Why is it sometimes so hard to pray? When we do pray, what is our motivation? How should we pray? Jesus’ followers had these same questions so let’s see how He teaches us to pray.
“And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
“And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:5-13, NASB).
In this passage, Jesus answers the following concerning prayer:
The Motivation for Prayer
The Manner of Prayer
The Model for Prayer
The Motivation for Prayer
The hypocrites Jesus was talking about were not praying out of a love or reverence for God. These people weren’t looking to honor God but to be honored, recognized, and praised by people.
They simply loved the attention and the affirmation they got - it was a performance and the goal and reward was the approval and admiration of people.
In verse 6 Jesus said:
But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:6).
Jesus was contrasting the Pharisees’ prayers with how we should pray. The word “pray” here comes from the word proseuchomai. It encompasses all the aspects of prayer including confession, repentance, praying for one's own needs or the needs of others, praise, and thanksgiving.
When you pray, in those secret interactions with your Father in heaven, you are talking to Someone who already knows all about you and sees the real designs, desires and needs of the heart.
It is in that personal interaction that God rewards you.
Jesus is saying the quality time you spend with your Father in heaven will be your reward because God will speak to you very personally and reveal things about Himself to you.
What is our motivation for prayer?
We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
The Manner of Prayer
In vv. 7-8 Jesus said:
And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him (Matthew 6:7-8).
The purpose of prayer is not manipulating God to do your will or to fulfill your desires but to discover what He wants us to do and then asking the Holy Spirit to enable us to do it.
Prayer is not about a certain posture, not about a specific place, a program or a particular time of day.
“Prayer is about bringing Jesus into everything, it is about giving God everything. ”
When you invite Jesus into your daily schedule, into your home, your friendships, into your struggles, doubts, fears, failures, and into the unknown future, He will always answer you according to His will which is according to His Word, for your good and His glory.
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him (1 John 5:14-15, NASB).
The Model for Prayer
In vv. 9-10, Jesus said,
Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).
Our Father - Because God has adopted us as His own through Christ. We can come anytime, in any condition because we are His children.
Hallowed be Your name - meaning we come with an attitude of worship and adoration understanding that there is no One as powerful, righteous, pure, good, gracious, sovereign and wise as Him.
Your kingdom come - this is the longing of every child of God who lives under the fallen, imperfect kingdoms of this world. We are praying that God would use the church to build His Kingdom. We want the Lord to be King of our lives and we are looking for Him to set up His kingdom.
Your will be done - Prayer is not about my will but God’s will being done on this earth as it is in heaven. This is why we pray. We pray because we want to know God’s will and how He can use us to be part of it.
Do we really want to see God’s will accomplished in our lives, in our church, in this city?
“And to what degree do we want God to use our lives and our church to fulfill His plan of redemption in 2021?”
