Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount: Inner Life (3)

Pray Psalm 37.4-6.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Sing Psalm 37.4-6.
(Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
Delight yourself in God’s salvation; He’ll give you all your heart’s desire.
Commit to Him your every station, and His good purpose will transpire.
Your righteousness a blazing light He will bring forth against the night.

Read Matthew 6.1-10; meditate on verses 9, 10.

Prepare.
1. What does Jesus mean by “In this manner”?

2. What should be first in all our prayers?

Meditate.
Why did Jesus consider it necessary to teach His disciples how to pray? Had they not grown up praying the psalms and other prayers of the Old Testament? Why this brief refresher course?

First, remember that Jesus is bringing us a “new” Law to teach us how to read the “old” Law. His teaching on prayer thus helps to organize the many different prayers we find throughout the Old Testament, and shows us how to use them within a proper framework for prayer.

Second, it was obvious – as Jesus noted in the preceding verses – that much corruption and abuse had come into the work of prayer. Jesus wants His followers to pray, and He wants them to be assured their prayers can be genuine, and can find favor with God. So, instead of learning to pray by imitating the hypocrites, they should follow His teaching.

Third, because we don’t know how to pray as we should (Rom. 8.26), we need all the help we can get, beginning with Jesus’ instruction about how we should pray.

Here Jesus says we should pray “In this manner”. That is, He is offering a template for prayer, a guide to show us what our prayers – whether individual or corporate – should include. In Luke 11.2, Jesus teaches us actually to pray these words. So it’s good to pray this “Lord’s Prayer” verbatim, and to let it serve as an outline or framework for all our prayers.

Prayer begins with praise and adoration for God: “Hallowed be Your name” (v. 9). He is our Father, and He knows that it is good for us, His children, to rehearse His many excellencies. We praise God for Who He is and all that He does and has done. Praising God helps us to focus our prayers on Him, so that we draw closer to Him and depend on Him for all our needs. He already knows them, so if we concentrate on praise, thanks, and adoration, He’ll take care of our needs, even if we forget to mention them.

And prayer continues by our submitting our wills to God. It’s not what we want that matters so much, but what God wants. His Kingdom and His will define the life parameters of all who follow Jesus. We embrace that call to total submission, and it guides every other aspect of our prayers as in each case we say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done.”

Focusing on God, seeking the progress of His Kingdom and the embodying of His will – this is how the Kingdom of God comes into being on earth, reflecting the way it exists in heaven.

Reflect.
1. What are some differences between praising God and giving Him thanks in prayer?

2. What work of God do we acknowledge when we address Him as “Father”?

3. Why is it so important to continually submit ourselves and our wills to Christ and His Kingdom?

Our Lord so frequently spoke to us of God as Father. He even taught us to call none on earth father, but only the one we have in heaven. Therefore, when we pray to the Father, we are following this command. Blessed are they who recognize their Father! Tertullian (155-250), On Prayer 2.2-6

Heavenly Father, receive my praise now, as I say…

Pray Psalm 37.7-9, 34-40.
Submit yourself anew to the Lord, and all the activities of this day. Pray that you will seek His Kingdom and follow His will in all that is before you today.

Sing Psalm 37.7-9, 40.
Psalm 37.7-9, 34-40 (Neumark: If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee)
Rest in the Lord and wait on Jesus; fret not at those who practice sin.
Forsake all wrath till anger ceases; let anxious fears not enter in.
The wicked perish from the Lord, but they are blest who heed His Word!

Wait on the Lord, His way observing, and He will lift you up on high.
Those prone to wicked ways preserving, your eyes shall see cast down to die.
The blameless man shall stand upright, for God preserves him by His might!

Salvation comes from Christ our Savior; He is our strength in time of need.
On us does He bestow His favor, who all His holy judgments heed.
He is our help in troubled times; our refuge He, in Him we hide.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).