or keep at it – it turned to a bragging right- Not that I said it outright- But when I spoke to my close friend especially when they ask that million $ question – How are you – I would say – I am soo tired but its because God has been waking me up – Pharisee
Then as week and months went on, one morning – It hit me: THE WHO- was waking me up to spend time with Him!
The Holy, merciful, ever loving, just, unchanging, sovereign, gracious God -wanted to
spend time with me?
I finally knew that God was not looking for a routine, a check in the box, a season, but He was looking for a relationship
God was not just looking to deliver the Israelites to the promised land and that it-
He wanted them as His people –Jeremiah 30:22 (NLT) – “You will be my people, and I will be your God.”
If you only knew who wanted to spend time with you – He that calls you My People- My
Person!
If you only knew the privilege and honor of being able to speak with God one on one every day, every time, anywhere, in any condition – You would realize how precious you are to Him
And you would seek every waking moment to retreat to the secret place with Him
I still love my bed, I have days that I take a nap when I get home from work, there are days that I have to fight my fresh – But this realization gets me out of bed; I have an
appointment with the Lord of Lord, King of King
Today the call goes to everyone of you- On Gods calendar, there are many available spots – It might be early in the morning, during your break at work, after lunch, in the evening, before sleep – God is in the waiting room everyday/hour hoping that you would show up
I pray that most of us if not all of us want to know the Lord – I believe that we want to pray more
The reason we don’t pray is not necessarily because we don’t know what to say or how to say it – it’s because we don’t understand who He is
If you only knew who He was, we would cherish every moment we get to walk in the garden
with Him
Point Three: The beauty of being known by Him
Pastor M- that’s good and all – But what What’s In It For Me? Glad you asked
You get His kingdom!!
Your kingdom come, Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
What you are asking is for God to give you a passion for His will to be done, so that His
agenda may be accomplished here on earth
He doesn’t need us to do it – But invites us to participate in it, and the benefits are out of this world
You can’t ask for His Kingdom to come, unless you know Him, you trust Him and you are known by Him
We all admire the Heroes of our faith, and we want to be like them – Each one of them
championed for God’s Agenda
Abraham – Father of our nation – Man with Great Faith
Elijah – the conversation between God and Him about the fire Chariot / the relationship
Enoch- God took Him
You can’t do the things of God -Things that are Kingdom minded unless you know Him – and known by Him, meaning that you have a relationship!
Each one of these people started their journey with a conversation, that turned into a
relationship, and they ended up being part of what God was doing
Whether you are the woman at the well, who was surprised that a man would speak to her – only to be open to a conversation that led her to go from sinner to evangelist – Come and see a Man
Or you are Moses who started by giving excuses about his speech to stopping God from destroying the Israelites over and over
Exodus 33:17 (Nkjv) (God is saying to Moses) – I will do what you have asked, for I look
favorably on you, and I know you by name
God is saying in Isaiah 1:18 (Nkjv)– Come and lets reason together!!- though your sins are great
God knows us and He wants to start a relationship with you today -He will destroy all
argument of the enemy to make you realized that you are loved, cared for, wanted and
known!
David a man who knew who had called Him says in:
Psalms 103:1-5 (NLT) – Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise
his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagles!
Prayer isn’t a duty; it’s a gift.
Go into your secret place today, this week
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to pray
Start with worship – Start with “Our Father…My father thou at in Heaven …”
Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God.
Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids
2808 Schaeffer DR SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
www.CedarRapidsChurch.com
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