Pray Like You Mean It | Matthew 6:5–15

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Good morning, good morning, we talked hown that through. Good morning, good morning to you and you and you. Wow, I knew it. You knew it. I knew it because I saw you starting to lift your hands. Well, recognize that. That's it. Hey. By the way, uh, you know I I just talked to another couple and I was reminded that most of our listeners are actually it's after working that's actually yeah. Yet I've just started this thing where it's it's good, it's good the evening. Good evening. But by the way, I said this, say to an usher literally, uh, we came to what was it? Was it a oh? It was yesterday at church. We actually were talking about when I get up on the stage, I say good morning. That's and some people criticize pastors for doing that good morning, and every says good moie. Some people who criticized church, they don't like that, but I I've always done it. I don't know why because they're grumpy people. But for thirty years that's what I've done. I just I love hearing the people's feedback. It's the extrovert in me so anyway, But we have a one o'clock service now, and if I say good morning, people are like, it's not morning. And if I say good afternoon, nobody responds because nobody in our culture says good afternoon ever ever, And nobody says good evening except for Dracula, good evening. Nobody says that either. Right, and so, but when I'm over, when I'm over in the Dominica Good Days, when when I was over in uh Dominican Republic, it's always uh uh bun's dias. They say it all they use all three. Yeah, they do. Bring it back. Chris, what is that movie Good Days? Wasn't it that it was a musical Scrooged or something? Oh oh, oh, you're talking about that one. No, that's good afternoon, Good afternoon. Yeah No, but there's an actual one that says good day. So there's there's another one. I don't know what it's from, Chattle. No, Chad text me. Chen, Yeah he knows. All right, Okay, so here we go. It's New Year's Eve. Yes, so this is a big one. Everybody's getting excited. It's football, yes, all this stuff. It's a big night. And what's one thing you're proud of or a memorable moment from twenty twenty five or something that made this year special or stand out. And we're going to do a draft paper scissors and do a draft of three things. Yes, okay, okay, ready, paper scissors did yeah, yeah. One, two, three? Shoot? Oh I got beat you. All right, very good? I did paper he did yes. So I'll go first, and I'm going to say that I was very proud of in the summertime, as we were approaching the fall, our family didn't have time to take a vacation. We had we had zero time. And by the way, that was largely my fault. I literally scheduled twenty weddings. I said yesterday, I said yes to every wedding. Wow, And so it messed up every opportunity for us to do weddings. It was. It was ridiculous. So what ended up happening was Liz is like, hey, can we do this? Hey the family, and I'm like nope, And I messed I'm not kidding, I messed everything up. So all those people happy, people happy to be a part of the most important day of their life and. I just kept on saying yes. Anyway. The point is is that my family and I were like, what are we going to do? And we they fought and scrounged to find a date where my even my daughter flew up from Florida and we found just a weekend to go up north and it was only for like two and a half days. We spent a ton of money, but it was either that or nothing. But everybody chose to make this happen even though it was only like a day and a half. I'm not kidding, Like, we are determined to spend time together. That's awesome. That was a proud moment. Oh that's a good moment. Yeah. I was going to say, I think the thing I'm most proud of is within what we do where we were pastors at Heritage Church. Yep. I love the fact that we saw eight hundred and seventeen people make a public profession of faith for baptism this year. Oh yeah, that's one of my proudest things of twenty twenty five. Yeah for sure. Wow, So you're going work related huh spiritual? Well you went family Kingdom, Yeah, well you went family, So I went work. Okay, all right, I'm gonna do fine. I was going to talk about my shed in the backyard. Oh do it. I'm proud of your shed. Well, I'll be honest with you. Did you build it? No, I had it put in there. Turnkey bought it and they came and built it on site. But I gotta be honest with you. We call it a bar and it's really big. And but believe it or not, it is a fundamental It goes deep, bro, It goes deep. Let me tell you why. Because I've been looking for a barn for ten years. We have no basement. We're in a pre flood zone and I have no basement, and so our garage is our basement. And because our garage is our basement, are our cars are outside the garage, which means like there's mud outside of the car. So I literally built bricks papers on each side of the driveway and spend thousands of dollars just because I have no basement. Wow, And that means that it seems like it's not connected, but it directly is. So it's like, I literally everything has been horrible, But the only things that's been that's been horrible about my house is I have no basement. So finally I just said I'm getting this barn, and believe it or not, it translates into so much relief in my house. So it was a big deal. Good for you. Yeah, thanks, fantastic and we relas we love it. Congratulations. After how long have you lived in that house? Twenty years? Twenty years? So yeah, yeah, it's deserving. It's time. Yeah yeah. Yeah. So I was going to say one of the things I'm proud of is my daughter got engaged this year. