"When you pray, don’t be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I can assure you that they already have their reward. When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you. When you pray, don’t talk on and on as people do who don’t know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. Don’t be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask. You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today.Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from being tempted and protect us from evil." Matthew 6:5-13
If Jesus teaches on prayer shouldn't you listen and learn from Him?
So far we have learned that when you pray you should pray sincerely, you should pray secretly and you should pray securely.
This morning I want to go into greater detail on what it means to pray sincerely. Jesus gives you insights into that topic through His pattern for prayer given to the disciples:
"You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today.Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from being tempted and protect us from evil."
Out of this come four aspects of sincere prayer. Sincere prayer should be:
1) Heartfelt
2) Honoring
3) Humbling
4) Honest
Jesus said, "When you pray don't pray like the Pharisees and religious leaders."
PRINCIPLE ONE OF SINCERE PRAYER:
·
HEARTFELT
“As the hart panteth after the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God” Psalm 42:1
“The effectual fervent [one word in the
Greek, energeo]
prayer of a righteous man availeth much” James 5:16
“Let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith” Hebrews 10:22
Sometimes
heartfelt prayers don’t even need words.
“Where
ever you go preach the gospel and when necessary use words.” – St. Francis
“In certain ways
we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don’t know
what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can
understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God’s
people.” Romans 8:26-27
Come
to prayer fully focused and fully engaged.
Come
to prayer giving God your best not your leftovers.
Maybe
this is why fasting is so helpful. What do you think?
Do you offer heartfelt prayers
to God when you pray?
PRINCIPLE TWO OF SINCERE
PRAYER:
·
HONORING
"You should pray like this: Our Father in
heaven, help us to honor your name…
Honoring God means giving
Him His place. He’s God, you’re not!
Honoring God means
recognizing your place – dependent on Him!
Honoring God means giving Him
first place in your heart and mind.
"'These people
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8
“Jesus
told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who
looked down on everyone else: Two men went
into the temple to pray. One
was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The
Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I thank
you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other
people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. I go without
eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.
”The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough
even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he
pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.” Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home,
it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you
put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself,
you will be honored.” Luke
18:9-14
PRINCIPLE THREE OF SINCERE
PRAYER:
·
HUMBLING
“Come and set up your kingdom, so that
everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven.”
Jesus is saying that
humility is a matter of knowing whose Kingdom it is AND being happy about it –
welcoming it and promoting it and extending it!
“Do you
doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in
us”? In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the
Scriptures say, “God
opposes everyone who is proud, but
he is kind to everyone who is humble.” Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he
will run from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to
you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t
make up your mind. Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop
laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. Be humble in the Lord’s presence,
and he will honor you.” James
4:5-10
Humility is understanding
you are under authority and being grateful about it.
“An African tribe expresses gratitude in a similar way by
saying, “I sit on the ground before you.” When someone wants to make his
gratitude known, he goes and just sits quietly for a period of time in front of
the hut of the person to whom he is grateful.
One of the fundamental qualities invariably found in a grateful
person is humility. Gratitude is the overflow of a humble heart, just as surely
as an ungrateful, complaining spirit flows out of a proud heart.
Proud people are wrapped up in themselves. They think much of
themselves and little of others. If people or circumstances don’t please or
suit them, they are prone to whine or become resentful. This month’s study
reminds us that “God opposes the proud.” The concept is that He stiff-arms
them, He keeps them at a distance, He “sets Himself in battle array” against
them.
But when we choose to humble ourselves, as we are exhorted in
James 4, God draws near to us and pours His grace into our lives. His Spirit
does a cleansing, purifying work in our hearts; gives us victory over the
noisy, demanding tyrant of self; and enables us to be thankful people, even in
the midst of challenging circumstances.
Humble people are wrapped up in Christ. A humble person thinks
much of God and others, and little–if at all–of himself. He recognizes that
anything he has is better than he deserves. He does not feel anyone owes him
anything. He does not feel entitled to have more, or for life to be easy, or
for everyone to love him and treat him well. He is grateful for the least
little kindness that is extended to him, knowing it is more than he deserves.” NANCY DeMOSS – “Decision Online”
PRINCIPLE FOUR OF SINCERE
PRAYER
·
HONESTY
“Give us our food for today. Forgive us for
doing wrong, as we forgive others. Keep us from being
tempted and protect us from evil." Matthew
6:9-13
“OK, GOD, HERE IS WHAT I
THINK I NEED BUT I ALSO UNDERSTAND YOU KNOW WHAT I NEED.”
“Your Father knows what you need before you ask…”, Matthew 6:8
HONESTY PROTECTS YOU FROM WORRY
“I tell
you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat,
drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? Look at the birds in the sky!
They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even store grain in barns. Yet your
Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren’t you worth more than birds? Can worry make you live longer?
Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work
hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his
wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of them. God gives such beauty to
everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown
into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such
little faith? Don’t worry and ask yourselves,
“Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any
clothes to wear?” Only people who don’t know God are always
worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of
these. But more than anything else, put God’s work
first and do what he wants. Then the other
things will be yours as well. Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take
care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. Matthew
6:25-34
ANOTHER KEY TO
HONESTY IS COMING INTO AGREEMENT WITH GOD.
"Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about
anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in
heaven.” Matthew 18:19
“If we confess
(honestly agree with God) our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9
Praying sincerely means:
· Heartfelt
· Honoring
· Humbling
· Honesty
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