PRAYING WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVE

-- { Matthew 6:6 }  ⁶ But whenever 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.  -- NRSV

Dear Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.  Amen.

One of our emphasis in our “Turn On The Light” theme this year is prayer.  Over the next three weeks we will look at prayer.  Prayer is serious business.  We will look at three “How To’s” of prayer.  Today we look at “Praying With The Right Motive.”  Next week we will look at “Praying With Perseverance.”  The following week we will cover “Praying In The Name Of Jesus.”

Prayer is one of the greatest acts a Christian can perform.  Luther thought so much of it he would have liked to have made it a Sacrament.  Talking to God by using the tongue or by thoughts is the way we are called to fellowship with God.  And this communication, called prayer, is very special to Him.  Thus, we are to pray often.  But we must admit we sometimes fail to pray because we don’t know how too.  I hope these three messages will free you up to pray to your God and feel so peaceful about it that you will share anything with Him.  So let us look at today’s text on “How To Pray – Praying With The Right Motive.”

The right motive for prayer is praying to be heard by God alone (Matthew 6:6)  Jesus said, “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God.  Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage.  The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.”

As we begin our focus on prayer there are three preliminary things we need to look at.

1. A willingness to take time to pray.  You have to have the will to pray and that will take time.  In our time-crunch society you may have found it hard to find that time.  It is true that we often stay so wrapped up in the day to day things of the world that prayer is put on the back burner and forgotten.

2. A need for a quiet place.  It is a good idea to get away by oneself to pray.

3. A personal relationship with God through Jesus.  We will deal more with this in the third message.  You are to go to God as your Father – His child.  Share your inner most feelings and thoughts.

Jesus says that a person who is genuine, prays to be heard by God and not other people.  So how do you do that?

First, you choose a private, quiet place for prayer.  “Find a quiet, secluded place.”  Jesus says, “Get alone.”

1. Get alone: unobserved – out of other’s sight.

2. Get alone: undisturbed – avoid interruptions and disturbances.

3. Get alone: unheard – concentrate and meditate to allow God the freedom to work in your heart.

In Acts 10:9 we read about Peter, “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.”

Second, you pray in a private, quiet place because God is in secret.  

1. A person meets God in private or secret no matter where that may be.  In prayer there must be a secret heart-to-heart meeting between you and God.  This can actually take place in a busy place.  In a worship setting.  Learn to withdraw and commune with God anywhere and at anytime.  But also seek to have a private place where you do that.

2. Because you truly meet God in private do not be interested in show.  This does not mean that public prayer is wrong.  It is only wrong when it is done for show and is not sincere.  A sincere motive is the key to true prayer whether private or public.  You pray to God to commune with Him.

     What are some of the reasons we fail to pray?

1. We don’t have the time.  But in reality it takes only a small amount of time to begin our day with prayer.  All we need to do is rearrange our schedule.

2. We don’t take the time.  We neglect communicating with God on a consistent basis.  We pray only in emergencies.

3. We haven’t been taught the importance of a quiet time in prayer with the Lord.  Parents have not raised up their children to communicate with the God through bedtime and mealtime prayers.  Prayer hasn’t been practiced enough in our families and fellowships to encourage us to pray.

4. We haven’t learned to discipline ourselves and desire spiritual growth.  We embrace the disciplines of education and sports, etc. but our faith development suffers.  We need to set up a disciplined time for mediation on the Bible and prayer.  We need to make it a daily habit.  And if we miss a day or so, we need to just get back to our discipline and not be discouraged.

Third, you will be blessed through your genuine prayer discipline.  

You will be rewarded in two very special ways.

So in summary how are we to pray?

I conclude today with the words of Jesus, instructing us on how to pray, recorded in Luke 11:9, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

  Amen.