Sermon Transcript

The 19th century Scottish minister and theologian Andrew Bonar was once asked if he was able to live his life over again, what would he do differently. He said, “If I were to begin my life over again, I would spend much more time in prayer.” This is a sentiment that has been echoed by champions of the faith throughout history. From Bonar to Billy Graham, those who walk with the Lord for a long time often say they wish they had prayed more.  

For you who are younger, one of the most underrated blessings of church is listening to older saints pray. You’ll hear faith that’s been tested, hope that’s held on, and a settled assurance that has tasted the goodness of God. There is an intimacy in the prayers of people who have long known the Lord. I encourage you not to neglect learning from them.

When older saints say they wish they prayed more, that is not merely a desire for a greater number of prayers, but for a deeper, more spiritual communion with God through prayer. They have learned that prayer is not merely speaking to God, it is also a type of listening and receiving. Baptist pastor John Sutcliff was an important figure in the revival of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He had a fruitful ministry, but shortly before he died, he confessed the following to his friend Andrew Fuller. He said,

“I wish I had prayed more for the influence of the Holy Spirit; I might have enjoyed more of the power of vital godliness. I wish I had prayed more for the assistance of the Holy Spirit in studying and preaching my sermons; I might have seen more of the blessing of God attending my ministry.”

These men learned how to be refreshed and strengthened in prayer and therefore wished they had spent even more time alone with God. 

There is, however, another kind of prayer that is empty in the end. It is a kind of praying that pursues a reputation for godliness more than godliness itself. It confuses the outward act for the inward reality. Last week, Jesus began to address the difference between true acts of righteousness and works done to bring glory to ourselves rather than God. 

We looked at giving last time, and now we move to prayer. Jesus begins by applying the same criticism of self-glorifying prayers as He did for self-glorifying giving. Prayers that are made for the purpose of calling attention to ourselves or for our own glory are not pleasing to God. There is nothing that more clearly shows a relationship with God than prayer, which is why those who are self-righteous often make such a production of their prayers. It boosts their reputation as “good people”, which is what they desperately want.

God is not impressed with selfish prayers. Jesus will give us a model for how to pray in a few verses and my plan is to dig into those details in the coming weeks, but for today I want us to give some thought to what Jesus says about prayer in general. He begins in verse 5 saying,

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. …

Jesus warns us not to be like hypocrites. The word hypocrite at the time he said this referred to actors. In ancient Greece, actors played many different roles in a play, so they would put on different masks to represent the different characters. A hypocrite is someone who wears a mask to play a part. Jesus says when we pray we are not to be like actors, putting on a mask, playing a part for the approval of an audience. We must always be on guard against hypocrisy in our hearts.

One of the common criticisms of churches is that they are filled with hypocrites. Sadly, that is often true but unbelievers often misunderstand that walking into a church isn’t like walking into a museum where everything on display are finished pieces. It is more like walking into the artists studio where you are surrounded by works in progress, all at various levels of completion. What is important about the studio is not that the works are unfinished, but that the artist is at work there. 

Even mature believers on their best days are not yet what they so desperately want to be. We are all sinners saved and being saved by grace. We are works in progress, but as brother Newman recently reminded us, we can still rejoice because almighty God has promised to complete the good work He began in us. Our salvation was already purchased by the blood of Jesus on the Cross. We will be perfected. We will be glorified. We will see Him as He is and be like Him.

Yes, there are sometimes hypocrites even in good biblical churches, but there are also saints of the most high God. People who are not yet what they should be, but by God’s grace are not what they were. A lot of the rocks pulled out of a diamond mine are not diamonds, but if you are looking for diamonds, that is the most likely place you will find them. Not everyone in a church is truly a child of God, but if you are looking for the family of God, that is where you are most likely to find them.

The real question is do we really want to be like Jesus or if we are just wearing a mask to impress others? Do we really believe that God can be trusted enough that our greatest good will come when we pursue His glory or are we more interested in our glory and willing to take our chances? If we do trust Him then it will change how we live and even how we pray. Jesus says don’t be like the hypocrites…

5 … For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.

I hope you love to pray, but Jesus says the hypocrites love to pray too. Do you see that? They love to pray, but not because they love God or are delighted with His love for them.

No. They love to pray to be seen. They love to pray to satisfy their fleshly desires. They want to be out front. They desire the applause of men more than communion with God. Jesus says,

5 … Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

What they want is a good reputation, so that is all they get. They are fools settling for the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from God.

One of the scariest verses in all the Bible is Romans 1:28 which says of unrepentant sinners, “28 …since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind…” One of the worst judgments of God is to leave us to ourselves. To give us what our sinful desires wish for. Hypocrites want the approval of men more than they want the approval of God and Jesus that is what God grants them.

