Matthew 6.5-6
Prayer has become something that I really enjoy. My morning prayers are a time with God that I look forward to. Each day is peppered with short conversations with the Father. A brief time of prayer is a part of my bedtime ritual. And just as my prayer life has grown in the past, I am confident that it will continue to grow in the future. In all of this the Father has been very good to me. My growing joy in prayer is because of His blessing. And yet, I know that there are too many Christians who struggle when it comes to prayer. It is for them a frustration and not a joy. So, this morning I am going to talk about prayer. It is my hope that this will encourage you all – both those of you who are frustrated with your prayers and those who aren't – so that you can enjoy the Father more.
My focus is going to be quite narrow. The sermon is actually about one word: reward. That's because this is what the is text is about: reward. Jesus said that the hypocrites who pray to be seen have received their reward. What's this about? Let's start by considering this idea of reward. It's not complicated. If you do 'A' then you'll get 'B'. If you satisfy some condition, you will enjoy a benefit. A reward is intended to motivate people to pursue some particular behavior. I remember one particular situation when I offered a reward to one of my children. We were at a Sears to have the kids pictures taken. There were only four at the time so that gives you a sense of how young they were. Things were backed up at the photo studio, and one of the kids was having a hard time waiting. She was beginning to come apart so I picked her up and told her, 'Do you remember the candy that you saw downstairs? If you behave well, I'll buy you some when we leave.' She held together and on the way out she got her reward. If you do 'A', then you'll get 'B'. Reward.
As with everything else in creation, this is a good thing that can be all twisted up and used in a completely wrong way. So, we find Jesus describing some of the people of His day. They were applying this notion of reward to their prayers. They were doing 'A' in the hope of getting 'B'. But they were doing it all wrong. He said, 'For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners...' That's 'A'. They were working for a reward and, as a result, had received it. They got 'B'. But what is this reward? Jesus tells us. '... that they may be seen by others.' The reward they were working toward was getting noticed. And they received their reward. But why was this so important to them? What was going on in their hearts? What did they hope to get out of being seen? They would get a reputation. They would be considered pious. 'Oh, he must be really religious. Look at him pray.' This is done by hypocrites to reinforce their opinion of themselves as being one of 'The Righteous'. This is basic to understanding these hypocrites. They tell themselves, 'I am Righteous. Everyone agrees. So, even God must be impressed with me.' This is why Jesus said to the Pharisees, 'I did not come to call 'The Righteous', but sinners to repentance.' It is this sense of being Righteous that these hypocrites are seeking when they pray. It's the same reward they expect when they give alms to the poor and when they fast, things that Jesus also talks about in this chapter. So, do you see why Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.' They wanted to be known as Righteous so that they could assure themselves that they really are Righteous. And that's what they received. They were known as Righteous. But they forgot Isaiah's warning. 'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ...' They worked for a particular reward, and they were able to gain what they were working for. But it didn't provide the benefit that they were expecting. And right now, those who did not later repent and come to Jesus understand with utter clarity the foolishness of their choice.
So, Jesus warns His disciples. 'Don't be like them!' And then, He gives the alternative. 'But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.' The first thing to notice is that Jesus is not opposed to the use of rewards. In fact, He promises a reward to those who pray, that is those who pray properly. The wise use of rewards is biblical. And that makes sense. We pursue a goal, investing precious resources of time and energy because we believe that something good will result. We believe that our efforts will be rewarded. This is how we've been created, and that's how this universe works. As we've seen, this dynamic, like everything else, can be twisted by sin. But it still makes sense that Jesus uses the notion of rewards to encourage prayer. Investing time and energy in prayer is worth the effort. There will be a reward. Jesus says so.
This is quite helpful because it explains some things and points the way to the solution to some significant problems. So, the Christian who has not established the habit of daily prayer has a reason for his choice. Simply put, he does not believe that the effort required will yield an acceptable reward. So, he invests his resources – his time and energy – elsewhere because he things that those other activities will result in a reward that is worth the effort. So, to put it bluntly, this Christian doesn't believe Jesus when He says, 'If you pray, the Father will make it worth your while.' The lack of the discipline of prayer is simply an expression of the sin of unbelief. And that is actually very helpful. For one thing, it shows the seriousness of a lack of prayer. Calling Jesus a liar is not a safe thing to do. But this also points to a solution to this problem. As always, the solution for the sin of unbelief is repentance and faith. Admit the evil of what you have done, resolve to turn from it with the Spirit's help, and then come to Jesus for forgiveness and change. So, if you've given in to unbelief in this area, if you're not working at the discipline of daily prayer, you need to repent.
