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Why We Pray: Matthew 6:9-13

By Steve Jeantet | May 20, 2007

Opening
This morning we begin a new series on prayer. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at a variety of different questions that arise about prayer. Does prayer work? How do I pray? What am I supposed to say? Those are all questions that come up. But there is one more question about prayer that comes before all of them. Why do we pray?

And that is what we are going to talk about this morning. Trust me on this, I’m not speaking this morning as someone who has prayer figured out. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that praying is really hard work. Even when I tell myself that I need to spend some time in prayer, I really struggle to actually do it. I know I should pray and even believe that the Bible commands me to pray, yet I still have a hard time actually doing it. I try and go into a room by myself, get down on my knees, bow my head and close my eyes. And yet, try as I might to create a place of solitude, my mind wanders. I find myself thinking about everything from a to-do list that never seems to get shorter to what we are having for dinner that night. For some of you, what you are having for dinner is on the to-do list, so you think double about it! Why pray when there is so much to be done?!?

With all that is going on, why should I possibly stop to pray? That is what we want to talk about this morning. This morning’s service is going to be a little different from normal. Instead of having all of our singing first, and then the sermon, we are going to move a little more fluidly through the service. Here’s how we are going to do it. Bruce already mentioned that throughout the service this morning, we are not going to say, “Amen.” That is because we really want this whole service to be a prayer to our God. So instead of one long sermon, we are going to pause along the way to practice that prayer point and focus on it with song. Our goal is this morning is more than to look at why the Bible tells us to pray, but to actually try and do it. So we will look at a reason to pray, and then try a different style of prayer that may be helpful to you as you try to pray on your own.

Why We Pray – The Lord’s Prayer
There are a lot of different passages in the Bible that we could look at about prayer. But there may be no better passage than the “Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray. And, in Matthew 6, this is what he taught them…

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.

Why We Pray Point 1: We pray because the One to whom we pray is worthy.
That simple prayer that Jesus taught his disciples offers us four different reasons we should pray. The first one is in the first line, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name.” We are to pray because God deserves it. He is worthy of our prayers. Hallowed is a ten-cent word that simply means, “honored.”

And why should we honor God? Because He is “our Father.” That term “Father” is talking about more than just a kid referring to his daddy. In the Bible, “Father” is a term of royalty. It denotes kingship. That’s why Jesus follows with, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is asking God the Father to extend reign perfectly over the earth the way that he does in heaven. Now, you dads out there know that this isn’t about you anymore when it says “Father.” Most of you are thinking that you aren’t even “king” of your own home, much less king of anything outside of it.

But here is why it is so important that we grasp this picture of God as the King. Because if He is the King, that means that we are not. You are not and neither am I. We are servants of the King. And yet our King is not a tyrant or a mean dictator. No, He is a gracious God who delights to hear from His servants. When we enter His presence, we do not do so demanded anything, but we honor the King. So there it is, the first reason that Jesus lays out in his prayer on why we are to pray: God is the King and we are his servants. He is worthy of our prayer.

Application 1: One Sentence Prayers
At Waypoint, we have said that we have three primary purposes that drive who we are. The first one is to “worship God.” That is about more than the songs that we sing. It is about honoring God because He is worthy. The way we pray is a great way for us to show God that we worship Him.

To practice adoring and worshiping God in our prayers, we are going to do something a little different. These are called “one sentence prayers.” I will start us off, and then I will open it up for any of you who would like to pray one sentence of thanksgiving or honoring to God.

“Father, you are the King. Thank you that you have allowed us to be your servants. We honor you this morning.”

[Open up to congregation, then Bruce leads into reflective singing]

Why We Pray Point 2: We pray because we are dependent.
I really love that picture as God being the King and we are His servants. I think that picture helps us understand the Bible and what it is teaching us about why we pray. But there is one implication of God being the King and me not being the king that is hard for me to swallow. Servants are dependent on their king. Me, I want to be sovereign and independent. I want to think that I can do it on my own. I like the idea of Frank Sinatra’s song, “I did it my way.” You can probably relate with me on that. We like the way that it makes us feel empowered and in control.

But the truth is, we are not in control. And we can’t do it alone. And that brings us to the second reason that Jesus lays out for why we are to pray. We pray because we are dependent. Jesus doesn’t leave our dependence upon God as a function of us being the servants and Him the King. No, in his model prayer, he actually calls us to express our dependence.

Look at verse 11 with me. “Give us today our daily bread.” This is really tough for me. It’s one thing for me to pray about the things that are out of my control, such as a relative who just got cancer. But Jesus wants us to be dependent upon God for everything, including the everyday. If you know where your next meal is coming from, you may, like me, struggle to express this type of radical dependence upon God. But even that next meal is a gift from God.
Application 2: Pastoral Prayer
Within our congregation, there are many needs. Some that we think that we can control and some that we know we can’t. For our application prayer, I encourage you to pray silently with me while I pray out loud. If there is something that you have been trying to control but you can’t, tell God that you depend on Him for His provision.

