The Sermon on the Mount: How to Pray
In the twelfth of his series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Shane examines how Jesus taught us pray.
Click here for the recording of this 5/25/25 Service, and you can fast-forward to 22:09 to get to the start of the sermon.
Our text comes from Matthew Chapter 6.5-14
5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “ Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘ Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’
14 For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.
Introduction…
We live in an era of ostentation- culturally, bling is good, a sign of success
In some cultures, the louder, the better; this is likely an overreaction to the days of poverty and want
There was a time when I tried to prove my success by many of these external markers; but the more markers I acquired, the less rewarding they were- “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” Lk 12.15Prayer, in its simplest form, is nothing more or less than talking to god
Gramps, Bounds, Tozer, Willard, and foster all have taught me much about prayer, as did my mother- she could pray
Both Nancy Yoder and Stephanie Short are in the process of launching a prayer initiative here at Cornerstone
I have learned over the years to have an ongoing, muttering conversation with God throughout the day
I’ve had to unlearn some of what I was taught in my culture of origin
Neither Length not vocabulary has anything to do with quality prayer
Display is actually discouraged by Jesus in this passage
Life has taught me that we make talking to Jesus harder than it needs to be
The hypocrites and gentiles
They want to be seen praying- why? Even then, it was a carnal gauge of spirituality
Their reward is just that- to be seen
When you pray, do so in secret, kruptos, hidden, unseen (4x)- our giving is to be in secret, our father is in secret, we are to pray in secret
The thoughtless repetition of the gentiles- battologeō, to babble or prattle on, blah blah blah
They want to be heard for their verbiage
2 admonitions
Don’t be like them/that
Your father knows what you need before you ask
so then, why pray? Humility and submission in asking
Pray like this
Our father (he has our best interest in mind)
Who is in heaven (he has a perspective we don’t have)
We are to honor His name as holy by what we think, say, do
Extend your kingdom realm and will down here, now, in us/me, as it is up there
Give me what I have need of just for today
Release/forgive us of our sin, as we do the same for those who have sinned against us
keep us from those things you know will harm us
rescue us from the evil one
Why?
We will be forgiven as we forgive
If we don’t forgive those who have wronged us, he will not forgive us who have wronged him- life is too hard, and far too long, for us to allow unforgiveness to pile up in the soul
If you believe in hell, why would you risk it over unforgiveness?
Practical application
Pray to him, and not to be seen
Get to the point
Pray, out loud, as if you were talking to a good friend
Pray honestly- dishonest prayer is useless
Know that because he is your father, he has your best interest in mind
reflect his name as holy in what you think, say, do
practice his agenda here below, as it is up above
tell him what you need
grant and ask for, forgiveness
ask him to keep you from evil, and the evil one
