A Prayer that Pleases God

Thank you very much, Mike.

As the service leader steps up to open the service, the congregation suppress a smile of satisfaction.

! This guy is one of the good ones.

!

He balances reverence for God with impressive words and turns a phrase.

Compassion for the needy oozes out of his every word as he entreats God's favour.

The service leader knows he is good.

He's talented and he's just better than other people at doing this.

Plus, he loves serving God in this way.

He loves the chance to flex his vocabulary and to inspire others to pray like he does.

This is where God wants him to be.

Up front and using his gift.

Anywhere else and his talent would be wasted.

And if you had been at church that particular morning,

you might agree that that guy's prayer sounded really good.

And you might have even added your amen at the end of it.

But did you notice any red flags?

We are going to be asking ourselves this morning,

what kind of prayer pleases God?

What kind of prayer makes God smile?

And I'm going to suggest today that the kind of prayer which pleases God

is prayer which remembers who God is and who we are in Christ.

We are in Matthew's Gospel.

We are in a section known as the Sermon on the Mount,

which runs from chapter 5 through to the end of chapter 7.

And in the Sermon on the Mount,

in this particular section that we're looking at,

in this bit from verse 1 to verse 18 of chapter 6,

Jesus is calling out the sham worship that he sees all around him.

And he warns his followers not to practice their righteousness in front of others.

So they're kind of outward means of worshipping God.

So they're giving, they're praying, and they're fasting.

They're not to make a big show of these things so that people would give them the glory.

Instead, Jesus wants them to be giving God the glory as they do these things.

So this week in our passage this morning,

Jesus is calling out prayer which doesn't please God.

And he's teaching his followers how they can pray in a way which truly pleases the Father.

But as we begin to think about prayer this morning,

we must remember that prayer is not about bringing things to God's attention.

It's not about making him aware of certain needs.

When we pray, we are saying things to God that he already knows.

Prayer is not essential for God,

but it is essential for us because it reminds us that God is God and we are not.

So this is our structure this morning.

We are going to be remembering three things about who God is,

and we're going to be thinking about remembering two things about who we are.

And these are particularly important things for us to be remembering

as we come to God in prayer.

So first of all,

remembering who God is.

So the first thing that we must remember about who God is,

is that he is all seeing.

So I hope you've still got your Bibles open,

but if you look back at verse five and six again,

it says this,

And when you pray,

do not be like the hypocrites,

for they love to pray standing in the synagogues

and on the street corners to be seen by others.

Truly, I tell you,

they have received their reward in full.

But when you pray,

go into your room,

close the door,

and pray to your father who is unseen.

Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

What Jesus is doing here is that he is calling out the hypocrites

who love to be seen while they pray.

When they prayed in the synagogue,

everyone would have been there,

and everyone would have been there to witness them do it.

Like the service leader in my made-up story,

they loved the attention of praying in public.

But the street corner is maybe a bit of a less obvious place to find someone praying.

Why might they have wanted to pray on the street corner?

Well, in Jesus' day,

the Jews had set times of the day,

which they would set aside for prayer.

So, nine in the morning,

midday,

three in the afternoon,

and in the evening as well.

And if these folks timed it just right,

as they were walking along through the streets,

they would arrive in the busiest places

with the maximum attention

when the clock struck

and it was time for prayer.

Praying on the street corner,

if you think about the corner,

it means that folk could see you

and hear you from two different streets,

all the way up two different streets.

This was all for maximum attention.

Jesus tells his followers,

and that includes us today,

if we are following him,

that when we pray,

we should pray in secret,

but remembering that God is all-seeing.

God sees our unseen prayers,

and he rewards them.

He pays no attention to the prayer

which was uttered to get the attention of men.

Instead, kingdom people

should move from the street corners

into their houses

and into their room

and shut the door behind them.

The Greek word used for room,

the translation of the Greek word,

it literally means storeroom.

A windowless inner room,

probably with a locked door.

Jesus says,

your prayer should be so unseen

that not even your family in the house notice.

When we pray quietly,

so sometimes we pray in our heads

or we whisper our prayers to God,

when we pray,

do we believe that God sees

those unseen prayers?

They look really weak to the world.

What is whispering in a locked room

really doing?

Well, do we believe that God sees

our unseen prayers?

Can we trust that our prayers

whispered in the storeroom

are being declared aloud

in the courts of heaven?

I think there's some wisdom

in this teaching from Jesus as well

about drawing away from the busyness

into a quiet room,

closing the door behind us.

