5 – “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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
6 – 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.
7 – And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 – Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 – This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread.
12 – Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 – And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
14 – For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 – But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
16 – When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
17 – But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 – so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, Who is unseen; and your Father, Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I don’t mind telling you that one of my favorite people in this world is our own Buddy Young.
Buddy is one of the most selfless people I know and one way I’ve seen his selflessness manifest is in the way he has volunteered on all kinds of construction projects. You see, Buddy’s knowledge about building is very substantial…and he loves to share his skill. Back in my youth ministry days, when we had the Carpenter’s Hands at the fair, Buddy would be there every year to design and build the sets—amazing sets! A few years back he happily helped me install an awning on our deck—including custom-designing the right shims to help the unit fit snugly against the siding on my house. I have enjoyed countless hours of studying under that awning—thanks to Buddy. I have lost track of how many Redland mission trips Buddy has gone on. He’s built or repaired homes literally all over the world. These last few trips when his health wouldn’t allow him to do as much of the heavy lifting as he used to, we’d get Buddy a chair and rig some kind of shade and he would sit there and guide the rest of the workers as they relied on his skill and knowledge to get the job done.
Now—one of the reason Buddy is so good at this kind of thing is the fact that he knows his way around TOOLS. About a year or so ago I got to see Buddy’s tool collection for the first time. It was that cold January night when the pipes broke at the ROC and as part of the clean up I went with Buddy to pick up a wet vac which he kept in his basement. I’ve never seen so many tools…tools specifically designed for every imaginable construction job. Based on what I saw in his basement—and on the jobs I’ve seen Buddy do over the years—I am sure that one thing Buddy would say is that when it comes to building something or fixing something the right tools are very important which is why as a pro, he has accumulated so many different tools over the years.
I bring this up because this “tool principle” is also seen in our spiritual “construction.” In order for us to BECOME more like Jesus, we need the right “tools…” and God has provided them for us in the form of SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES that help shape us into the people He calls us to be.
This year our theme is “becoming.” We’re focusing our efforts here at Redlland to try and BECOME more and more like Jesus. As part of that theme, for the next four weeks we’re going to study some of these spiritual disciplines or tools—holy habits that help mold us into the image of Christ. Here’s the schedule:
- Next week we’ll look at the discipline of Bible Study.
- June 19 we’ll study the spiritual discipline of giving.
- June 26 we’ll look at personal evangelism.
- And today our focus is on the tools of fasting and prayer.
(1) Let’s begin with FASTING.
Now…what exactly is FASTING? Well, it’s not dieting. It’s not skipping meals to lose weight. No—whenever fasting is mentioned in the Bible it refers to, “abstaining from food for the purpose of growing spiritually.” And—there are several things that provide us with INCENTIVE to learn this particular discipline.
(a) The first is the fact that fasting is good for us PHYSICALLY.
This might come as a shock to some of us because we tend to think that doing without food might be harmful to us. We buy into this misconception because we have been conditioned to think that we cannot do without three full meals a day and several snacks in between—which of course is not true. Doing without food is indeed good for us. It gives our digestive tract a rest. It also purifies our bodies by allowing built up toxins to filter out of our systems.
(b) But fasting’s main benefit is SPIRITUAL.
I say this because this discipline teaches us SELF-CONTROL and encourages a prolonged un-distracted FOCUS on Christ rather than on the temporary pleasures of this material world. Through this spiritual discipline we begin to see how easily we allow nonessentials to take precedence—how quickly we allow our desire for things to enslave us. Richard Foster writes, “Our human cravings and desires are like a river that tends to overflow its banks; fasting helps keep them in their proper channel.” And Foster is right. Let me put it this way: More than any other discipline fasting reveals the things that control us. In fact, just looking at the size and shapes of our bodies shows that FOOD has too much control over many of us—and fasting brings “controlling” things like this to the light.
For example, if pride controls us, it will be revealed through fasting. In Psalm 69:10 David said, “I HUMBLED my soul with fasting.” And that’s not all. If anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, or fear are within us, they will surface during fasting. Then we can take steps to deal with these shortcomings.