I'm going to speak to one particular group now. I'm going to speak you kids, and I'll tell you why. You might think that this thing about the discipline of daily prayer is just an adult thing so you don't have to concern yourself with it. It's not. It's a disciple thing. So, if you haven't established the habit of daily prayer, you need to. It may be that you need to repent of unbelief, or it may be that you just have never even thought about this. In either case, you need to begin to work on this today. There needs to be a time in every day that you set apart to talk to God. You fathers need to help your children in this making sure that this habit is being established.
Now, let me ask a question. When you pray, what is the reward that you are hoping for? You invest precious resources pray. What do you want in return? What is the reward? The hypocrites prayed because they believed that having a reputation as 'The Righteous' was a worthy reward. When you pray you also aim at some reward. What is it? I raise this question because what makes your prayers good or bad, right or wrong, is what you're aiming at. We are all tempted – and unfortunately we too often fall for this – to pray for things that feed our idols. Each week, I pray that God would bless my sermon so that it would make sense and be helpful to you. Is that good or bad? Well, it depends. Why do I want God to bless in this way? What is my heart aiming at when I pray for that? What's the reward that I desire? If I ask God to bless my sermons so that you would be impressed with me as a preacher, then the reward that my heart is aiming at is that my ego gets stroked. Being liked is considered by many a very worthy reward. Would Jesus agree with that? Do you see that it's not so much what we pray for but why we are praying for it? Jesus has nothing to say about what these hypocrites were praying about. It was all about why they were praying.
We need to admit that too many of our prayers are about the wrong goal. We want God to give us a life that is comfortable, the kind of life that will make us feel good. And so, we ask for a life that is not too difficult, with problems that are limited to things we can handle, kids that turn out well, where all the bills are paid and we end up with enough to retire on. And when something bad happens, something that isn't included in our description of a good life, we pray that it gets fixed real soon so that life can return to its normal comfort level. Is that the reward that Jesus promised? Is that why Jesus encouraged us to pray? No. The aim of our prayers is to be something entirely different from all of that. The central goal of our prayers is to know the Father, to rejoice in the Son and to be filled with the Spirit. So, from David: 'You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, O Lord, do I seek."' From Isaiah: 'Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near...' From Jesus: 'Seek first the kingdom of God...' The Bible is clear. Our chief goal is to seek our God and the advance His kingdom. True life is found in enjoying the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Does this mean that it is wrong to pray to be able to pay the bills or for kids who turn out well or any of those sorts of things? Absolutely not, as long as we pray for them in such a way that granting our requests leads to knowing our God better and advancing His kingdom further. You need to be careful. You need to pray wisely. The Pharisees prayed but only as hypocrites. They did not receive the Father's reward. The reward that they did seek out and actually received ultimately wasn't worth the effort. The target of our prayers is knowing God, Father, Son and Spirit, and being blessed with a sense of His closeness, a closeness that overflows from our lives so that He will look good to a watching world.
One last thought, and it's very important that you see this. Jesus makes a promise: 'your Father ... will reward you.' If you leave here with the thought, 'I've got to work at this prayer thing. I've got to get it right so that I will gain the reward' and then you go to your favorite method of problem solving: being better organized, trying harder, getting up earlier, or whatever – what is that? It's salvation by works. It's telling yourself, 'I will gain a good relationship with God because of the things that I do, things like praying the right way.' Where's the Gospel in that? Praying well is a matter of grace. The Father's reward – which includes a growing and lively prayer life – is something He gives freely. We do not try to live in such a way so that we then can assume that God will have to bless. 'I'm so Righteous (look at how I pray) that God has to be pleased with me. Now I'll be blessed!' That's the way a Pharisee thinks. We do not come to the Father to pry some blessing from His stingy and demanding hands, confident of success because of things that we've done. We come with nothing; nothing except Jesus. We offer our requests to a Father who loves His children. And He loves His children simply because of Jesus. And the heart of our requests is this: 'Father, what I want more than anything is You. Bless me, Father, with a growing sense of your nearness to me. I ask this so that as I enjoy You people will notice and will want to join me in knowing You.' These are not magic words to repeat. They are to be the attitude of our hearts which is itself something that we ask the Father for. And those who pray like this will be rewarded.
For some of you, this sermon is intended by Spirit as an encouragement as you work at the discipline of prayer. Persisting in this is hard, and the evil one throws up all kinds of obstacles. You find yourself, at times, quite discouraged. But remember Jesus' promise. There is a reward. The Father will make it worth all the effort you invest. Take heart and continue the battle, looking to Jesus for the strength to do that. For others of you this sermon is a warning. The Spirit has pointed out your sin of unbelief. You are not working at the discipline of prayer. You need to repent of your sin. And to encourage you in this I would remind you of the promise. There is a reward. Jesus says so. Will you believe Him?
