Praying

Who likes to read? What types of books do you like to read?

The books I like to read are those “How to” or biography books. I’ve never been big on fictions or any other kind of book because they offer me nothing - I'd rather watch a movie. “How to” or biography books give me directions on how to do something that I never knew how to do before. Biography books help me see the real person of someone I looked up too or admired. It is the True Hollywood Story of these people.

Today, we are going to hear from Jesus the “how to” of prayer. If I were to ask you to raise your hands if you know “how to” pray, would you raise your hand? You don’t need to, but I’d be curious to see who knows how to pray. Today, you will find out exactly “how to” pray.

Read Matthew 6:5-15

Two keys here:

1. Don’t be showy. Pray for the right reasons, not to put on a show
Why can’t we be showy? Isn’t it good to let others know how good we are at prayer or that we are fasting for a good reason? In v. 6-8, it says to go in a secret place to pray and don’t babble on in your public prayer, or even in your prayer time alone because God already knows what you are going to ask.

Is Jesus saying public prayer is bad? No, public prayer happens all the time. Jesus is criticizing the guy who prays forever about nothing, just to give off the image that he is such a good prayer.

Why should you pray in secret? Although it is great to pray in a public setting, it is also necessary to pray by yourself. It is important that you have that individual time with God in which you can be honest with Him and share your thoughts and concerns. It is also a chance for God to speak to you and reveal things to you then. If you don’t allow God a chance to speak to you, then you are missing out on some pretty important things he could desire to share with you.

Christ tells you how to pray
One thing that I have found out through time is that a lot of people do not know how to pray. Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you this…it is not rocket science. In fact, Christ has given us a diagram on how to pray.
- Give honor and glory to God (v. 9). Why do this? Because he is our creator and he is worthy of honor and glory
- Ask for God’s will to be done, not ours (v. 10). Why do this? We are selfish people aren’t we? I’m not saying this in a bad way, but we really do look out for ourselves in what we do, don’t we? Well, by praying that God’s will, not ours, be done, we are asking for his way, not our way be done. We are admitting that it is really he, not us in control and that we want to be apart of his way.
- Provide for us (v. 11). Why do this? Why not? Why wouldn’t you pray that He helps us and provide for us? He is the God of all and can do all.
- Forgive as God forgave you…if you don’t forgive, you will not be forgiven (v.12)
Once again, Christ is the model here. Christ says to forgive as He has forgiven us.
However, Christ says if you don’t forgive, you will not be forgiven! Imagine that. You will be forgiven as you forgive others. Important step here. How willing are you to forgive others?
- Help us resist temptation (v. 13). Why do this? Hey, believe it or not, there are things in this world that are not good for us, but look awful good by their appearance. Temptations are different for each person, but the results are the same…they often lead to consequences for your actions. Hey, but throwing up because you had too much to drink is fun…having to raise a child at a very young age is easy and what you really wanted when you decided to go for it all…having gained an additional 20 pounds because of your binge eating looks good. Christ is there, in the midst of it all ready to help (Hebrews 2:18)


As I tell you all this about how you should pray, I want you to know that this is not a magic formula, that you have got to pray these things in this order for it to work. However, what I will say is that this is a guide and a help for you in what you should pray for when you pray.

What is missing is that in prayer, there has got to be a time when you listen. A time that all you do is just sit there and give God a chance to talk to you. All prayer is a conversation between you and God. If you do all the talking, there isn’t much conversing going on. You have got to allow God to talk to you. It is only then that he will be able to help you.


Challenge

So, today, whether you are at home hanging out or when you are in bed trying to fall asleep, try praying as Christ modeled. Again, nothing showy, just a little heart to heart with God. He has given you an example, try just praying that for a while. Then, as you feel more comfortable, make it more personal. Why wouldn’t you?