Now…fasting is not a command in the Bible. Jesus does not ORDER us to fast but several passages of Scripture show that our Lord did ASSUME we would fast.
For example in verse 17 of our text Jesus did not say “IF” you fast but “WHEN” you fast.
It is also important to know that in the Bible there are several different KINDS of fasts.
a. The most common type is to abstain from food—not water—for a certain period of time.
This was the kind of fast Jesus did when he wandered in the desert for 40 days and nights. A careful reading of the text infers that Jesus did have water during this time.
b. Another type of fast is to decide not to eat certain types of foods. We see this in Daniel 10:3 when the prophet said that “…for three weeks he ate no delicacies, no meat, or wine.”
c. And then, ABSOLUTE fasts involve consuming neither food nor water.
These fasts are done at times of dire emergency, like the time Queen Esther learned that execution awaited herself and her people and instructed Mordecai saying, “Go, gather all the Jews…hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days.”
The main teaching on fasting that Jesus gives us in our text for today is that it is a discipline that should be done SECRETLY—it’s something for God to see but not others, unlike the Jewish religious leaders of that day who fasted to appear spiritually superior. These people were painfully pious and proud of it.
In a Biblical fast, the only ones who should know about it are the ones who HAVE to know. If you ignore this teaching and call attention to your fasting, people may be impressed but as Jesus said, that will be your only reward. This would be foolish because we fast for far greater and deeper rewards than the applause of others. We engage in this discipline to grow spiritually—to please God not our peers. This is important for us to note because just like it was in Jesus day, some people think they will appear more spiritual if they look like an unmade bed…but Jesus says here that we are to knock off that kind of behavior. Christians are to exude joy and peace—not sorrow and seriousness. Charles Swindoll puts it this way, “You can be a fundamentalist. Just don’t look like one.”
There are a couple other things I must mention and the first is the fact that fasting is a discipline we LEARN. So I would suggest you begin with a PARTIAL fast of twenty-four hours—lunch to lunch which means you would not eat two meals. Attempt this once a week for several weeks. I think you will be fascinated with the physical aspects but the most important thing to monitor is the inner attitude of worship. Later you may want to try fasting for 36 hours—drinking plenty of liquids—and then ask the Lord if it is His desire for you to fast for longer periods. Keep a spiritual journal and record the things God teaches you.
Another thing—fasting doesn’t have to be about FOOD. The principle of this particular tool—the thing that makes this spiritual discipline effective—is the abstaining from ANYTHING that distracts in order to hear God’s voice more clearly. So—you might benefit from fasting from television or the Internet or Facebook or shopping or paint ball—or whatever thing is a time consumer in your life—in order to strengthen your communication with God. Some denominations use Lent for this purpose. They give up something in order to focus more on their relationship with our Lord.
And that brings me to the most important thing about this first spiritual discipline. All “fasters” should understand is that fasting must be coupled with the discipline of PRAYER. This is why I thought it would be good to look at these two disciplines together.
(2) So, let’s move on now to that tool—let’s talk about PRAYER.
Now prayer is a practice with which we are much more familiar than fasting of course but we still have a long way to go when it comes to this particular “holy habit.” So, let’s begin our study as we did with fasting. Let’s start with a DEFINITION. Basically prayer is communication—between us and God Himself. In short, prayer is a conversation but it is one that can be spoken or silent. And…let me point out first of all that, like fasting, prayer IS something you LEARN. The disciples discovered that. As we read in our text there was a time they asked Jesus to TEACH them to pray. They had seen in our Lord a pattern for prayer that they yearned to master. And you know there is great freedom in that truth because this means we don’t have to come to God as prayer EXPERTS. We don’t have to study and learn all the right words and phrases before we start praying. We don’t even have to have the best of MOTIVES to pray. I’m saying we don’t have to be perfect for God to want to hear from us. No…we simply come to Him as teachable children. Remember Jesus’ first prayer lesson was that we should address God as our “Abba” which literally means “Daddy.” And, if you are a “daddy”— if you’re a parent—then you know that our children come to us with the craziest requests at times. Sometimes we are saddened by the meanness or selfishness in their requests, but we would even sadder if they never came to us at all. We are simply glad that they DO come…mixed motives and all. And this is precisely how it is with prayer. This side of Heaven we will never have pure enough motives, or be good enough, or know enough in order to pray perfectly. So the thing we must do is to simply begin praying—knowing that God receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are. Richard Foster wisely writes, “In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture, so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer.”
