6:5-15 | How to Pray

Preparing Our Minds for Prayer

Going to God in Hope

1. Do not heap up empty phrases

   1. Exemplified in the rosary beads and liturgy

   2. We fall into the same trap with our customary prayers

   3. Prayer should never be mechanical or empty of meaning

2. God does no value prayers with many words | Vs. 7

   1. It is a prayer that values quantity over quality

      1. Assumes that we need to be loud and persistent enough to inform God about something he might be unaware of

      2. It is the difference between a child asking or throwing a tantrum

   2. Exemplified in 1 Kings 18:25-29, 36-38

3. He already knows all of your needs | Vs. 8

   1. God knows you better than you know yourself

   2. He is answering your prayers before you've finished praying | Gen 24:12-15

   3. He is our Father in heaven

Approaching God as Our Father

1. Approach God our Father

   1. Someone who knows all about us and cares enough to do something

   2. We are not approaching a stingy miser of a god | Romans 8:14-15

   3. How did you approach your father for help?

2. Why pray if God knows? | We need to think about what prayer actually is

   1. Prayer is not the communication of information

   2. It is not a magic spell to get things from God | If I say enough of the right words I will get something from God

   3. It is an expression of our relationship with God as our father whom we depend upon

The Model Prayer

1. See how simple the Lord's prayer is

   1. No need to impress God with eloquence

   2. Don't feel the need to write a psalm

   3. A temptation when we lead public prayer

2. The prayer is always is always plural, never singular

   1. Vv. 9, 11, 12, 13

   2. We need to pray for more than ourselves

Intimacy and Respect

1. God is prioritized

   1. The prayer divides nicely in half, with our needs last

   2. Before us goes his name, his kingdom, and his will

   3. Our top priority is not our name, but God's

2. Our prayers must be filled with reverence | Hallowed be your name

   1. We must not treat God casually or with contempt

   2. We are not the spoiled kids who beg for money at every instance

3. In all our prayers we must remember that God's will is above all else

   1. Prayers are not lists of demands

   2. When God answers our prayer differently we must accept that

Pray for Our Needs

1. Our daily bread

   1. Pray for need, not for greed

   2. Reflects a daily dependence on God

   3. Reflects an attitude of contentment with what God gives us

2. Forgive us

   1. Our sins are only forgiven when we forgive others | vv. 14-15

   2. We are praying for restored relationships

3. Deliver us from evil

   1. Not "don't allow us to be tempted"

   2. Give us strength to resist temptation - Don't abandon us to temptation

4. Disputed verse | "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen"

   1. Not found in the earlier manuscripts

   2. Not quoted by the early church fathers

   3. Is still an appropriate end, and scriptural

   4. This is what we must remember in every prayer - everything is God's and he can do whatever he wills

Conclusion

1. Prayer is worth doing

   1. The prayer of righteous man avails much

   2. God wants to help us

2. Prayer should be personal

   1. Never mechanical

   2. Never demanding

3. Focus on what we are praying for

   1. The furtherance of God's name and kingdom

   2. Our continued dependence on him

   3. A growing relationship with God