"Why Do We Pray?"
[Matthew 6:5-15]
February 10, 2008 Second Reformed Church
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is a "season of prayer, penance and self discipline" (The Christian Year. Metford, 42-44). This season developed out of the practice in the first century of fasting and prayer before baptism. By the late second century, the Church generally practiced a forty day period, (patterned after Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness), before Easter, as a time of preparation for all believers, but especially those who were to be baptized. But, if you count the days, you will find forty-six days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday. That is why we say this is the first Sunday in Lent, not of Lent. We have Sundays of Advent, because they are days of celebration, as every Sunday should be, but we have Sundays in Lent -- they are not part of the season of Lent, because we ought not to be in mourning on the Lord's Day.
With this in mind, and due to the fact that some of you have asked me about prayer, I thought it well to spend the Sundays in Lent looking at prayer, and specifically the Lord's Prayer, which is the pattern of prayer that our Lord gave us. So, if the Lord is willing, we will first look at a few general questions about prayer, and then we will look at the Lord's Prayer in some detail.
Today, let us look at the question: why do we pray? How would you answer that? What is your purpose in praying? What do you look to get out of it?
In verses five and six of this morning's Scripture, Jesus says that we are not to pray to get attention or to impress others. We are not to be like hypocrites, praying on street corners and in synagogues, hoping that others will see us. We ought not to pray to get attention from others or to get others to tell us how great we are at praying.
Instead, Jesus says, we are to pray in private, quietly, out of the sight of others. Our prayer is to be between us and God, our Father. Jesus is not saying that we shouldn't ever pray together. What He is saying is that, when we pray alone, it should be alone, not on display for others to see.
If we want others to hear us pray and tell us how wonderful we pray, we might be able to get that, but then that is all we get. Jesus says that is their reward. It is not prayer. It is hypocrisy, and it does not achieve the purpose of prayer.
"[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 'Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayer thus, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I get." But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breasts saying, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted'" (Luke 18:9-14).
The Pharisee in this parable felt good about himself, but that was all he got from his "prayer." The tax collector, on the other hand, received the mercy he prayed for; he was justified.
Jesus says that we ought to pray to get a reward from our Father. We are not to pray to impress others or to build our self esteem -- that's not prayer. Yet we are to pray, looking for a reward, but a reward from our Father. And some us may not be comfortable with saying that, and some might ask, "But doesn't that make God that slot-machine/pitiful father that we confessed God is not?" Let's look at the rest of what Jesus said in this morning's Scripture:
In verses seven through thirteen, Jesus says that we do not pray to give God information. We do not pray to enlighten God. We do not pray to convince God that He is mistaken in what He is doing. Jesus said, "your Father knows what you need before you ask him." God has always known everything; God learns nothing when we pray.
Jesus said, in giving the Lord's Prayer -- the prayer we should pattern our prayers after -- that prayer is, first, part of the way we worship God for Who He is. As we pray, we acknowledge Who God is and what He is able to do. Prayer is a type of worship.
Prayer is also a major way in which we align ourselves with God. Prayer is a major way that God makes us into who He wants us to be.
As we pray after the pattern of the Lord's Prayer, we begin by asking that we will, first, look to see that God is glorified for Who He is, that we will look to see that His Kingdom is coming, and that we will look to see that everything we do is according to His Will. We begin by asking that we would become people who seek first God's Glory, God's Kingdom, and God's Will -- that these would be our priorities.
Then we ask that God would make us trust in Him for our needs, and make us thankful for all the needs He has provided, day after day. We pray that our trust and faith in God would grow -- that we would seek our satisfaction, our hope and future, in Him.
And, finally, we ask that we would be delivered from and forgiven for our sin. We ask that God would make it possible for us to say "no" to sin and follow Him in obedience and love, instead. And we ask that when we do sin, that God would provide the Way for us to be forgiven for our sin, that we might be restored to fellowship with Him.
So, we don't pray to give God information or correct His wrong thoughts. We pray to worship God and to learn to become all the more people who seek His Glory, Kingdom, and Will. We pray to increase our faith and trust in God. And we pray for forgiveness and deliverance for sin, that God would continue to make us into the Image of His Holy Son.
Then, in verses fourteen and fifteen, Jesus says that we are not to pray to get even with those who have sinned against us, but we are to pray to learn to forgive and love our enemies. Just a few verses before this morning's text, Jesus said, "'You have heard that it was said that, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies." But I say to you, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'" (Matthew 5:43-44).
Is Jesus saying that we should never seek justice? Is Jesus saying that if someone steals your car, you should just say, "Oh well. Now, how can I love him?" No, Jesus was not against the justice system. If your car is stolen, you should report it stolen, and if the person is found, he or she should receive what the law requires. What Jesus is saying is that we are not to seek vengeance. We are not to be out for blood. We ought to be praying for that person, because he or she is someone who is in need of salvation.
Do we now see what the reward of prayer is that we ought to seek from the Father?
Do we know why we pray?
Jesus said we are to pray, looking for a reward from the Father. That reward consists in our glorifying and worshiping God, growing in faith and trust and holiness, becoming more like Jesus. That reward consists in forgiving and loving our neighbor, as God has forgiven and loved us.
Does that remind us of anything? Jesus said the summary of the Law and Prophets is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength and our neighbor as ourselves. We love God by becoming more like the Son, and we forgive and love all others.
The reward of prayer is that we love God with everything that we are and our neighbor as ourselves. The reward of prayer is that we become more like the Son, and forgive and love others.
Prayer is not about our getting what we want; it's about our being transformed into the people God has called us to be.
Well, how do we do that? On the one hand, we have the pattern of the Lord's Prayer. On the other, we have the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, as Paul wrote, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).
Let us pray:
Father, we come before You in prayer not seeking a pay-off, but desiring the great reward that You have for Your children -- that we might be transformed into the Image of Your Son. Teach us to pray. Make us a people who seek Your Glory, Kingdom, and Will. Make us Holy, as Jesus is Holy. And teach us to love that others might come to know that You are the One and Only Savior. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
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