The Sermon on the Mount – Personal Prayer

This week’s passage: Matthew 6:5-15

Why Pray?

The world believes that Christians use prayer to get what they want in life. This viewpoint is spread by many “preachers” who profess to be teaching God’s Word, telling their congregations that all they must do is give to the church and ask God to return the favor. These evil deceivers will belittle congregants who are not healed from their cancer, or can’t afford food for their families, telling them they just are not faithful enough to earn God’s grace. This method coined the “Prosperity Gospel” does NOT follow God’s Word and prays on people’s vulnerabilities, often bringing riches to the ones running the so-called church and perpetuating the secular view that the church is self-centered and greedy.

But the world is missing the point, prayer is not a way for us to get what we want, but a way to seek God’s will for us. As with children learning to talk – the prayer of new believers (or those who don’t pray regularly) is hesitant and clumsy, but as the Holy Spirit begins to move within our heart’s, prayer becomes a one-on-one conversation with God. If you struggle with prayer time, don’t despair, even the disciples, after traveling with Christ and hearing Him pray, felt the need to ask Him how to pray. I’m so glad they did because His response to them gives you and I a foundation for receiving the will of God in our lives.

“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”” (Luke 11:1 ESV)

I am always blessed with a better understanding of God’s love for us and how He uses scripture to guide us when I dedicate my study to the subject of prayer.

It’s Between You and God

Having addressed public prayer in Matthew 6:5, Jesus tells us that prayer is most powerful when it is a private and intimate conversation between us and God, that there is no need for chanting “vain repetitions” or using many words because God knows our needs better than we do.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:6-8 NKJV)

Jesus provides a model prayer that we can use verbatim if said with a contrite and humble heart, but it is very important that we do not treat this prayer as though it holds power over God by simply reciting it by mindlessly. Memorizing and understanding “The Lord’s Prayer” is a great way to begin to build good prayer habits and intentions that show reverence to God in your own prayer time.

Prayer begins with an acknowledgment of who God is and a declaration that, no matter what we are bringing before Him, we understand that His will applied to our situation is always better for us than the solution we have in mind.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10 NKJV)

To develop our prayer skills, we can find other words that acknowledge God. For example, in Psalm 136 every verse provides a way to praise Him, we could apply any of them to the opening of our prayer; “Heavenly Father, You alone do great wonders! I thank you that Your will is good.” (v.4). Applying any of God’s attributes is another way to acknowledge who He is. During my Bible studies I often write down verses for the purpose of working them into my prayer because I believe that referring to scripture in our prayer keeps us grounded in the Word, and we never run out of ways to praise Him.

More than food, “daily bread” is a reference to daily provision of all our needs. This supplication reminds us that we can trust God to provide and helps us not to worry about how we will survive tomorrow (remember last week’s study).

“Give us this day our daily bread,” (Matthew 6:11 NKJV)

You can begin to ask God to address specific issues in the lives of your family and friends or in your own life. It is perfectly appropriate to ask for specific outcomes, “please heal Mom’s cancer”, or “provide a way to fix my car” for example – but remember, we have already asked that HIS will be done, so we need to be listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirt so that we might learn His will for that situation. If you don’t currently have issues to bring before God, using the simple request in verse 6:11 is perfectly fine because God KNOWS already what we need, even when we don’t!

“and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:12-13 NKJV)

The word “debts” here is also “trespasses”. When we do something that goes against God’s commandments, it weighs on us, the Holy Spirit convicts of specific sin, prayer is your chance to bring it before Him for forgiveness. We must not leave the issue of sin unattended in our prayer. The Bible tells us that God does not tempt us (James 1:13), the word temptation in this verse is to test or trial. When confessing a specific sin this can be tied directly to that sin. It may look something like; “Father please forgive me for starting that gossip session today, would you show me more meaningful ways to connect with people? Ways that glorify You?”

The final sentence in verse 13 wraps up the prayer with more praise and acknowledgement that the kingdom, power, and glory are all His.

The remaining verses in this section on prayer circle back to “…as we also have forgiven our debtors.” In verse 12. They remind us how important it is that we solve the issues we may have with one another before we come to the Lord with our own. How can we expect God to forgive us for our many sins when we cannot forgive one another? Scripture tells us we can’t.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV)

There are times when I am so overcome by emotion during prayer that I cannot speak, and in these moments, I can feel the presence of God and am comforted by the knowledge that He knows. As we mature in Christ, our prayer time is less and less about a list of things we want and more about showing reverence and thankfulness to God who provides us with a heart that longs after His will in all things. This is why we are told that whatever we ask in His name, He will provide (John 14:13) because when we ask in His name, the things we want glorify Him!

How can we apply this passage to the growth of our “salt and light”?

• Set aside a week at least twice per year to focus your bible study on prayer. Here are some resources to help get you started.
• Read Matthew 6:5-15 and study the cross references for each verse.
• Read a commentary or study bible to see what it has to say about some of the verses you come across​.
• Article: Why Pray – Got Questions.org.
• Spend a moment before starting your prayer to make a list of requests, yours as well as those for friends and family, or write down your entire prayer on occasion.

If you see other ways to apply this Word in your life, feel free to share in the comments.