I think this is an exceedingly

helpful thing for us to do.

When we pray,

are we letting distractions

compete for our attention?

Or are we seeking out quiet spaces

in our day to pray to our God?

How often does our phone join us

in our prayer times?

And I think husbands and wives,

you can maybe facilitate this

for one another as well.

Maybe you could say,

why don't I entertain the kids

for 20 minutes

while you take a moment

in the storeroom?

God is pleased

when we earnestly seek him out

and put our distractions

to one side.

When I used to work

for an engineering firm,

there were moments

in the office

when I needed to take

a time out

and talk to God

about a stressful situation

that I was facing.

So I would take refuge

in the loo.

That was where I would go.

I would lock myself

in the cubicle

and pour my heart out to God

with no distractions.

Nobody in my team

knew any better.

They just thought

I was off to the loo.

But I could take

great confidence

that my all-seeing God

was taking notice

and he knew exactly

what my needs were.

Now, it's important

to note here

when Jesus is talking

about secret prayer,

he's not condemning

corporate prayer.

He's not telling Mike off

for praying in public

like he did.

Jesus' prayer template

that we find

in this passage,

we know it's

the Lord's Prayer,

it's a corporate prayer.

I wonder if you notice that.

It's full of plural words

like our and us and we.

Jesus is not condemning

corporate prayer here.

When we gather

as God's people

like we do

on a Sunday at church,

we pray together.

And when we pray together,

so either here

in the service

or at pizza and prayer

or in our growth groups,

we must keep an eye

on our heart posture.

Is there even a sniff

of trying to impress

other Christians

when we pray out loud

with each other in public?

The second thing

that we must remember

about God

is that he is all-knowing.

So we're going to look

at verses 7 and 8 again.

And when you pray,

do not keep on babbling

like pagans,

for they think

they will be heard

because of their many words.

Do not be like them,

for your Father knows

what you need

before you ask him.

Jesus says,

don't be impressed

by the way

that the Gentiles pray.

using many words.

He says that such prayer

is babbling,

nothingness,

empty.

And God is not hard

of hearing.

We do not need

to use big words.

We don't need

to use loud words

for him to hear us.

He is not impressed

by overly wordy prayers.

God's grasp

of the human language

is much better

than our own.

Jesus prayed

the repentant tax collector

who simply prayed,

Lord,

have mercy

on me,

a sinner.

Jesus praised

such a prayer.

don't pray like this.

Don't babble.

I used AI

to tell me

what all the

really big words

in the Bible are

just very quickly.

And then I got it

to write me a prayer

using all those words.

Great if you can,

great if it helps you

to really

come before the Lord,

but I would

recommend you,

he doesn't need

to hear all these

big words

to hear you.

We don't need

to use,

pray prayers

like this.

We don't need

to pray prayers

like this

because God

already knows

what we need

before we ask.

We read that

in the passage.

Isn't that amazing?

God already knows

what we need

before we ask.

And if God

already knows

what we need,

then we don't need

to use big words

to get his attention.

We don't need

to repeat our prayers

again and again

in case he didn't

hear us the first time.

When we pray,

we should remember

that he is

all-knowing.

God,

you are aware

of this

specific need.

We lift it

before you now

and we ask

that you would

provide

in your

perfect timing.

So we must

remember that

God is all-seeing.

We must remember

that God is all-knowing.

And the third thing

that we must remember

about God

when we come

to pray to him

is that he is

holy.

This then

is how you

should pray.

Our Father

in heaven,

hallowed

be your name.

Jesus'

prayer template

doesn't begin

with specific requests.

I wonder if you

noticed that

when he says

to his followers,

this is how

you should pray.

The first thing

he does

is he casts

the eyes

of his disciples

all the way up

as high as

they can go.

He wants them

to focus

and remember

the holiness

of God.

When we pray,

we must remember

that God

is holy.

He is cloaked

in unapproachable

light.

He is white

hot and radiant.

He is

perfectly pure.

However,

because he is

holy,

it means that

he can't

tolerate sin

in his presence.

We cannot

approach God

without Christ

because we're

absolutely

clarted with sin.

Sin has

affected us

radically.

deeply.

It has

affected us

deeply,

all the way

down to the

atomic level.

And if we

were to

approach God

as we are,

his holy

presence would

burn us

up.

If you think

about the sun

for a minute,

I learned some

fun facts about

the sun this

week.