Now—as I said—prayer is first and foremost a CONVERSATION and for a conversation to BE a conversation it must be two-way so let’s break our study up that way.
A. First, prayer is us talking to God. Well, how is that done? How do we talk to God?
(1) First of all in our text, Jesus says that like fasting, we must also pray SECRETLY.
Hank Hanegraff puts it this way. He says, “The secret to prayer is secret prayer.” And Jesus set the example in this. As Luke 5:16 says, Jesus “…OFTEN withdrew to LONELY places to be by Himself and pray.” Now—don’t misunderstand me. I”m not saying that public prayer is wrong. Several times in the Gospels both Jesus and His disciples prayed publically—prayers that are recorded in the Bible. So, we are to pray publically—we are to gather together to pray. But we must strive to make our public prayers GENUINE prayers—prayers in which we are talking to God and not our human listeners. And the best way to make PUBLIC prayer genuine is to have a healthy PRIVATE prayer life. This is one reason that, whenever possible, I prepare my public prayers ahead of time. I write them down and pray them privately before I pray them publically.
Evelyn Christenson addresses this issue by saying that the ratio between our public and private prayers should be like the ratio between the part of an iceberg that is seen above water…and the part that is unseen below the surface. She says, “Prayer should be like an iceberg with about one ninth showing in our public group praying and eight ninths out of sight in our secret closets.” I think Jesus had this prayer principle in mind in our text when He warned us to avoid the then common practice of lifting up prayers on the street corner in a show off our “spirituality.” Instead He has taught us to find a private place for prayer—a closet—an inner room. Why? Because the purpose of prayer is not to impress others but to be in conversation with God. We do not pray to communicate to others how holy we are. We pray to communicate with God how holy He is. Let me put it this way. Prayer is not a spectator sport. It’s not something we engage in to give off signals of spiritual superiority.
But—another reason Jesus says it is important to get ALONE in prayer is that being in an inner room shuts out DISTRACTIONS…music, smart phones, the TV, kids, dogs…anything that can break our concentration. Bill Hybels writes, “Even a ticking clock can catch me up in its rhythm until I’m tapping my foot and singing a country song to its beat. Jesus knows how our minds are put together, and He counsels, ‘Don’t bother fighting distractions, because you’ll lose. Avoid them. Find a quiet place where you can pray without interruption.’”
So to benefit from this tool of spiritual formation, find such a place and make it your own. When you use it regularly I think you will find that it takes on a special kind of aura. As I’ve told you before, when I was in seminary, the main classroom building, Norton Hall, had a closet that was set apart for students to pray. They had carpeted it and put a kneeling bench in there. It was a quiet place to go to be alone with God and like other students I went there often. I don’t think it was my imagination but this closet seemed to be special—hallowed ground. In fact, in my mind it “glowed” with a unique quietness because so many pilgrims went there to talk to our God.
Kevin and Rob, when you put in your required “on campus” time at Southern—be sure to find that prayer closet and use it. It’s just inside the front door on your left!
(2) Jesus also says that prayer should be offered SINCERELY.
In our text He says that when we pray we must not use meaningless repetition and empty phrases. And this is important guidance for us to understand because it is very easy to get caught up in using certain jargon or terminology in prayer. Some phrases may sound appropriate, spiritual, even pious, but after a while if we are not careful, we can find ourselves stringing together a bunch of popular phrases to form what I refer to as “autopilot prayer.” the same phrases uttered over and over again by rote with no SINCERITY behind them and heaping up fancy phrases or babbling on and on can’t replace heartfelt and sincere communication with God.
The fact is, no one likes INSINCERE communication. This week I came across the following examples of INSINCERE apologies. The first is dated July 4, 2004.
“It has come to the editor’s attention that the Herald-Ledger neglected to cover the civil-rights movement. We regret the omission.”
