Private prayer (Matthew 6:5-13)
There are many different kinds of prayer. There is church prayer, there are other forms of communal prayer, and there is personal prayer. A healthy Christian in a spiritual sense will engage in each option. Moreover, within personal prayer, there are planned occasions and there are various situations when what are termed arrow prayers are made – those are prayers like the one that Nehemiah prayed when he was put on the spot by the emperor about his sad face. Of course, there are also prayers that occur as we have communion or fellowship with God throughout the day.
Authority for personal prayer
Why do we have to engage in times personal prayer? Because Jesus told us to do it. Since that is the case, a failure to do so is disobedience. Of course, he would not ask his followers to engage in a pointless activity.
Why would Jesus want us to engage in personal prayer? The obvious answer is because it is connected to our spiritual good. It is through prayer that we receive grace from heaven. Without personal prayer, there will be no progress in our spirituality. Prayer is an expression of trust in Jesus and of love to God. It is a way by which we can express our spiritual desires. And we can pray about issues we could not mention in public.
Arranging for personal prayer
We can see from the instructions of Jesus that a suitable place for personal prayer must be private. It has to be a meeting between an individual and God.
What is the equivalent today of shutting the door? One would be leaving a mobile phone in another room and putting it on silent. Similarly, if we are serious about personal prayer, we will ensure that we will not be interrupted, even if it means getting up early in the morning. God kindly allows us to choose the time and place, but he requires us to be sensible and spiritual about it.
Jesus even indicates that no one else will know about our times of personal prayer apart from the Father. The term ‘secret’ points to this aspect of things. In Psalm 90, we are informed that the secret place of the Most High is a place of security and comfort – the Lord is like a shade that protects from the heat of the day.
What is the equivalent today of shutting the door? One would be leaving a mobile phone in another room and putting it on silent. Similarly, if we are serious about personal prayer, we will ensure that we will not be interrupted, even if it means getting up early in the morning. God kindly allows us to choose the time and place, but he requires us to be sensible and spiritual about it.
Jesus even indicates that no one else will know about our times of personal prayer apart from the Father. The term ‘secret’ points to this aspect of things. In Psalm 90, we are informed that the secret place of the Most High is a place of security and comfort – the Lord is like a shade that protects from the heat of the day.
Assistance for personal prayer
God knows that we need motivations to pray. So, in order to help us, he has given to us several aids. The first aid is divine promises, of which there are many in the Bible. One set of promises is found elsewhere in this sermon when Jesus says: ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!’ (Matt. 7:7-10).
The second aid is the Holy Spirit, and he can guide our thoughts regarding what we pray for, bringing people and situations before our minds, and even helping us when we don’t know what to say. Paul reminds us in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit groans within our hearts when all we can in a situation is groan. We should be encouraged when we have that experience because it is a divine experience.
A third aid is found in the many examples in the Bible of people who prayed and received answers. Abraham prayed about Sodom, Hagar prayed about her abandonment, Moses interceded for the Israelites, Job prayed about his children, the psalms are full of prayers, Paul regularly provides details of his prayers for different churches. There are numerous others whose prayer stories are described in the Bible.
Connected to the third aid, but not as binding as it, are the many examples from church history and Christian biography of people who prayed. Most people have heard of George Muller. There is also the amazing account by John Paton of the daily prayers of his father as he literally went into a small room in order to pray.
The second aid is the Holy Spirit, and he can guide our thoughts regarding what we pray for, bringing people and situations before our minds, and even helping us when we don’t know what to say. Paul reminds us in Romans 8 that the Holy Spirit groans within our hearts when all we can in a situation is groan. We should be encouraged when we have that experience because it is a divine experience.
A third aid is found in the many examples in the Bible of people who prayed and received answers. Abraham prayed about Sodom, Hagar prayed about her abandonment, Moses interceded for the Israelites, Job prayed about his children, the psalms are full of prayers, Paul regularly provides details of his prayers for different churches. There are numerous others whose prayer stories are described in the Bible.
Connected to the third aid, but not as binding as it, are the many examples from church history and Christian biography of people who prayed. Most people have heard of George Muller. There is also the amazing account by John Paton of the daily prayers of his father as he literally went into a small room in order to pray.
Approach to personal praying
What is required of us before we engage in personal prayer? The answer is we should think about God. In contrast, the Gentiles thought about what they would say and they imagined that they could use a lot of words and so cause God to answer their prayers. In contrast, Jesus says that we should recognise who God is. Jesus points out that the Father already knows what we need.
This means that answers from God will always be what we need and not what we want. We may get lots of things in providence that we want, but we cannot say that they are always answers to prayer. God gives us what he knows we need. Sometimes this means that he will give more than we ask because we don’t realise how much we need. At other times we will get less than we asked for because God knows that we don’t need them.
This means that answers from God will always be what we need and not what we want. We may get lots of things in providence that we want, but we cannot say that they are always answers to prayer. God gives us what he knows we need. Sometimes this means that he will give more than we ask because we don’t realise how much we need. At other times we will get less than we asked for because God knows that we don’t need them.
Aspects of personal prayer
Jesus links the Lord’s Prayer with personal prayer here in Matthew 6. This does not mean that it can only be used in private prayer, but his words about prayer indicate that he does want his disciples to model their personal prayers on this one, not in a literal sense, but as a guide.
As we look at the Lord’s Prayer, we can observe that the petitioner should be aware of five persons. He should think of God, of himself, of other people, of believers and of the devil. Thinking of God and himself is obvious. Other people can be seen in the petition about kingdom growth, believers are seen in the plural pronoun ‘our’, and the devil is included in the petition about deliverance from evil. It is not hard to see how those five features should be in our prayers.