Prayer has become something that I really enjoy. My morning prayers are a time with God that I look forward to. Each day is peppered with short conversations with the Father. A brief time of prayer is a part of my bedtime ritual. And just as my prayer life has grown in the past, I am confident that it will continue to grow in the future. In all of this the Father has been very good to me. My growing joy in prayer is because of His blessing. And yet, I know that there are too many Christians who struggle when it comes to prayer. It is for them a frustration and not a joy. So, this morning I am going to talk about prayer. It is my hope that this will encourage you all – both those of you who are frustrated with your prayers and those who aren't – so that you can enjoy the Father more.
My focus is going to be quite narrow. The sermon is actually about one word: reward. That's because this is what the is text is about: reward. Jesus said that the hypocrites who pray to be seen have received their reward. What's this about? Let's start by considering this idea of reward. It's not complicated. If you do 'A' then you'll get 'B'. If you satisfy some condition, you will enjoy a benefit. A reward is intended to motivate people to pursue some particular behavior. I remember one particular situation when I offered a reward to one of my children. We were at a Sears to have the kids pictures taken. There were only four at the time so that gives you a sense of how young they were. Things were backed up at the photo studio, and one of the kids was having a hard time waiting. She was beginning to come apart so I picked her up and told her, 'Do you remember the candy that you saw downstairs? If you behave well, I'll buy you some when we leave.' She held together and on the way out she got her reward. If you do 'A', then you'll get 'B'. Reward.
As with everything else in creation, this is a good thing that can be all twisted up and used in a completely wrong way. So, we find Jesus describing some of the people of His day. They were applying this notion of reward to their prayers. They were doing 'A' in the hope of getting 'B'. But they were doing it all wrong. He said, 'For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners...' That's 'A'. They were working for a reward and, as a result, had received it. They got 'B'. But what is this reward? Jesus tells us. '... that they may be seen by others.' The reward they were working toward was getting noticed. And they received their reward. But why was this so important to them? What was going on in their hearts? What did they hope to get out of being seen? They would get a reputation. They would be considered pious. 'Oh, he must be really religious. Look at him pray.' This is done by hypocrites to reinforce their opinion of themselves as being one of 'The Righteous'. This is basic to understanding these hypocrites. They tell themselves, 'I am Righteous. Everyone agrees. So, even God must be impressed with me.' This is why Jesus said to the Pharisees, 'I did not come to call 'The Righteous', but sinners to repentance.' It is this sense of being Righteous that these hypocrites are seeking when they pray. It's the same reward they expect when they give alms to the poor and when they fast, things that Jesus also talks about in this chapter. So, do you see why Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.' They wanted to be known as Righteous so that they could assure themselves that they really are Righteous. And that's what they received. They were known as Righteous. But they forgot Isaiah's warning. 'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ...' They worked for a particular reward, and they were able to gain what they were working for. But it didn't provide the benefit that they were expecting. And right now, those who did not later repent and come to Jesus understand with utter clarity the foolishness of their choice.
So, Jesus warns His disciples. 'Don't be like them!' And then, He gives the alternative. 'But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.' The first thing to notice is that Jesus is not opposed to the use of rewards. In fact, He promises a reward to those who pray, that is those who pray properly. The wise use of rewards is biblical. And that makes sense. We pursue a goal, investing precious resources of time and energy because we believe that something good will result. We believe that our efforts will be rewarded. This is how we've been created, and that's how this universe works. As we've seen, this dynamic, like everything else, can be twisted by sin. But it still makes sense that Jesus uses the notion of rewards to encourage prayer. Investing time and energy in prayer is worth the effort. There will be a reward. Jesus says so.
This is quite helpful because it explains some things and points the way to the solution to some significant problems. So, the Christian who has not established the habit of daily prayer has a reason for his choice. Simply put, he does not believe that the effort required will yield an acceptable reward. So, he invests his resources – his time and energy – elsewhere because he things that those other activities will result in a reward that is worth the effort. So, to put it bluntly, this Christian doesn't believe Jesus when He says, 'If you pray, the Father will make it worth your while.' The lack of the discipline of prayer is simply an expression of the sin of unbelief. And that is actually very helpful. For one thing, it shows the seriousness of a lack of prayer. Calling Jesus a liar is not a safe thing to do. But this also points to a solution to this problem. As always, the solution for the sin of unbelief is repentance and faith. Admit the evil of what you have done, resolve to turn from it with the Spirit's help, and then come to Jesus for forgiveness and change. So, if you've given in to unbelief in this area, if you're not working at the discipline of daily prayer, you need to repent.
