"Gospel Prayer" Matthew 6:24-34

So I recently read an article, I was reading a book, or glancing through a book by Timothy Keller

! on prayer, and it refers to this statistic about spiritual tourism. And what this article

! talks about is it's from the UN of tourism, the UN tourism which is a branch of the UN.

They did a research on how many people travel for spiritual experiences, and the statistic

came back saying around 170 million, over 170 million people travel, travel the world

for how these experiences, and most of these people are from Western countries. And they

travel most of the time to Asia Pacific region. Now if you're anything like me, I'm not the

greatest at geography, I have to look up where this is, where this area is. And this area

is in the area of India, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, and the countries that surround

that area on the map. And the thing is, over 60% of these people who travel for these experiences,

they do it because they want to go meditating, they want to meditate at an ashram, they want

to practice yoga, they want to go to these places to have an experience. This is a lot of people.

This is more than the population of Canada. This is a lot of people who travel every year.

And it's interesting, because you would think when you look around, you would think that our culture is

becoming more and more secular. But it's actually becoming more and more deeply religious. They

just wouldn't call it religious. They would call it something else. Similarly, within Christianity,

we are rightfully told that we need to pray. You read it in the Bible, we need to pray.

But interestingly, the books that are written about prayer, the new and best way that you can pray,

are the most purchased books within Christianity. Every year, there's new books on how we should

pray, how we should have the right posture of prayer. And these books are constantly purchased.

And the same goes with Christian retreats. These retreats promise that if you go here,

you'll have an experience with God, you'll have a deeper experience with God, or you may learn

something that would help you in your Christian walk. Most of the time, these retreats circle around prayer.

But interestingly, a common thing that you hear within Christianity is that many people are either not

praying, they either don't know how to pray, or they're unsatisfied with their prayer life.

See, there's clearly a deep logging worldwide to connect with some kind of higher power or God.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, which is best recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, which we're going to look at,

addresses this topic of prayer. He addresses the topic of prayer. And he does this within a section that's focused

on the motive behind giving, praying, fasting. Fasting is when you abstain from something to focus more on God.

Or a section relying on false securities. So like health, power, money, and those kind of things.

But we don't have the time to focus on everything in this chapter. We're just going to hone in on the section on prayer.

And we're going to look at it. But the principles laid out here in this brief section,

what can apply to all the topics that I just mentioned about giving, about fasting, about relying on false securities.

So if you can turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, verses 5 to 15, that would be very helpful.

Matthew 6:5–15

If you have it on your phone, look it up, because it's very helpful to have it in front of you,

because you can see what's going on. And you can also glance at the rest of the chapter,

because you can see how it applies to all the areas. Now this section, the prayer section, can easily be

summarized in one sentence. A heart of praise leads to gospel change. But the thing is, this can be

incredibly difficult to follow through on. So we're going to look at this section in three ways.

Motive of prayer, act of prayer, and outcome of prayer. And again, that's motive of prayer,

prayer, act of prayer, outcome of prayer. It's a motive of prayer. Look with me at verses 5 to 8.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues

and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received

their reward. 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. See, in this section, in this section,

there's two people that we see here, the hypocrite and the Gentile. So we're going to focus on the first

one first, the hypocrite. What's a hypocrite? Well, according to the dictionary, it's a person whose

actions, feelings, or actual behavior contradict the moral standards. Virtues or belief may publicly

state or expect others to follow. The origin of the word, as it's said in the dictionary, comes from

the Greek word, hypocrites, which is, you take the C out and you put a K instead, which means stage actor

or a mask wearer, which I think is a better definition. For Jewish people to stand and pray in a synagogue

or at a street corner would have been a normal thing. A synagogue is the Jewish place of worship.

A street corner, what Jesus is talking about here, he's referring to just public places.

For us, it could be saying grace at a restaurant. It may seem weird, but they did most of their

praying out loud. It was a very common thing. That anything, when they pray, it would be out loud.

It wouldn't be this thing where you go off to a room to pray. It would just be out loud most of the time.

Everything in daily life, they would thank God for. So what's the problem?

Isn't that a good thing? The pray at the place of worship or in your daily life.

But you have to notice again what Jesus says in verse 5.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the

synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. See, motive is everything.