I knew this

fact before I

looked it up,

but it is so

hot that if you

were to approach

it,

you would

vaporize

before you

got anywhere

near the

surface.

If you got

one million

miles from

the surface

of the sun,

you would

melt and

vaporize.

One million

miles away.

Because we

are by nature

dirty sinners.

We cannot

draw near to

our holy

God.

And this

is really

bad news.

It is

completely

impossible

for us

to enjoy

the embrace

of our

heavenly

father

without

some

sort of

intervention.

But the

good news

of the

gospel is

that Jesus

has performed

a holiness

switch.

That's what I'm

calling it this

morning, a

holiness

switch.

And he did

this when he

went to the

cross.

When Jesus

went to the

cross,

God cloaked

him in

all of our

unholiness,

in all of

our dirty

rags of

sin,

Jesus was

cloaked in

that.

And he

suffered the

death penalty

for it.

That was the

first half of

the switch.

Then,

when we

trust in the

sufficiency of

his death

for our sin,

remarkably,

we are

cloaked in

his holiness.

That's the

second half of

the holiness

switch.

Though we

continue to

struggle with

sin in this

life, God

sees Jesus'

holiness

covering us.

And because of

this, we get

to call the

God who

rules over

creation and

shines like the

sun, we get

to call him

our heavenly

father and

enjoy his

embrace.

When we

pray, we

should remember

that God is

holy and

magnify him

for the

holiness switch

that he has

performed through

his son,

Jesus.

Remembering the

holy and

saving nature

of God is

radically

reorientating

for us because

it reminds us

that he is

God and we

are not.

remembering

his holy and

saving nature

keeps us from

praying self-interested

prayers.

It keeps us from

half-hearted

prayers, but it

fills them with

worship instead.

So,

that's three

things that we

should remember

about who God

is when we

come to him

to pray.

But what

are two

things that we

can remember

about ourselves

when we

approach God

in prayer?

Well, the

first one is

related to the

one that we've

just looked at

and it is the

fact that we

are forgiven.

Did you notice

how much

emphasis Jesus

places on

forgiveness in

this model

prayer?

Jesus tells his

followers in

verse 12 to

seek God's

forgiveness for

our sin.

sin.

And we just

saw that when

we trust in

the Lord Jesus

and his death

for our sins

on the cross,

we are forgiven

and we are

cloaked in his

holiness once

and for all.

Jesus has

cancelled the

debts of our

sin on the

cross.

And Jesus

wants us to

have a posture

of repentance

as we remain

in this world.

So,

throughout the

rest of our

lives, Jesus

wants us to

be repentant

people.

We are not

yet freed from

the presence of

sin.

We will still

sin.

But Jesus

wants us to

come quickly to

him every time

we do and

ask for his

forgiveness.

And we know

that he will.

But I wonder

if you were

paying attention

to the passage,

you might say,

not quite so

simple, Craig.

Isn't Jesus

saying that our

forgiveness is

conditional

on us

forgiving other

people?

I wonder if you

noticed that in

verses 14 and

15.

For if you

forgive other

people when

they sin against

you, your

heavenly Father

will also forgive

you.

But if you do

not forgive others

their sins,

your Father will

not forgive your

sins.

Hmm.

What is that

talking about?

Jesus is

turning his

disciples'

attention to

the people who

have wronged

them and the

people who will

wrong them.

People have

sinned against

us and people

will sin against

us in our

lives.

And how we

think about these

people is

important to

God.

God's forgiveness

is for those

who have

recognized the

lengths that

Jesus has

gone to to

absorb the

cost of our

sins.

God's forgiveness

is for those who

choose, in

response to what

Jesus has done,

to freely forgive

others,

absorbing the

cost of their

sins.

us, remembering

that before the

cross, we are

just as sinful as

the people who

have wronged us.

If we are

unprepared to

forgive others,

then have we

truly grasped

the cross?

Forgiving people

who have wronged

us is really,

really difficult,

especially if

they've really,

really hurt us.

forgiveness.

Forgiving others

is a form of

voluntary suffering.

It involves

absorbing the

cost of the

sin that's been

committed against

us, absorbing

the pain of it,

and not seeking

to make the

perpetrator pay

for it, not

seeking to

cancel them from

our lives.

We mustn't let

bitterness brew

in our hearts.

We mustn't let

unforgiveness

remain in our

hearts unresolved.

Forgiving others

who have wronged

us is really

difficult, but it

honors God because

it mirrors what

Jesus has done

for us,

absorbing the

pain that we

inflicted on him

for our sins.

