Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount (23)
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 6.1-8; meditate on verses 5-8.
How should we pray?
Prepare.
1. What does Jesus warn against concerning prayer?
2. What does He commend?
Meditate.
When hypocrites show-off in prayer (v. 5), they are using God to make themselves look good. Their purpose is not really to pray, but to impress others with how tight they are with God, and how eloquently they can pray. The only satisfaction people can have, who use God for their own advantage, is that some of the people they hope to impress, will be duly impressed. Jesus says we must resist every temptation to want to impress others by our public prayers (v. 6).
Some people ramble on and on in their prayers, quoting Scripture, using trite phrases and titles for God, and saying the same thing over and over again, greatly impassioned (v. 7). Such people should not think their many words will necessarily avail them in prayer. God is not looking for many words, but sincere and appropriate ones.
Prayer is, first of all, a secret matter (v. 6), a conversation between God and the one who prays. Its content is matters personal and profound, everyday and eternal, simple and yet sublime. When we pray, we must try to isolate ourselves with God alone, so that we focus on Him, and not on ourselves or whoever may be around us. The proper focus of prayer is God our Father, Who already knows what we need before we ask (v. 8). Whenever we pray, we should be in a secret place with Him, even if we’re at our work, in school, or talking with friends. By practicing daily retiring to a secret place with God, we’ll be better able to do so, whenever we turn to prayer. And in that setting, where we’re concentrating on God alone, and caught up in the beauty of His holiness and the enormity of His love, we won’t worry about impressing others. The words we use in prayer, whether spoken or silent, will be those appropriate to God and sincerely from our heart.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“For your Father knows the things you have need of
before you ask Him” (Matt. 6.8).
He knows when we need to ask for forgiveness.
He knows when we have physical needs.
He knows when we have spiritual needs.
He knows when we are lonely.
He knows when we are sad.
He knows when our hearts are rejoicing.
He knows everything.
He wants us to share our heart with Him.
So that He can share His heart with us.
A neglectful narcissist is emotionally unavailable to others; and in some respects,
isn’t this what we are guilty of when we neglect talking with God?
We are too busy, too hurried, too self-sufficient, too afraid of being told we are wrong,
too self-absorbed to give God any of our time, or ourselves (ergo, emotionally unavailable).
Of course, God doesn’t need us; but He has created us for Himself—for His glory.
And we desperately need Him—His teaching, His guidance, His discipline, and His love.
So, how else will we experience those things if we are not reading His Word daily,
and communicating with Him moment-by-moment through prayer?
“The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread” (Is. 8.13).
God wants us to know Him. He declared that through His Covenant, we would all know Him, because of Jesus’ work for us—I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jer. 31.33, 34).
The hope is alive, the pathway sure, for us to know Him; we just need to make the effort to do so.
Relationships between people don’t just happen; they need to be worked on—being emotionally available to know another and be known by them.
When you pray, that is the goal for which you strive—to know and be known.
“Blessed be the LORD, Who has given rest to His people…according to all He promised.
There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised…
May the LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers.
May He not leave us nor forsake us,
that He may incline our hearts to Himself,
to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments,
which He commanded…
and may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the LORD,
be near the LORD our God day and night…
that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other.
Let your heart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God,
to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments…” (1 Kgs. 8.56-61).
He already knows, so “…pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5.17)—to know Him.
Reflect.
1. What is the secret to a really effective and meaningful prayer life?
2. What happens to make our prayers seem “routine” or merely pro forma? How can we recover from that?
3. What would you say to a non-Christian friend who asked you why Christians think prayer is so important?
“For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” But if he already knows what we need, why do we pray? Not to inform God or instruct him but to beseech him closely, to be made intimate with him, by continuance in supplication; to be humbled; to be reminded of our sins. John Chrysostom (344-407), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 19.4
Pray 63.3-11.
Give praise to God for His many blessings, and seek His help for each specific task or opportunity before you today.
Sing 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. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column looks at people in ministry. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