As we look at the Lord’s Prayer, we can observe that the petitioner should be aware of five persons. He should think of God, of himself, of other people, of believers and of the devil. Thinking of God and himself is obvious. Other people can be seen in the petition about kingdom growth, believers are seen in the plural pronoun ‘our’, and the devil is included in the petition about deliverance from evil. It is not hard to see how those five features should be in our prayers.
Adoration in personal prayer
The first statement of the prayer is one of adoration, of worship. Worship can be made complicated, but here we can see that it can be stated very simply. We worship God for who he is, where he is, and what he deserves.
Who is he? He is the Father, which is a reminder that he has a great plan to have a worldwide family. Each time we speak to him, we do so as members of a family that has increased in number.
Where is God? He is in heaven, which is a reminder that he is exalted far above us. Heaven is his dwelling-place, his palace, his throne room, the place where there are no defects caused by sin. We have no real concept of the atmosphere of heaven except to say that we know it is beautiful and sinless. It is God’s home until the new heavens and new earth come when he will dwell there with his people. Although he is depicting in Revelation 21 and 22 as coming down into the eternal city the reality is that the city or the new earth, whichever we choose, has become like heaven.
What does he deserve? Because he is glorious, he deserves to be recognised as such by his creatures. This is the life of heaven for the creatures that live there because they continually discover the splendour of the holiness of God. It should be the life on earth as well, but sadly we know that is not the case. But we pray for his recognition of his glory to increase.
Who is he? He is the Father, which is a reminder that he has a great plan to have a worldwide family. Each time we speak to him, we do so as members of a family that has increased in number.
Where is God? He is in heaven, which is a reminder that he is exalted far above us. Heaven is his dwelling-place, his palace, his throne room, the place where there are no defects caused by sin. We have no real concept of the atmosphere of heaven except to say that we know it is beautiful and sinless. It is God’s home until the new heavens and new earth come when he will dwell there with his people. Although he is depicting in Revelation 21 and 22 as coming down into the eternal city the reality is that the city or the new earth, whichever we choose, has become like heaven.
What does he deserve? Because he is glorious, he deserves to be recognised as such by his creatures. This is the life of heaven for the creatures that live there because they continually discover the splendour of the holiness of God. It should be the life on earth as well, but sadly we know that is not the case. But we pray for his recognition of his glory to increase.
Anticipation of gospel success
We are told by Jesus to pray for God’s kingdom to come. This does not mean that his kingdom is not here already, but it does mean that it is not here in its fullness yet. Therefore, there is room for growth, and the way it grows is through sinners being converted through the gospel. When that happens, they start to obey God’s instructions and therefore in their cases his will is done on earth more and more. One day, it will mark life in the new heavens and new earth when the number that no one can count, along with the holy angels, will do God’s will perfectly.
Awareness of needs
Jesus then instructs his people to use two brief petitions related to their needs. One is about a practical need and the other is about a spiritual need, and no doubt they represent the various petitions that could be included in our prayers. The practical one is for daily bread and the other is for forgiveness, and we can easily see why both of them are continuous features. There is also a hint that they are communal because we share our bread (and other temporal blessings) and we forgive one another. So we can even see in these two petitions expressions of brotherly love.
Alertness in spiritual living
Jesus reminds his disciples that they should always bear in mind that they have a spiritual enemy, and it is sadly obvious from some of their experiences later on that they forgot about the threat he poses to the followers of Jesus. Sometimes he goes about like a roaring lion, at other times he appears as an angel of light. He is audacious because he tried to tempt Jesus. He is cruel because he attempts to destroy. He is crafty and is more experienced now that ever before. His temptations will be geared to suit who we are and where we are, and we need to be alert to that all the time. The best way to deal with his temptations is by prayer to God for deliverance from the temptations. Of course, if his people fall, the Lord will deliver them from there, but it is better to be delivered from temptations rather than being delivered from the consequences of listening to the tempter.
Admonition for private prayer
The Saviour then reminds his disciples that it is not possible to pray with an unforgiving heart. Those who pray to the Father should be like the Father in the way that he delights to forgive those who have offended him. An attitude of forgiveness enjoyed and bestowed must permeate our prayers.
Applications
Jesus says nothing here about the length of time that he expects his people to pray. After all, one could spend a lot of time praying in the wrong way. Instead, he wants them to pray in the manner that he taught his first disciples. So if we can pray a long time, be thankful, but don’t look down on those who don’t if they pray for what Jesus told them to pray.
From this prayer we can deduce that the majority of our petitions should be about spiritual things. Only one of the petitions focuses on practical needs. That does not mean that we cannot mention such needs, but it does indicate that spiritual concerns should be our major concern.
Lastly, this prayer surely highlights the simplicity and directness of prayer. We know that Jesus was the master teacher, that he always knew how to say things best. We see another example of his ability in the straightforwardness of his instructions. We should thank him for his instructions and ask him to teach us how to pray.
From this prayer we can deduce that the majority of our petitions should be about spiritual things. Only one of the petitions focuses on practical needs. That does not mean that we cannot mention such needs, but it does indicate that spiritual concerns should be our major concern.
Lastly, this prayer surely highlights the simplicity and directness of prayer. We know that Jesus was the master teacher, that he always knew how to say things best. We see another example of his ability in the straightforwardness of his instructions. We should thank him for his instructions and ask him to teach us how to pray.