Prayer - Matthew 6:5-15

Good day everyone. I hope you are doing well. The following I put together for a prayer meeting that I help lead on Friday mornings at my place of employment - New Life Church. I wrote it out because this particular Friday we are unable to meet due to the Desperation Conference taking place. This allowed me to email it to the normal attendees as well I thought it would be great to place on my blog; especially since it has been a while since I have posted anything. I hope you enjoy and that it speaks to you. Thanks for reading! God Bless you!

Prayer
Matthew 6:5-15

v. 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.”

They were self focused and prayer was about them not about communing with the Creator of the universe. They wanted to look important to God but knew not how to be righteous before Him. They missed the point and in the process missed their opportunity to be connected to the Father. We should take warning and check our hearts to see where our motives are before the Lord. We should remain humble and pure before Him.

v. 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.”

This is a big idea about prayer and one I am big on. Prayer is communion with the Father. It is intimate and in most circumstances it should be treated as intimate. There definitely is a place for public prayer and worship but when we go before the Lord on our own in most cases I believe it should be a private encounter. This accomplishes two things…
1. It makes the encounter pure and keeps your heart humble
a. No or limited distractions
b. No limitation on how you express yourself before the Lord. Its private.
c. No temptation to “impress” prayer partners or leaders or spectators. It’s just you and the Lord and you cannot impress Him.
2. It provides a quiet atmosphere before the Lord to meditate on Him and His word.
a. He speaks/responds to you which edifies and blesses you (reward).

v. 7 & 8 “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

I make the mistake all the time of thinking I have to explain my thoughts to God. One of the many great, and really vast, attributes of God is that He is all knowing. We simply need to go to Him, worship Him, sit silently before Him and allow Him to work through the darkest areas of our hearts. He knows us better than we know ourselves. We certainly can speak, express our desires and ask for things. He wants us to do so (Matt. 7:7 & James 4:2). However, we should never feel as though we must explain the details or go on and on about our opinions. In doing so we remove the opportunity to receive the reward spoken of in v. 6 – His ministry to our hearts received through quiet meditation.

v. 9-13 – How we should pray…
“’Our Father in heaven (See Him as your Father), hallowed be your name (He is Sacred and Holy and must be treated and worshiped as such),
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Our hearts desire should be for His complete rule and control [sovereignty] over our world and lives. We should seek to know His will and operate within it.
Give us today our daily bread (All we need is that which is necessary for today. Nothing else is necessary. Today is what matters the most. Tomorrow will come and with it all its concerns. Receive what He has for today and take care of it first and He will be there to provide what we need tomorrow just as well).
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Recognize your failures and confess them to our Father who forgives. Release those who have offended or hurt you. As a believer you cannot move forward unless you do so [see v. 15]. Give to God those individuals that have wronged you as well as those things you have done to wrong Him).
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one (Our battle is not flesh and blood but spiritual [Eph. 6:12]. We must remain acutely aware of those evil/fleshly things we are drawn to and remain on the offensive by going to our Father for help and protection).’”

Prayer is a great tool and weapon for all believes to use. Prayer should be continual (Eph. 6:18 & 1. Thes. 5:17) as we children of the Most High stay in tune and relationship with our Father who knows all things (1 Sam. 2:3 & 1 John 3:20). Prayer, along with faithful obedience to God will changer our lives and the lives of those around us. It can and will spark revival if we remain faithful in prayer and the action it sparks in our hearts.

KEEP PRAYING!!

Blessings on you!