And this is what Jesus is going in at, is the motive behind praying. In a murder case, I watch a lot of

murder mysteries on TV. What they mostly focus on is the motive of the murder. Why did the person

murder this person? If you find the motive, it's easier to prove someone is guilty. And then it'll

also show if the crime was deliberate or an act of passion. It's easy to look at religious leaders

and point the finger at them. The Pharisees of Jesus' time practiced an outward religion. A Pharisee is a

religious teacher. But their hearts were far from God. They would heap up the law of Moses,

or daily rituals on people, but they would not follow them themselves. In our day, we could look

around and we could look online and point fingers at pastors. Those who have preached one way to do

something, but they live a completely different life. And when they're caught, the fall is huge.

But Jesus, we have to remember, is preaching the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples. He's not

preaching this to religious leaders. He's preaching it to everyday people. So what is he doing?

He wants to show that when you pray in public, he wants to know. He's trying to get this out of us

to think about this. Are you praying to be heard for the eloquent words you're saying or how long

your prayer is? Are you praying to be seen that you are a committed follower of him? Or are you

praying to God because you want a relationship with him? This is what Jesus is trying to get at. He's

trying to get at the motive behind the prayer itself. This is what the hypocrite does. They want to

be seen. They want to be seen by how religious they are. In one sense, it's easy to pray in public

in times where we're supposed to, when we're around others. When we say grace, it's easy to pray.

When we're in a Bible study, it's easy to pray. But what Jesus is talking about here,

and verse 6 shows this, when he says, 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 question is, what is your heart doing? Is it praying? Are you praying to be seen? Or are you

praying to have a relationship with the Lord? When he says sees in secret or is in secret,

the thing is, he's not saying you cannot pray in public. Jesus prayed in public all the time.

But it's what the motive is behind the prayer. When you pray, are you praying for a reward?

What's the reward? Is it a deeper, lasting relationship with the father? Or is it temporary

praise by others? Look at the character in this section, the Gentile, the other character.

We're going to look at verses 7 and 8.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they'll

be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before

you ask him. To a Jewish person, a Gentile will be someone who is not ethnically Jewish,

one who is of a different race. Jesus is saying here, though, a Gentile is someone who is not a

disciple of his, one who hasn't committed their life to him. When a city sports team does well

and makes it to the final matches, people who have never been supporters of the team or never

really been watching it, they jump on the bandwagon. And they become supporters because of the hype

surrounding it. And if the team loses quickly, they disappear and are not present for the next season

unless the team makes it again to the finals. They are not true followers of the team.

The diehard fan who sticks with them through the bad seasons are the true follower of the team.

See, God the Father is often treated like this. When things go well, it's easy to commit.

But when things don't go well, it's easy to leave. Prayer is similar. It's hard to pray when things

aren't going well. We tend to heap up empty phrases, hoping we'll be heard. See, when he refers to the

Gentiles here who heap up the empty phrases, he's referring to those who go to pagan temples and

repeat the word constantly, constantly, constantly. In a sense, they badger God, the God of the temple,

to be heard. God wants some sincere prayer, not just many words. He knows what you need before you

ask him, as Jesus says here. So is this saying, then, should we not pray if God already knows what

we want or what we need? No. What's being said here is that God wants sincere prayer. But how do we pray,

then? That's the ultimate question we have to ask. Well, Jesus answers this in the next section.

Look with me at verses 9 to 12. So how do we pray? Pray then like this, Jesus says,

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done as it is in heaven.

I'm so used to saying the liturgy one. 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.

This is likely the most well-known part of scripture worldwide. And that's with Christians and non-Christians.

I should have gone around, I was thinking about this when I was writing this sermon,

I should have gone around asking people, do you know a part of the Lord's Prayer? Do you even know

what the Lord's Prayer is? I've done a couple non-Christian funerals, and all of them said to me,

we don't want anything religious. But then they asked for the Lord's Prayer. And then when I said the

Lord's Prayer during the funeral, everyone in the room, or most, knew what the Lord's Prayer was and

said it. They would say it with everybody else. Obviously, to a non-Christian, this holds no

significance. It's something that's just said in a moment of grief, a liturgy that holds no meaning.

But to a Christian, the significance of the Lord's Prayer is massive.