This was The Herald-Ledger of Lexington, Kentucky, apologizing for the 40-year-old policy of the paper to relegate the coverage of sit-ins, marches, and the like to brief mentions in a column called “Colored Notes.” Would you accept that as an apology? Does it sound sincere to you?
Here’s another from October of 2003: “The comment was not meant to be a regional slur. To the extent that it was misinterpreted to be one, I apologize.” This was Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor, apologizing for referring to potential jurors in the eastern Kentucky mountains as “illiterate cave-dwellers.” Does Kenneth sound sincerely sorry to you? I think his “apology” is just another regional slur!
One more—and it’s dated June 13, 1990: “I really, from the very bottom of my heart, want to apologize for statements I made about Christianity. I did it mainly out of frustration. At one time or another, I’ve offended almost every group. I’m sure I’ll be apologizing again.” This one is from CNN founder Ted Turner, apologizing for repeatedly calling Christianity “a religion for losers.” To me Turner’s words sound more like a warning of what is to come than an apology. Well, apologies that are obviously INSINCERE are never received well…and the same is true of insincere prayers. God wants us to MEAN what we say. He wants our words to be real…genuine…honest.
(3) Finally, in our text, Jesus taught that meaningful prayer is structured according to a SPECIFIC pattern.
Now…don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that God doesn’t hear the impromptu prayers that we throw together quickly in times of panic and distress. Of course He does! We don’t have to PERFECT our prayers for God to listen to them and answer them. As long as we are sincere we can’t pray a bad prayer in our Heavenly Father’s eyes! But the prayer that benefits US most as disciples who are striving to become more like Jesus is a prayer that follows a specific pattern.
In this particular “prayer lesson” from Matthew 6 Jesus gave us a specific pattern to follow in what has come to be referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer.” But as I said a few months back a better title would be “The Disciple’s Prayer.” This is the model for Christ-followers to follow as we learn to pray. Understand—it was never intended to be a magical incantation to get God’s attention. Nor did Jesus give us this prayer as a paragraph to be recited. After all, He had just warned against using repetitious phrases. I believe He gave it as a pattern to suggest the variety of elements that should be a part of our prayers.
To borrow from Dr. David Jeremiah, I think the best way too look at this model prayer is to see it as a ROAD MAP of sorts…a map that guides us to where we can benefit most from the presence of God as we learn to pray without ceasing—using prayer to invite our Heavenly Father into every moment of our lives. Dr. Jeremiah says that following this guideline in our prayer life,
“…is like driving down a highway dotted to one side with signposts. As we pass the first intersection and give PRAISE to God: ‘Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.’ We keep driving and at the next intersection we see another sign that says we are to pray over our PRIORITIES and bring them into line with God’s: ‘Thy kingdom come…Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.’ The next sign reminds us that the God we have worshiped, the God Who is in control of our life, is the same God Who wants to PROVIDE for our daily needs. So we pray: ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ As we keep going, we see a big sign that says PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS; ‘Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.’ The people we know come flooding into our minds so we take inventory of how our relationships are going with them. If any of them need repair, we stop and get it done. At the next intersection there is another signpost: ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ Here we are reminded that the God Who provides is also the God Who PROTECTS so we pray to Him for His protection and deliverance. As we approach the final exit we see one last sign post: ‘For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN.’ What a tremendous PROMISE this is! To know that the God to Whom we pray is an everlasting King with the power to do whatever pleases Him! It ought to take away our breath when we realize that THIS is the God Who invites us to bring our worship and our requests to Him.”
I like thinking of this prayer guide as a “road map” of sorts—because to benefit most from this spiritual discipline we need to use a specific pattern—one that goes down all the right “roads.”
B. So, prayer is a conversation. We talk to God through prayer. But prayer is also God talking to us.
In fact, the Bible is full of accounts of God speaking to His children directly and personally.
- Genesis 3:8 says that God walked in the Garden of Eden “in the cool of the day” and stopped to talk with Adam and Eve.
- He spoke frequently with Abraham, calling him from one place, leading him to another and promising to make of him a great nation.
- He talked to Moses through the burning bush on top of Sinai and whenever Moses needed counsel in leading the children of Israel to the Promised Land.
- He gave Joshua military advice to enable the Israelites to conquer the Canaanites.
