Summer on the Mount - Prayer: Matthew 6:5-13

Prayer - Matthew 6:5-13Pastor Alex KennedyJesus continues to teach as it relates to prayer. He begins by reminding us to not be hypocrites (a theater term for an actor or mask-wearer). First he warns us to not be like the Pharisees, who loved to show people how righteous they were. They focused on showing others how good they were at praying.
Although there is definitely a place for public prayer, it is about the heart and motive of praying publicly that matters. First, prayer should be "in secret". When Jesus says, "go into your room and shut the door", He is referring to the common store room in a home that has the "treasures" in it. The heart of prayer is to seek God. He is the treasure, and the purpose of "secret" prayer is to purify our motives in praying. Then, our public prayers will be an overflow of our personal prayers.
Secondly, Jesus speaks about the Gentiles (pagans) when He says, "do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do". In other words, think about what you are saying.
Martin Luther said, "By our praying...we are instructing ourselvesmore than we are Him."
Jesus goes on to teach us how to pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
This includes:

• The right mindset and heart
• Reminding ourselves
• Coming with humility and confidence

Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
To pray that His kingdom may come is to pray:

• Both that it may grow, as through the church's witness people submit to Jesus,
• and that soon it will be completed when Jesus returns in glory to take His power and reign.

In other words, it is our posture to yield and surrender to the character of God.
The rest of the Lord's Prayermoves from a vertical focusto a horizontal focus.Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.We should be dependent on God and trust Him for today. We must be careful to not take what He has given us and try to be self-reliant.We should remind ourselves daily of how much we have been forgiven for our lifetime of rebellion to a Holy God and then from a posture of humility forgive others that have wronged us.The Lord's Prayer can be prayed:

• hypocritically - obsessed with self-glory
• mechanically
• or both

True prayer is obsessed with God's glory!Questions to Consider:

1. How comfortable are you in praying with others out loud? Why?
2. How can you pray for Kingdom impact?
3. What areas do you need help in fighting against temptation?
4. Will you commit to pray the Lord's Prayer daily this week?
5. Will you pray for our mission teams that are serving in Peru, Kenya, Poland, and Charlotte?

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