Rev. David Holwick    ZB
First Baptist Church    
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 8, 1996
                                                        Matthew 6:5-8
                             
                                BABBLING
                                ========

  I. Prayer, the basic Christian devotion.
      A. Taught as young kids.
          1) Bedtime and meals.
          2) Doesn't quite come naturally.
              a) My boys resist praying with me.
              b) When I pray, what thoughts are going through your mind?

      B. Prayer is a mysterious thing.
          1) Children may take prayer for granted, but adults should not.

             In 1952 a doctoral student at Princeton University could
                not figure out what his research should focus on.
             It seemed like every good topic had already been done.
             So he asked a visiting lecturer, "What is there left in
                 the world for original dissertation research?"
             The visiting lecturer happened to be Albert Einstein, who
                told him,  "Find out about prayer.  Somebody must find
                   out about prayer."
                                                                    #2219
          2) Do you believe in prayer?
              a) Most Americans say they believe in it.
              b) We just don't do it as often as we imagine.

      C. Five reasons we don't pray, according to Richard Halverson:
          1) Unbelief.
              a) We don't think it really works.
              b) It's just something you have to endure in church.
          2) Indifference.
              a) We don't pray until a problem is huge.
          3) Priorities.
              a) Other things are more important to us.
          4) It is hard work.
          5) We are focused on this world.
              a) We limit our goals to what we expect here and now.
              b) The things of God do not mean much to us.          #3838

 II. The place of prayer in ancient Israel.
      A. Jews were solid on prayer, but almost solidified.
          1) Prayed three times a day.    (Daniel)
          2) Prayers had a rote quality.
          3) God was seen as distant, and prayers were basically
                homage.

      B. Prayer was important to Jesus.
          1) He taught about it.
          2) He practiced it.
              a) He prayed in ordinary language (Aramaic) not
                    more religious Hebrew.
              b) He prayed in public and private.
              c) He prayed for people, like Peter.
              d) It was part of his daily life.
          3) He gave warnings about abusing it.

III. Selfish prayer.                                         
      A. Jesus is against religion that draws attention to self.     6:5
          1) Bad to ask for anything?
          2) No.  Bad to focus on asking or needs.

      B. Public prayer.
          1) Some have taken it to mean there should be no prayer meetings.
              a) Wouldn't be a problem in Ledgewood - we have to force
                    people to pray out loud.  Especially the men!
                  1> Modesty, or a lack of value for prayer?
              b) Jesus is speaking of standard time of afternoon prayer.
                  1> Trumpet blows, people pray where they are.
                  2> Some draw attention to themselves.
                      A> Possible in any religious endeavor.

          2) Jesus not against public prayer, but human-centered prayer.
              a) TV prayers - everyone has eyes open, just speaking
                    "higher thoughts" to each other.
              b) Malcolm Boyd, "Are You Running With Me, Jesus?"
                  1> Prayer is just a personal pushup, no more.

      C. Prayer must be to a transcendent God.                       6:6
          1) Pray in secret, no gimmicks.  Just you and God.
              a) Jesus prayed much in public, but even more in private.
              b) He had long, nighttime vigils.
              c) How much do you pray when there's no audience?
          2) Theophane the Recluse wrote:
             "To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart.
              There you stand before the face of the Lord - ever
                 present, all seeing, within you."
              This kind of prayer is about seeking God, not getting
                 things from God."
          3) Hubert van Zeller wrote:

               "A lot of the trouble about prayer would disappear
                   if we only realized ...
                that we go to pray not because we love prayer, but
                   because we love God."
             The more we pray, the more God-conscious we become.
                                                                    #3484
 IV. Magical prayer.
      A. Jesus is also against prayer that seeks selfish ends.        6:7
          1) Prayer as a means to getting stuff.
          2) Manipulation is one way this is done.
              a) Multiply words.
              b) Use special phrases, or a certain place, etc.

      B. It is easy for prayer to become routine.
          1) (From David Heller's book on letters kids write to God)

             Dear God,
             I think of you in my prayers.
             Along with my mom and my dad, my sister Paula,
                my grandma, my two grandpas, my aunt Jennie,
                   my aunt Gloria, my uncle Sid, my uncle Jack
                      and my cousins Billy and Sherie.
             I spend at least three minutes on you every night!
                                     Love,
                                     Terry, age 8
                                                                  #2139
          2) St. Jude prayers.   (saint prayers)
              a) Nowhere in Bible do people pray to people.
              b) To the Father, in Jesus' name, through the Spirit.

          3) Lord's Prayer itself?
              a) Meant to be a model, not a recitation.

          4) Baptists and magical ideas.
              a) Multiplying people more than words.
              b) Prayer has power not because hundreds are praying for
                    same thing, but because we have a powerful God.

      C. Long prayers are not necessarily better.
          1) Nehemiah's "quickie."                           Nehemiah 2:4
          2) Also, Jesus on the cross.

      D. Don't get into a prayer rut.
          1) Experiment with different techniques.
              a) Read devotionals by spiritual giants.
              b) Psalms...
              c) Sing a spiritual song.
              d) Keep a journal of spiritual thoughts.

          2) Change scenery, do something special.
              a) Prayer vigil in church.
              b) Go off by yourself.
              c) Sometimes we need to plan time.

  V. God wants to answer our prayers.
      A. He is more willing to answer than we are to ask.             6:8

      B. God is willing, but we must know God's will.
          1) Promise is only for those who please God.
          2) Jesus emphasizes our relationship ("Father") with God.
          3) Do you have this relationship?

     During his first pastorate, Dr. Reuben Torrey had a woman who
        attended his church often but was not a member.
     When Torrey asked her about this fact she replied that she was not
        a member simply become she did not believe the Bible.
     Torrey said, "Why don't you believe the Bible?"
     She responded, "Because I have tried its promises and found them
        untrue."
     Torrey asked her to give one promise which she had found to be
        untrue.
     She said, "The promise that says that whatever things you desire
        when you pray, believe that you shall receive them and you
           shall have them.
     Once I prayed for something very earnestly, but I did not receive
        it.
     Isn't it true that his promise failed?"
     Torrey said, "No, not at all."

     "But doesn't it say that you shall receive whatever you ask for
        if you believe it?"
     Torrey agreed that it said something like that.
     But he said, "You first have to ask yourself if you are one of the
        'we's.'"
     She looked puzzled, so he asked again, "Are you one of the people
        to whom the promise is made?"
     "Isn't it made to every professing Christian?"
     Torrey said, "Certainly not!  God defines very clearly in his Word
        the ones to whom his promises to answer prayer are made."
     She said, "It does?"

     When she asked to see the verse, he took her to 1 John 3:22:
        "We have confidence before God and receive from him anything
           we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him."
     Torrey said, "The prayers that God answers are made by those
        believers in Jesus Christ who keep his commands and do those
           things that please him.
     Torrey said, "They are the 'we's.'  Do you keep his commandments?"
     The woman admitted that she did not.
     Eventually she came back to God and became one of the most active
        and useful members of his congregation.
                                                                    #3839

[for documentation of illustrations, download database at
       http://illust.holwick.com]