- He talked with David about governing Israel and about his personal sins and struggles.
All thorough the Old Testament God spoke to His people—and the pattern is repeated in the New Testament.
- God spoke to Saul the persecutor on the Damascus road.
- He then guided Paul the apostle as he traveled across the Roman Empire preaching the gospel.
- God spoke to Peter through a vision telling him the gospel message was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Well, do you think God lost His voice at the end of the first century? Of course not!
If the essence of Christianity is a personal relationship between the almighty God and individual human beings, it stands to reason that God still speaks to believers today. The truth is you can’t build a relationship on one-way speeches. You need frequent, sustained, intimate contact between two person both of whom speak and both of whom listen. And that’s the problem. We don’t hear God because we don’t listen to Him. In essence we dial God’s number tell Him all our problems, make all our requests…and then we “hang up” without giving Him a chance to say anything. Well, Jesus taught that we should discipline ourselves to the point that we recognize His voice. Do you remember our Lord’s words from John 10:14-15? Jesus said “I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…they listen to My voice.”
Think about it. We hear voices in our head all the time. They all compete for our attention. There’s the voice of lust that encourages us to embrace destructive thoughts and actions. There is the voice of fear that tells us to panic. There is the voice of greed that tells us we need more and more stuff. There is the voice of ambition that tells us nice guys finish last. There’s the voice of selfishness that tells us our needs and wants must come first. Well, growing disciples learn to tune out those voices and hear the still small voice of God Himself—that “holy whisper” as Bill Hybels calls it. And if you need help in hearing Jesus’ voice, let me give you a hint. Our Lord’s leadings are always in line with His written Word. So when you hear the voice of lust if you listen closely you’ll hear Jesus saying something like this, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:25-27) Jesus will proceed to tell you all about the kinds of destruction that voice of lust will cause—the ways it will hurt your spouse—your children—your witness.
When panic screams for attention in your head—if you try you’ll hear Jesus reminding you of Psalm 46 where it says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” If you keep listening you’ll hear Him remind you that as His child we never have reason to panic…that He is infinitely bigger than that thing that causes us anxiety.
When you hear GREED tempting you to listen, don’t. Instead try to hear the Spirit of Jesus in you. He’ll remind you that “A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.” (Provers 28:5) The more you listen the more He’ll help you to trust Him for your material needs.
When you hear AMBITION encouraging you to get ahead at all costs if you listen Jesus will say,
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 With His voice, He’ll remind you to follow His example in laying down your life for others.
In short to enjoy the benefits of the discipline of prayer we must learn to hear and heed our Lord’s voice. That’s the voice we must listen to. Which voice are you listening to these days?
The story is told of a native American and his friend who were in downtown New York city for a visit. They were walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were almost deafening. Suddenly, the native American said, “I hear a cricket.” His friend said, “What? You must be crazy. You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!” “No, I’m sure of it,” the native American said. “I heard a cricket.” “That’s crazy,” said the friend. The native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly amazed. “That’s incredible,” he said. “You must have super-human ears!” “No,” said the native American. “My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you’re LISTENING for.” “But that can’t be!” said the friend. “I could never hear a cricket in this noise.” “Sure you could!” the native American said. “You hear what you are listening for. Here, let me show you what I mean.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few COINS, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs. “See what I mean?” asked the native American? “It all depends on what you are listening for.”
What are you listening for Christ follower? What VOICE are you tuning in these days. If we are going to become like Christ—we need to discipline ourselves to hear His voice. We need to pray this old children’s prayer:
“Oh give me Samuel’s ear,
An open ear, O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy Word;
Like him to answer to Thy callAnd to obey Thee first of all.”
I want us to close our service by giving you time to do that—to listen to God’s still small voice. Ask Him to tell you what things you need to do to become more like Jesus. Let’s all bow our heads now and LISTEN to God.
SILENT PRAYER
AMEN.
If God told you that you need to respond publically in some way, then now is the time to do it. As we stand and sing leave your seat and come and speak with me or the other pastors. Share the decision God has laid on your heart. Come profess your faith in Christ. Come ask to join our church…come and share any commitment God has led you to make.