And I appreciate

this is a difficult

area for us.

It's a sensitive

topic, and I

have breezed

through it.

We could spend a

whole sermon

series thinking

about forgiveness.

But I found

Tim Keller's

book,

Forgive,

quite helpful in

this area, and I

know others that

have found it

really helpful as

well.

And I'd

recommend you

grabbing it.

It's got some

really, really

helpful things to

say about how

we can forgive

others.

But as a

church family, we

can help one

another with

this.

We can share

the things with

each other that

we find hard to

give.

We can tell each

other the stories

from our past that

we really, really

struggle with.

And we can pray

for each other and

carry these things

in prayer for one

another.

When we pray, it

is good for us to

remember that God

has forgiven us,

and it is good for

us to bring our

hurts to him, and

to ask him to help

us to forgive those

who have sinned

against us.

The second thing

that we can

remember about

ourselves when we

come to pray is

that we are

needy.

We are needy.

If you were here

last week, you

might remember that

we spent some time

thinking about

needy people, who

needy, the needy

people are that

Jesus is talking

about, and how

we can give to

help them.

But as we look at

verses 11 to 13

now, so the kind

of second half of

the prayer, I think

Jesus is suggesting

that we are needy

people.

Now, we depend on

God to provide

everything that we

need to survive,

everything.

And I wonder how

often we take his

providence for

granted.

The daily bread that

Jesus is encouraging

us to ask him for

is anything and

everything that we

need to survive.

It's not just

bread.

When we pray, it is

good for us to

remember our specific

needs and to thank

God that he is

pleased to supply us

with these things.

things.

I wonder how often

you take your breath

for granted.

The Bible tells us

that God holds our

breath in his hands.

We are dependent on a

process that God has

programmed into our

brains, which allows

us to breathe

automatically.

If we were to take

responsibility for our

breathing, we would

forget pretty quickly

and we would die.

How often do you take

your food for granted?

Yes, we can go and

buy food in the shops

to sustain us.

We could even plant

our own vegetables, but

you don't cause them

to grow.

All the elements of

our Sunday roast, they

only grow because God

causes them to grow.

How often do we take

God's protection for

granted?

Verse 13 speaks about

our spiritual neediness.

Even as Christians, we

still need God's help.

Jesus tells us that we

should pray to God and

ask him for his help to

resist sin and to

deliver us from the

schemes of the evil one.

When we pray, it is

important for us to

remember that we have an

enemy who wishes to

derail us and make us

curse God.

And we must ask for

God's help to resist

temptations to sin.

And we must ask for his

armor which protects our

heart and our soul and

our mind and our bodies.

When we pray, it is good

for us to remember that

Jesus was victorious over

Satan on the cross and

emptied him of his power.

Yes, God allows us to be

tested.

He allows temptations to

come our way.

But because Jesus has

won, Satan is on a

leash and time is

ticking before he is

banished forever.

When we pray, it is good

for us to remember our

physical and our

spiritual neediness

before him.

And we must ask God

for sustenance and

spiritual protection as

we live through these

lives on earth, waiting

for Jesus to return as

our all-conquering king.

We're now going to pray

and I've scripted this

prayer, just taking some

of the things that we've

been thinking about, some

of the things that God

wants us to remember as

we pray.

But please join me as I

pray these words.

Our Heavenly Father, we

glorify your name

because you are our

holy God.

We remember today that

you are all-seeing,

you are all-knowing,

and you are holy.

You know what we need

and you hear our

whispered prayers.

We magnify you because

you were pleased to send

your son Jesus to suffer

on the cross for our

sins.

Thank you that Jesus has

performed a holiness

switch, taking our gross

sins upon himself at the

cross and giving us his

holiness.

Help us to trust in his

sacrifice for our sins and

the sufficiency of it.

Thank you that we can now

stand before you,

completely forgiven and

completely perfect in your

eyes.

We can draw near to you

through Jesus.

And we can bring our

requests before you.

Lord, we remember today

that we are needy people.

You know our greatest

needs.

God, we need you.

And we ask that you would

please sustain us with what

we need this week.

Please protect us from the

evil one and his

temptations.

Thank you that we can look

forward to the day when

Jesus will return to reign

as the king and rid us

forever of the influence

of sin.

Thank you for your precious

word and please impress on

our hearts the things that

you want us to remember

today from this passage and

put them into practice.

We ask all this in Jesus'

wonderful and holy name.

Amen.

Amen.