Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount: Live toward Life’s End (2)

Pray Psalm 63.1, 2.
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

Sing Psalm 63.1, 2.
(Nun Danken: Now Thank We All Our God)
O God, You are my God, and earnestly I seek You!
My soul thirsts and my flesh in weariness now greets You!
Thus I would see Your face, with glory and pow’r arrayed,
in this Your holy place – Your beauty here displayed.

Read Matthew 7.1-11; meditate on verses 7-11.

Prepare.
1. What incentive does Jesus give us for persevering in prayer?

2. How does He emphasize the importance of keeping on in prayer?

Meditate.
Jesus has already spoken at length about prayer (Matt. 6.1-10). Prayer is the most characteristic Christian practice. We know the Lord, and we love Him. It only makes sense that we should want to talk with Him all the time. Praying without ceasing is the goal of a life of prayer (Lk. 18.1), but most of us fall far short of that objective.

Which is why, I suppose, Jesus returned to prayer at this point in His sermon, to emphasize its importance, the need to persist at it, and the promise that attends to it.

The promise is that God is ready at all times to bestow heavenly gifts upon us. He is more eager to give than we are to seek! Our Father surrounds us with all manner of good gifts throughout the day, most of which – sight, breath, transport, work, etc. – we take for granted. These are from God, and should prompt us at some point in our day to reflect and give thanks.

But God has more in store: He wants to give us more of His Holy Spirit, for spiritual fruit and gifts, transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and power for witness-bearing (Lk. 11.9-13). Why don’t we ask more frequently for these things?

Prayer is hard work. So hard, in fact, that most of us don’t work very hard at it. We have a few minutes of prayer in the morning and evening, and probably at meal times. But that does not match the expectations of prayer Jesus holds out for those who are seeking His Kingdom and righteousness. We need to take up the struggle of prayer at every moment – asking, seeking, knocking – and persevering in prayer throughout the day. Thus we grow in faith and love for the Lord, and we show that we believe His Word and embrace the way of life to which He calls us.

We will not make progress either in righteousness or the Kingdom apart from an active, persistent, ongoing, and joyful life of prayer. The sooner we get to work on this, the sooner Christ’s Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven, beginning in our souls.

Reflect.
1. Why is it so important to persevere in prayer?

2. What are some of the heavenly gifts our Father wants us to have more of?

3. How can believers encourage one another for greater persistence and consistency in prayer?

So even we who are evil know how to give what is asked. How much more confidence ought we to have that God will give us good things when we ask. God will not deceive us by giving us one thing rather than another when we ask of him. Even we do not deceive our children. And whatever good gifts we bestow, we give what is God’s and not our own. Augustine (354-430), Sermon on the Mount 2.21.73

Lord, call me to prayer throughout the day today, and I will…

Pray 63.3-11.
Think ahead to what you’ll be doing throughout the day. Give thanks for each activity or task, and ask Him to remind you to give thanks again as you do them.

Sing Psalm 63.3-11.
Psalm 63.3-11 (Nun Danken: Now Thank We All Our God)
Your steadfast love, O Lord, than life is better to me.
So I will praise Your Name, and bless You, Lord, most truly.
My soul is richly blest; to You my hands I raise,
and open now my mouth to offer joyful praise. 

By night, Lord, fill my mind with pleasant meditation;
for You have been my help as ‘neath Your wings I station.
My soul clings, Lord, to You; I rest in Your Right Hand.
May all who seek my life in Your displeasure stand.

Unto the sword’s strong pow’r let our foes be delivered!
Pursue them to devour their mortal lives forever!
In God will we rejoice and glory in His grace;
but all who live by lies shall perish from His face.

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).