It's something that can bring comfort, just like Psalm 23 does. It's also something we can say

in community together. We say it here every Sunday, the Lord's Prayer, before we leave. We say the Lord's

Prayer together. But it's also something that gives a framework on how to pray. Jesus lays this out here.

And it's very important for us to look at it.

It helps us in seasons. It's a guide in seasons when we're lost for words.

When we feel like we're going through something that's too hard, and we have no idea what to say.

This gives the framework

on how we should pray.

But it also gives the framework, when seasons are going well,

on how we should pray.

Because it's easy for our eyes

and our hearts to go astray,

as one of the songs said.

So let's look at it.

See, it opens with an address.

Our Father in Heaven.

Like any conversation,

you must first address the person

you're talking to.

You can't just walk up beside someone

and start talking. They'll have no idea if you're

even talking to them, unless you're giving them eye contact.

See, you have to

open the, you have to address who you're talking to.

And the address is to the Heavenly Father.

Notice how Jesus says,

Our Father.

It's not a distant God,

but a Father.

It's one of deep intimacy,

of closeness.

This is the only God

that you could attribute this to,

of deep intimacy and closeness.

Notice in the first group.

See, the Lord's Prayer

has the address,

and then it has six petitions.

After it.

And you can list these petitions

in two groups,

in two segments.

So the first set of,

the first group of petitions,

they're directed towards God.

Hallowed be your name.

To hallow something

is to show a deep reverence.

Because God is completely holy,

we must treat him

with deep, deep reverence.

The first petition

is worship.

Before anything else,

God is worshipped

for who he is.

He is not worshipped

for what he does.

He is worshipped

for who he is.

For his holiness.

His perfect.

There is,

everything about God

is pure and holy.

Perfect.

And we are called

to worship him for that

before anything else.

Your kingdom come.

Prayer for continual

advancements of his kingdom.

Societal,

personal,

creational.

What this means

is that we are to pray

that more and more people

would become followers

of Jesus.

Would experience

his kingdom.

And for society

and our personal lives

and for the environment

to look more like

God's kingdom

until Jesus returns.

God's kingdom

is a big theme

in the gospel of Matthew.

You see it in

chapter 4,

verse 17.

Jesus said this,

from that time

Jesus began to preach

saying,

repent,

for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

This idea

of that God's kingdom

is eminent

is a huge theme

in the gospel.

And it's a huge theme

through the whole Bible.

That Jesus could return

at any time

and we are to pray

for his kingdom to come.

Right now,

on earth,

within things

that we interact with,

then also for him

to return

and for the new kingdom

to come.

The new heaven

and the new earth.

Your kingdom come.

And then he continues on.

Your will be done

on earth

as it is in heaven.

God's will

as it has been revealed

in scripture.

And what is that?

For those who don't know him

to come to a saving faith

through Jesus Christ,

his son.

And for those

who do know him

to become more

like his son

and follow him

to be committed

followers of Jesus

to give up their lives

and serve him

out of deep love for him.

See,

these petitions

have everything

to do with God.

For God

to be more

and more glorified

and for us

to be less and less

inward focused

on ourselves.

Notice how

the next section

of petitions

are directed

towards basic

personal needs

and communal needs.

give us

our daily bread.

Very simple prayer.

This is

to give

the mindset

of daily dependence

on God

and to teach us

not to take it

for granted.

For us

in our western world,

this feels

extremely remote.

We have

grocery stores

and food banks

everywhere.

It's actually

very hard

to truly go hungry.

This gives

the illusion

of self-sufficiency.

most of us

need to pray

for God

to teach us

to not take it

for granted

and to be

more generous.

That we are

to pray,

give us

our daily bread.

We have

so much of it,

we are called

to bless others.

Many in the world

have no idea

when or where

their next meal

is coming from

and how they're

going to feed

their children.

For them,

this prayer

would be way more

pressing

and on their minds.

And then he continues,

and forgive us

our debts

as we have also

forgiven our debtors.

Interestingly,

this is the only

part of this prayer

that Jesus

singles out

and talks about

immediately after

this section

of the prayer.

He ends it

talking about it

and we're going

to look at it

in a moment.

But in the meantime,

debt means sin.

See,

when we sin,

before we know God,

before we've

committed ourselves

to Jesus,

when we sin,

we owe God

for that.

And that is the

whole gospel

there in a nutshell,

that Jesus came

to pay that debt.