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, a big deal. Yeah, she's going to get married next May and hoping I can make it unless you want to do it. Sounds like you love doing weddings. Oh that's so funny. Well, guess what my third thing was going to be My daughter got engaged this year? Yeah? Oka, wait wait was it was it this year? Yeah? Was it Easter? Yeah? It was easter, wasn't it? Yes? Yeah, because remember you had to scoot out. Yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right. Easter. Yeah, So my daughter got engaged, and I can't have you say Jenny got engaged without me saying to. Okay, you want to just put those in as bonuses, So you want to do another one besides that, because we're kind. Of okay, all right, okay, uh, well, then I'm going to say that one of my other proud moments this year was how my kids look out for one another. And there's a specific example that I'm having in mind, but I'm not going to say it though, just because I don't want to embarrass my son. Uh embarrass him in a good way, right because he because he stepped up and shined in a way that made me so unbelievably proud. And they look out for each other. And I actually thought to myself, Wow, like that is unbelievable, because when they were in junior high they fought like cats and dogs. But now they're super close and it's like thank God, right yeah, and so it's like as a parent, you're like super proud. I was going to talk about closeness a family also awesome. So yeah, I was just gonna say this year was a very memorable year because in the beginning of the year, we lost my dad he was eighty seven, and then here at the end we lost my brother, and a lot of times, when you have that kind of stress on a family, it pulls a family apart, right, so to do two in one year, it can be really really hard. But my mom and my brothers really leaned in, and their wives really leaned in, and I feel like we drew closer to each other, not further apart. Yeah, during those things. So I'm very very proud of it. That's great, man, that's really good. Well, Hey, those those are definitely special moments. Could our viewers see that bug walking across there? I don't know if you were watching. We had a bug here and I just flicked it out into the room and it dawned me. I shouldn't inflicted it into the room. It was a box elder bug, is what it was. So it's so funny. Yeah, it's probably living right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, you didn't kill it. Know what I was going to say is those are very special moments, Jeff, not quite as special as the Sermon on the mount. Yes, and especially when Jesus taught us how to pray. That's true, that is very true, But there's still a special nonetheless. That's right. So Jesus said in the premise behind this whole series, is that the beatitudes set up the framework for much of what Jesus teaches us in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, he has all these illustrations saying this is what I mean. And so this week we're talking about how Jesus said, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, and the New Living says, blessed those who are poor and realize their need for Him. And so today we're talking about how Jesus teaches us our dependency on Him through prayer. And that's I think a very significant thing. And for many of us, the Lord's Prayer is something that we repeat in church. Yep right, it's something that we just keep saying, we're at home by wrote right, And it's way more than that. So I think it reveals our need for God, and it trains us to depend on God daily. So here's what he says. Hey, can we start in verse five? That's where I was going to start. Awesome, Yes, we're going to go five through fifteen or five through fourteen. Fifteen fifteen, He says, when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly or on street corners and in the synagogue where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that's all the reward you will ever get. But when you pray, go, will weigh by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your father in private. Then your father, who sees everything, will will reward you when you pray. Don't babble on and on as the gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your father knows exactly what you need, even before you ask him. Pray like this, our Father in heaven, May your name be kept holy, May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need. And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don't let us yield the temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your father will not forgive your sins. Oooh, that's strong. Yeah. And this whole thing is about praying and fasting, and he's talking about you know again. Largely this is the way you should go to God. This is your posture, This should be your attitude, This is this is a template of how you should pray. This template represents you know, just about everything. And now I have I have a strong compassion toward people who grew up like myself. Right. So we didn't go to church very often, hardly at all, actually, but when we did talk about church, when we did, it was always under this premise, right, It was under the premise of saying, like, Okay, this is the prayer you know that that you should pray. If you're going to pray by yourself. That wasn't We had a different thing when we say grace. But but that was the prayer. And then it was always reciting, and it was always you know, attending. It was always just you know, you have to do these things in order to get in good with God. And this prayer was you know, referred to as like okay, say ten of these right, And and I honestly believe it saying say ten our fathers, yeah, see, or hail Mary's or whatever. Yeah. And the thing is, I don't believe that if you say ten of these our fathers, that's not a bad thing. Scripture is not a bad thing, right, just as long as we don't misinterpret the purpose in which it's given. We don't think it's like, Okay, if I see ten of these, then my sins are going to be forgiven or in paying penance. You know, it's like it's like, okay, if only say nine, it's not enough. It's like that that's my misunderstanding as a child. I don't think that there's any spiritual impact for saying ten of them. No, I don't even know that I think there's any spiritual impact in saying it exactly as it is. No, as much as it is the intent behind it, that's right, right, yeah, yeah. And the reason why we believe that this is a template and not something to be recited is because elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus talks about the Lord's Prayer and he says it, only he says it slightly differently. Right, So if it was something to be recited, you would say, well, Jesus, don't you know the Lord's prayer? Right? Right? Yeah? It's like, come on, quote it right. Want, Jesus, what the heck you missed? The part you know you miss is where he quotes it. And it's like, so it's written differently, and and so it's like, so we don't we don't believe that it's a you know, a carefully recited worded prayer. It is. It is the reason why Jesus said pray like this. He didn't say pray this. And if it was something to be repeated, he would have said pray this, right, but he didn't say that. He said pray like this similarly to this. Yeah. In Luke eleven he says, this is how you should pray. That's right. And then here's what he says, Father, may your name be kept holy. That's different a little bit. It's the same idea mayor kingdom comes soon. That's as opposed to over. He says, mayor kingdom comes from mayor will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He doesn't say that, right. In Luke eleven, he says, give us each day the food we need. He says that there in Matthew, in Matthew chapter six. And then he says, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. That's the same. That's the same. And then he says, and don't let us yield the temptation. That's the end of it, right. And then in this one he says, but rescue us from the evil one. That's right. So it's it's the idea. Either Luke or Matthew misquoted him right, or he really does mean it when he says this is how you should pray. Don't pray this, that's not what he says. But he says this is how you should pray. In verse nine in Matthew chapter six, he says, pray like this, right, and so this is how you know I love We always say this. The Bible is its own best commentary. That's right. So if this was a prescription, pray ten of these and all your wildes streams are going to come true, right, then, boy, you better recite it exactly the right way. You better know it. And then and then, since none of us speak Greek, coin a Greek, well we really be in trouble because we're trying to do it from English. And which would that be? Would that be English from the sixteen eleven, right, or would that be English from the eighteen hundred? Because everybody English from that, I guarantee. You everybody knows. Everybody knows the King, James Father. Yeah, and and and uh and again that's even just a translation, it's just an outdated translation from normal speech, right, because nobody says thy anymore. But but that's how we know it. So when we recite it, that's how we recite it. And uh and the funny thing is, you know again it has a pattern. And so uh, I heard Andy Stanley talk about this, and I've mentioned it on the Bible Guys at least twice. But when he says how would be thy name? He means great as your name? And and and Andy I remember proposed the idea of acknowledging God's greatness at the beginning, because he says, because Jesus probably knew that our propensity was to go directly to our needs, wants and wishes. Because two days ago you said, if we if we took prayer request in the auditorium, a lot of it would be needs, wants and wishes. That's right, And uh, Any says, but if you take time at the beginning of your prayer to just realize just who it is you're talking to, then by the time you get your needs, wants and wishes, maybe you'll feel a lot more better about everything that you request. You know, you're just you'll feel less anxiety about everything that you're wanting God to take care of because if you spend time acknowledging who He is and who you're not, then that right size is our perspective. And again it's it couples, you know, very nicely with Blessed are those who are poor in spirit who acknowledge their dependency on God. So he's really driving home this idea that we're not God. That's what this phrase is, right right, I'm not God. You are. And when I begin to really be convinced of that that I do not have the ability to solve every problem in front of me. I don't have the ability to forgive my own sins. I don't have the ability to provide everything necessary for my life. I don't have the ability to fight temptation by myself. I don't have they not the most devastating temptations, those massive hurts or habits or hang ups that we all need to recover from. It's just not possible. I don't have the ability to forgive the way that I should forgive, let alone to be forgiven myself right, And so I'm desperate for God in all of these things. So when I put God in his right place, that automatically puts me in my right place. It puts me in the right frame of mind. It reminds me that I'm desperate for him, that I need him. And so there's a really good statement here. Life application study Bible in the Luke passage Luke chapter eleven says, notice the order in this prayer, which is what you were pointing out. First, Jesus praised God and then he made his requests. Praising God first puts Us in the right frame of mind to tell him about our needs. Too often our prayers are more like shopping lists than conversations. And so maybe one of the best disciplines you can learn today tomorrow, maybe in the new year, spend a little bit more time reading in the Book of Psalms, make notes about when David talks about God, right, and then talk about talk to God like David did. The Bible says David was a man after God's own heart. And David will say, God, you created everything. Without you, nothing can be created. God, You're like a shepherd, and I don't know where to go without you. God, You're a mighty warrior, and you go before me and you fight for me. Right, if you could start acknowledging who God is, start every one of your prayers. That way, it'll start to convince you more and more and more of your desperate need for Him, which is what the first beatitude tells us, right is, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. The more I see who God is, the more I see how little I am and how desperate I am for Him. And so that