“Father, we remind ourselves again that You are the King and that we are not. We are absolutely dependent upon you for our next breath and our next step. We have tried to control so much in our lives, but we are merely servants. We thank you that you are in control when we have lost it.

God, we pray right now for family and friends that are sick. Our heart aches for them. But there is nothing we can do to heal their cancer or disease. We entrust them to your care. And we pray for those we know whose marriages are struggling. We ask for your help and grace upon those situations. Lord, we pray for our leaders. Our president, our governor and the whole of government every day is tasked with the tremendous job of leading our control. Give them wisdom and discernment to lead well. We pray for our military who every day puts their lives at risk to serve our country. We especially pray for the unit in Afghanistan that we have adopted as a church. We want more than to send them care packages, but we commit to praying for them as well. Watch over them please God. As Jesus taught us, we pray also for our daily bread. Provide for us each day Lord. Teach us how to depend on you more each day.”

[Bruce leads reflective singing]

Why We Pray Point 3: We pray because we are sinful and need forgiveness.
When I was in college, I worked at a computer company as a programmer. After class, I would get into my car and race the 15 minutes to the office. One day, I was especially in a hurry as there was a project that I was working on that was nearing its due date and I was already running a little late. So I’m driving down the road when I come to a light. As I’m sitting at the light, I see to my left that there is an ambulance coming with its siren on and lights flashing. It’s still a ways off, but it is headed right for the intersection. My light turns green and I start to go. But as I pass through the intersection, my eye is glued to the rear view mirror, just hoping the ambulance is headed the other direction. No, sure enough, it turns behind me and I know that I am going to have to pull over. I do and let the ambulance pass me, but not without me being quite angry. I was in a hurry and this was just slowing me down. Why couldn’t it have turned another direction?

But then, a mile down the road, I see something on my left. The hospital. Of course the ambulance turned the same direction as I was headed right by the hospital. As soon as I saw that, God convicted me of my selfishness. As if me getting to the office two minutes faster was that important in the big scheme of things. It wasn’t. I was so concerned about what I had going on, that I had no compassion for the person in that ambulance who was on their way to the hospital. Immediately, I confessed that and asked forgiveness. And I promised God that any time I see an ambulance, I will pray for it and the passenger.

I think that story highlights reinforces the third reason Jesus highlights for why we are to pray. We pray because we are sinful and need forgiveness. In his model prayer, Jesus says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We pray because we are selfish and self-consumed. When we sin, we, the servants, are telling the King that He is not good enough and that we don’t need him. That is the ultimate offense. So we pray to confess that.

And one of the great promises of the Scriptures is this – God loves to forgive! He sent Jesus to pay the price for your sin so that He could forgive you. That is amazing. Listen to these words from 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We are to pray because we are messed up, sinful people and prayer is the way God has offered us to confess those sins and ask forgiveness.

Application 3: Silent Confession
If you are like me, confessing sin is tough. But we all know that we have messed up. Right now, as our application prayer, let’s have a time of silent prayer. In your heart, tell God that you are sorry. Maybe there is something specific you need to confess that you’ve been holding on to for a long time. Confess that sin and hold to the promise that He will forgive you.

[Bruce leads reflective singing]

Why We Pray Point 4: We pray because we have an enemy that is trying to destroy us.
And now we come to the fourth reason Jesus tells us that we are to pray. We pray because we have an enemy that is trying to destroy us. Listen to verse 13, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We have an enemy that wants to take us down. Now, I don’t know about you, but I sin enough on my own. I don’t need any help. That enemy wants to destroy us and we need God’s help and protection.

We have all seen the cartoons where the guy is trying whether or not to do something. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this little devil appears on one shoulder and a little angel appears on the other shoulder. They are both trying to persuade the guy to follow them. Honestly, that’s not really all that far off. We have an enemy who is opportunistic – the Bible describes him as a lion always on the prowl for his next victim. We need to pray because we won’t be able to do it on our own. When we pray like this, we ask God for his strength to resist temptation and to obey.

Application 4: Pray Scripture
When the enemy confronted Jesus, he quoted Scripture to refute Satan. That strategy is a great idea for us as well. Learn the Bible and hold to its promises in the midst of temptation. For our application prayer, I have asked a few different people to pray Bible verses that can be helpful to us as we ask for God to help us fight the enemy.

Deuteronomy 31:8 – “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

James 1:12 – “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Conclusion
Prayer is really hard work. But God wants us to do it to acknowledge that He is the King and worthy of our prayers, to show our dependence upon him, to confess our sins and receive forgiveness and to resist the evil one. And here is the great promise of Scripture regarding prayer. God will hear your prayers! Listen to these words from Revelation 5:8, “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” When we pray, our prayers rise as a fragrant aroma to God. He is pleased to receive our prayers and we can trust that He is the King and will direct us for our good and for His glory.

Topics: Matthew |

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