That is what

debt means here.

And lead us

not into temptation,

but deliver us

from evil.

We are to ask God

to not allow

situations that

lead us to temptation.

God never tempts us,

but he allows

situations where

temptations can happen.

If he didn't,

he would be a tyrant

over our lives

and free will

wouldn't exist.

Now,

the Lord's Prayer,

as I've just gone

through very quickly,

the Lord's Prayer

that can be made

to fit any situation,

it's a very profound

thing,

what Jesus gives here

to his disciples

and those listening.

It's an amazing compass

for our prayer lives

and the focus

is never on ourselves,

truly.

Did you notice

how everything

is in the plural?

But the focus

is on God,

and mostly

on others.

The whole prayer

is written in plural.

It's a prayer

of community

rather than

an act of deep devotion.

We are to pray

to God,

to worship him,

to ask for his will

to happen,

and for him

to bless others

as well as ourselves.

It's an act

of prayer

within a community.

But look with me

at the last section.

Look with me

at what Jesus does here

after he gives

this idea

of prayer,

how he shows them.

Look with me

at verses 14 and 15.

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.

This is a stark warning,

and it's a warning

because it shows

how a disciple's heart

can be not truly changed.

To be a follower of Jesus

is to be living

radically different

the way our hearts

tend to lead.

We are called

to forgive.

See,

when we are wronged,

when someone commits

something against us,

we instantly want revenge.

But Jesus commands us

to forgive.

Now,

I want to acknowledge

that there is people

sitting here in the room,

or there could be

someone listening online,

who's had horrible things

done to them

by somebody

or many people.

And this idea

of forgiveness

can feel unfathomable.

And for me

to be up here

saying to forgive

could be unsettling.

I want to acknowledge that.

Because forgiveness

is something

that is extremely hard

to do

on our own.

So how do we address this?

How do we address this

for those sitting in the room

and for us as well?

How do we forgive?

Did you notice

how many times

Jesus says,

your father,

our father,

in this?

He says it six times

within this section

focused on prayer.

But in the whole chapter

of chapter six,

it's said eleven times.

See,

this is a very important thing.

When things are repeated

in the Bible,

we need to take note of it.

Because that means

there's a deep meaning

behind it.

Jesus is saying

our standing

with the father

is the same as his.

But how does this happen?

It happens

when we look

to the cross.

When Jesus

went to the cross,

for you

and for me,

he took our place

and gave us

a standing

with the father.

When you put your faith

and trust in Jesus,

you become a follower

of fellow heirs

and inheritors

of righteousness

with him.

When this is truly

fully grasped,

our hearts begin

to change

through the work

of the spirit.

It's not out

of our own doing

that we can forgive

or our hearts change.

See,

through this,

through the cross,

we can look

at this

and see

how a heart

of praise

leads to gospel

change.

See,

only through the gospel

can forgiveness

truly happen.

And forgiveness

doesn't mean

reconciliation

with the person.

It doesn't mean

you have to have

a relationship

with the person.

That's not what

forgiveness is.

Forgiveness

is allowing you

to let go

and for the gospel

to continually

change you

deeper and deeper

into a child

of God.

That is what

forgiveness is about.

Forgiveness

is not about

making a new

relationship

with that person.

It's about

what God

can do

with you

and through you

as you forgive

through the work

of his spirit.

Only through praise

and adoration

in our prayer lives

can we be disciples

of Jesus.

And it starts

with looking

at the cross.

Looking at

the great sacrifice

Jesus did for us,

for you

and for me,

and how much

we have been forgiven

through grace alone.

That is where

change happens.

And that is where

the praise happens.

And that is when

gospel change happens.

And that is when

we can say

the Lord's Prayer

not as an act

of just monotonous

liturgy,

but as an act

of deep devotion

and community

and communal prayer.

This deep longing

to connect

with a higher power

that's worldwide,

it's a worldwide longing,

is only satisfied

in the one

true living God.

God.

It's only satisfied

in that.

People flock

around the world

to have a religious

experience,

a spiritual experience.

But we see here,

Jesus lists it out,

what is a true

religious experience.

And that is a relationship

with the Father,

praising him,

asking for his will,

for his kingdom to come,

praising him for the cross,

telling people

about the cross,

spreading that message,

that Jesus came

into the world

to save sinners.

Thank you.