I think for twenty twenty six could be a great new habit. Oh for sure, for a lot of our listeners, go start reading through the Book of Psalms. My dad used to read what was it, there's one hundred and fifty Psalms. He'd read like I forgot two or three Psalms a day, and then the one proverb a day, whatever that was, And he'd get through the whole Book of Proverbs every month. And then he tried to get through the Book of Psalms a couple times a year. And it's because he felt like there. You know, David was a warrior, but he's also a poet. There's something that's both on the masculine side of how he writes, and then also on the art side, this this poetic side that kind of grabs your heart in a different kind of way, and particularly in how to know God. And so if that's what you do, just cruise through the Book of Psalms and find out how David prayed. If David was a man after God's own heart, he says, blessed are those who are poor in spirit were also after God. We're chasing after God. Then, you know, it makes sense that we could learn a lot from him. And I think that the first verses leading up to this Lord's Prayer and Matthew six, it's a it's a reminder that prayer is not a performance, right prayers, Prayer is not a performance in front of other people. Uh. And I've actually had people in my old church, like when I was growing up, there was one guy that used to stand up and pontificate. You know. He used to like, you know, it was like as many similes and and and you know, he was walking the sourus. You know, he couldn't just say God. He had to throw out six names for God before he moved on, before his next sentence. You know. It was it was all those things and he just pontificated. And now, don't be wrong, I think he was sincere. You know, I just think he learned some bad habits. I think I think that's you know, somebody maybe modeled for him, you know, and then maybe he did it one day and somebody praised, Oh wow, you pray so eloquently, or whatever it is. I don't think he had a bad heart, but it's just that we all used to make fun of him because were teenagers, and we were like, oh, here it comes, you know, and he's gonna seloquent, you know, Shakespeare, you know, you know, we just made fun of them all the time. But I do think that there are some bad habits there. And part of the bad habits is people looking at the performance piece of that and it's like God doesn't hear you if you know, if you wax eloquently. That's why he says like, no, no, God already knows everything. Just express it, you know, just just just go to God and prayer and express. And when you pray, don't do it publicly on the street corners like the Pharisees sometimes do, because again they do it for performance sake, and you have to do it, you know, silently, and God will reward you openly. So make sure that prayers are you and God thing. Yeah right, Although that doesn't mean you can't pray corporately or publicly. Oh. No, public prayers all throughout the Bible, yeah right. Even Jesus prayed out loud several times in front of the people. We used to have this thing in the youth group called see at the poll, remember that, And we go and gather around at public flag poles and public schools, and I remember, uh, you know, you just get the mix of everybody there. And I remember this girl. She just loved to have people talk about her prayers. And she used to pray daddy and she used to say daddy, and she kept on saying it over and over again, you know, and just talking impersonally. And I'm like, you know those sound like private things, you know, like go home and pray those things privately. Yeah. Sure, Well, I think that this is really the intent behind what Jesus saying. He said, don't don't always be looking for opportunities to pray out in public. I think most Christians the majority of their prayers are public prayers. Yes, right, we pray in a Bible study. Yeah, we pray for you know, thank the Lord for the food. You don't think most I think most Christians don't pray much. Oh that's basically the assumption that you don't think they pray every day. Most Christians say that they don't pray very much. Oh wow, yeah, you know. I guess you got to remind mer. So, So I pray with my I pray with my kids out loud, I pray at the dinner table out loud. I pray occasionally in a Bible study out loud. And for most Christians that's the extent of their prayers, right. And what God is saying is, hey, the public things Jesus prayed out loud, So that's not an issue. The issue is, I think what he's saying is what I want is a private relationship with you, not just this public performance. If it's just a public performance, that doesn't mean that much to me, because I don't mean enough to you that you come to me privately. So I have my public statements about my wife, I love my wife, whatever, but the most intimate things in our relationship are not public. And so God's. Inviting us and everybody's thankful for. Yes, God's inviting us into an intimacy with him, a connection or a deep soul leveled dependence and connection on him that can't be experienced just publicly praying, even if it's not a performance, that's a temptation. Even if it's not a performance, it's just something that we do. And when you say performance, for many of us, even saying grace is a performance, right, not you know, to be or not to be that's the question kind of performance, but rather just it's performative. We do it because that's what we always do, right, And that's what he's trying to get us away from through this entire sermon on the Mount, he's pulling us away from religion and into a relationship with him that changes how we live. Yeah, that's great, and that we'd intimacy that comparison with the wife in private, that's perfect because it's it sort of summarizes exactly what it meant about that girl. I wasn't making fun of her, No, I was saying sounds like that should be something private. Yeah, Bible says call him Abba father, but that's right. Yeah, that's right. So all right, Hey, that looks like our time. Great discussion and hopefully we'll see tomorrow on the Bible. Guys,