Study Guide: "Praying Like Jesus, Part One"

Text: Matthew 6:5-13

OPEN:

I’ve always had heroes and my favorite books have been biographies.  I guess I’ve always appreciated someone you can look up to. The thing about heroes is that along with admiring them, we want to know as much as we can about them and imitate their lives as best we can.  There is no one I want to imitate more than Jesus Christ.  But if you choose to imitate Christ, want exactly is within my reach?

What am I able to imitate?  Actually, you and I are able to imitate the most important aspect of the life of Jesus—the way he prayed.

Prayer was the most important part of Christ’s life.

·   Jesus frequently drew away to quiet places away from anyone else in order to communicate with the   Father.  He prayed before every major decision. He uttered prayer as naturally as breathing.

Here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray.  Some call this “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Others term it the “model prayer.”  It seems to be both a literal prayer to learn and a model for putting prayer into our own words and experience.

Praying like Jesus is both the goal and the pattern of the Christ life.

I. PRAYER IS EXPECTED OF CHRIST-FOLLOWERS. (v.5a)

“And whenever you pray…”

Three times Jesus states, “And whenever you pray…”

1.    It would be unthinkable for believers not to pray.

II. PRAYER REQUIRES A PROPER ATTITUDE. (v. 6)

“your Father who is in secret will reward you …”

1.    Real prayer comes from the heart, not the head.

Elsewhere Jesus said:

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart.  For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

Prayer is a window to the human heart and mind.  The prayers we recite reveal more about us than about God.

Prayers need to be judged by their motives as much as their words.

·        Prayers motivated by anger, selfishness, or mistrust are not good models.

David, on one of his better days, prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

• This may be a prayer we should pray before we begin praying.  It acknowledges how easily we pray the wrong prayers for the wrong reasons.  David was asking God to teach him how to pray properly.

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1ff).

·        It was not as if the disciples had never prayed.  Devout Jews prayed the Shema twice a day and 18 other prayers throughout the day.

·        In asking Jesus to teach them to pray, they were seeking more than another ritual prayer.  They were asking about the proper attitude of prayer.

The proper attitude of prayer has nothing to do with whether or not we close our eyes, fall on our knees, lift our hands, or lay on our face.

It is not about finding the right words and the correct formula for addressing God.

The proper attitude of prayer is not a matter of posture or eloquence; it is a matter of humility and trust.

·        Do we recognize our utter dependence on God?  Do we trust God to faithfully meet our needs?

2.    Prayer is communion, not performance.

Beware the trap of praying to impress people rather than to communicate with God.

Jesus once told a story about two men who went to the Temple to pray.  One was essentially a deacon and a Sunday School teacher.  His prayer was similar to this: “Oh, God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, Omnipotent and Holy, thank Thee that thou hast created in me a pure heart, that thou has kept me from evil and blessed me above other men.  Thank Thee that thou hast allowed me to give both my spiritual wisdom and my significant contributions to the church.”

The second man was the ancient equivalent of a drug dealer and pimp.  He huddled in the back row of the balcony where he was hoping no one would notice him.  His head was bowed to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks.  His prayer was a simple, yet desperate cry: “God, please forgive me.”

Jesus concluded, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18)

III. THE PURPOSE OF PRAYER MAY SURPRISE YOU. (v. 8)

“your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

1.    If God is sovereign/all knowing, why does he want me to pray?

1)   Praying is more for me than it is for God.

Richard Foster: “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life.”

William Carey: “Prayer, secret, fervent, believing prayer—lies at the root of all personal godliness.”

• To pray is to change.

Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  “If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.  The closer we come to the heartbeat of God the more we see our need and the more we desire to be conformed to Christ.” (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 30)

·      God knows what I need before I ask; He knows my heart before I confess.  I am the one who needs to come clean; I am the one who needs to shed my pride by acknowledging my absolute dependence and denounce the lie of independence.

CLOSE:

Praying like Jesus is both the goal and the pattern of the Christ life.

Praying like Jesus cleanses our heart of self-righteousness and strips our motives of self-interest.

Praying like Jesus reminds us to whom we are speaking—prayer is not persuading an indifferent Lord, or manipulating an obstinate Master, or lobbying a reluctant Ruler, or pleading with a stingy Boss.

Praying like Jesus is climbing into the lap of a Parent who knows what we need before we ask.

Praying like Jesus makes me look, sound, and act like Jesus.

(Dr. Dane Fowlkes, pastor)

(photo from www.memorialparkchurch.org)