I'm going to speak to one particular group now. I'm going to speak you kids, and I'll tell you why. You might think that this thing about the discipline of daily prayer is just an adult thing so you don't have to concern yourself with it. It's not. It's a disciple thing. So, if you haven't established the habit of daily prayer, you need to. It may be that you need to repent of unbelief, or it may be that you just have never even thought about this. In either case, you need to begin to work on this today. There needs to be a time in every day that you set apart to talk to God. You fathers need to help your children in this making sure that this habit is being established.
Now, let me ask a question. When you pray, what is the reward that you are hoping for? You invest precious resources pray. What do you want in return? What is the reward? The hypocrites prayed because they believed that having a reputation as 'The Righteous' was a worthy reward. When you pray you also aim at some reward. What is it? I raise this question because what makes your prayers good or bad, right or wrong, is what you're aiming at. We are all tempted – and unfortunately we too often fall for this – to pray for things that feed our idols. Each week, I pray that God would bless my sermon so that it would make sense and be helpful to you. Is that good or bad? Well, it depends. Why do I want God to bless in this way? What is my heart aiming at when I pray for that? What's the reward that I desire? If I ask God to bless my sermons so that you would be impressed with me as a preacher, then the reward that my heart is aiming at is that my ego gets stroked. Being liked is considered by many a very worthy reward. Would Jesus agree with that? Do you see that it's not so much what we pray for but why we are praying for it? Jesus has nothing to say about what these hypocrites were praying about. It was all about why they were praying.
We need to admit that too many of our prayers are about the wrong goal. We want God to give us a life that is comfortable, the kind of life that will make us feel good. And so, we ask for a life that is not too difficult, with problems that are limited to things we can handle, kids that turn out well, where all the bills are paid and we end up with enough to retire on. And when something bad happens, something that isn't included in our description of a good life, we pray that it gets fixed real soon so that life can return to its normal comfort level. Is that the reward that Jesus promised? Is that why Jesus encouraged us to pray? No. The aim of our prayers is to be something entirely different from all of that. The central goal of our prayers is to know the Father, to rejoice in the Son and to be filled with the Spirit. So, from David: 'You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, O Lord, do I seek."' From Isaiah: 'Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near...' From Jesus: 'Seek first the kingdom of God...' The Bible is clear. Our chief goal is to seek our God and the advance His kingdom. True life is found in enjoying the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Does this mean that it is wrong to pray to be able to pay the bills or for kids who turn out well or any of those sorts of things? Absolutely not, as long as we pray for them in such a way that granting our requests leads to knowing our God better and advancing His kingdom further. You need to be careful. You need to pray wisely. The Pharisees prayed but only as hypocrites. They did not receive the Father's reward. The reward that they did seek out and actually received ultimately wasn't worth the effort. The target of our prayers is knowing God, Father, Son and Spirit, and being blessed with a sense of His closeness, a closeness that overflows from our lives so that He will look good to a watching world.
One last thought, and it's very important that you see this. Jesus makes a promise: 'your Father ... will reward you.' If you leave here with the thought, 'I've got to work at this prayer thing. I've got to get it right so that I will gain the reward' and then you go to your favorite method of problem solving: being better organized, trying harder, getting up earlier, or whatever – what is that? It's salvation by works. It's telling yourself, 'I will gain a good relationship with God because of the things that I do, things like praying the right way.' Where's the Gospel in that? Praying well is a matter of grace. The Father's reward – which includes a growing and lively prayer life – is something He gives freely. We do not try to live in such a way so that we then can assume that God will have to bless. 'I'm so Righteous (look at how I pray) that God has to be pleased with me. Now I'll be blessed!' That's the way a Pharisee thinks. We do not come to the Father to pry some blessing from His stingy and demanding hands, confident of success because of things that we've done. We come with nothing; nothing except Jesus. We offer our requests to a Father who loves His children. And He loves His children simply because of Jesus. And the heart of our requests is this: 'Father, what I want more than anything is You. Bless me, Father, with a growing sense of your nearness to me. I ask this so that as I enjoy You people will notice and will want to join me in knowing You.' These are not magic words to repeat. They are to be the attitude of our hearts which is itself something that we ask the Father for. And those who pray like this will be rewarded.
For some of you, this sermon is intended by Spirit as an encouragement as you work at the discipline of prayer. Persisting in this is hard, and the evil one throws up all kinds of obstacles. You find yourself, at times, quite discouraged. But remember Jesus' promise. There is a reward. The Father will make it worth all the effort you invest. Take heart and continue the battle, looking to Jesus for the strength to do that. For others of you this sermon is a warning. The Spirit has pointed out your sin of unbelief. You are not working at the discipline of prayer. You need to repent of your sin. And to encourage you in this I would remind you of the promise. There is a reward. Jesus says so. Will you believe Him?
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