That is their reward. Is it worth it? How does that compare to what the faithful get? 1 Peter 1:4–5 says believers have…

4 …an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We endure trials now because, as 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 says,

17 …this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

When by faith we come to the cross and die, gladly setting aside our own reputation because Christ is now our life, we become like Him. Our humiliation is followed by glory, because if we have died with Him, we shall also be raised like He was. Colossians 3:3–4 says,

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

That enables us to live faithfully now knowing it will be worth it. This is why 2 Timothy 2:11–12 assures us,

11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him…

Everything we have ever experienced in our entire lives has been distorted and marred by sin so we can’t even fully comprehend how awesome that will be. That’s why the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9,

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

Or, as we like to say around here, quoting our brother Paul Mauradian, 

“It’s gonna be great.” 

Friends, the promises we have in Jesus aren’t even worth comparing to what the world offers. Fame, fortune, power; it all turns to dust eventually. But the word of God endures forever. Resurrection. Reward. Reigning. Best of all we will be with Him, with no sin or shame to separate us. The hypocrite gets a name that, at best, dies when they do. But the believer? The believer gets God Himself, forever. An inheritance in His kingdom. A place at His table. Not because we earned it, but because He chose to love us and make us His own, all to the glory of His grace.

Once we understand what has been promised and who it is that has promised these things to us, we will find no need to put on a display or seek any glory for ourselves. The only thing for us to seek that makes any sense, is Him. Jesus says in verse 6,

6 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.

If you want the blessing of God and fellowship with God, then talk to God. People often tell me they find it hard to find time to pray but we find time for what is truly important to us. For some of us, if we just took the time we spend complaining about how busy we are and prayed instead, we would add several hours a week.

It is important we spend time alone with God. Jesus isn’t saying we should never pray in public. His point is that our goal in praying should never be seen or to impress others. His point is our lives should be characterized by prayer. God rewards those who pray in faith.

We have already talked about the ultimate reward, but we shouldn’t ignore that God often rewards faithful prayer by granting our prayerful requests. I suspect if we kept a journal of our prayers and God’s answers, we would be amazed at how often God does give us what we ask Him for. Of course, that isn’t automatic. As someone has rightly said, God always answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, and sometimes, wait, but he always answers. But I bet the answer is yes more than you realize. 

I have seen impossible things that can only be explained by prayer. The ministry of this church is one of them. God has dramatically answered a number of unlikely prayers that have been pivotal to the establishment and sustaining of this church. If you are new around here, ask someone who has been around. It is remarkable and it isn’t unique to us. He often answers in the small things, but sometimes it is so startling that there is simply no other explanation than God.

Let me just give one example. Helen Roseveare was an English doctor and missionary to the Congo in the 1950’s and 60’s. In 1964, while in Africa, she was taken prisoner and brutally beaten and raped for five months. She says she wondered if God had abandoned her, but as she wrestled with those thoughts she felt as if God was asking her, “Can you thank me for trusting you with this suffering, even if I never tell you why.” 

God used her profound suffering to forge a profound faith. In her later years, Helen traveled widely to share her experiences with God’s faithfulness. On one trip to the U.S. she was dropped off at the airport for an early flight. When she got to the front of the line she realized she had no tickets, no passport, and no wallet. As expected, the agent said there was nothing they could do for her. She kept pleading with them.

This was many years ago before all the current security was in place and they finally told her if she could find someone to act as a guarantor, who could vouch for her identity and put a deposit down to cover the tickets in case they found she hadn’t bought them, they may be able to figure something out. 

That alone was almost miraculous but the problem is she was in New York, didn’t know anyone, and the people who dropped her off were already off to their next destination. She did the only thing she could. She stepped aside and prayed. After praying she asked if the agent could look in the phonebook for any names that had the title reverend. They asked for a name. She said she didn’t have a specific name, for them to just pick one. At this point, they are pretty sure she is crazy, but the agent looked down the list and found a reverend Atkinson. 

Now, it is 6 in the morning, but the agent calls the number and a man picks up the phone. The agent reluctantly explains the situation, then nods and hangs up the phone. Shocked, she tells Helen, the man would be there in 20 minutes. When he shows up he is excited to act as her guarantor but before he gives the money, he wants to explain why. 

He tells her that years ago, before he was a Christian, he and his girlfriend were backpacking around the world, drinking, doing drugs and just moving from place to place. One night he says they were in a foreign country, were sick from taking too many drugs, needed a place to stay but had no money. He says as they wandered, they stumbled across the British embassy and decided to see if they could help. There was a small room in the embassy and they agreed to take them in for the night. 

His girlfriend fell quickly asleep, but he was crashing and feeling guilty and ashamed about the situation. He couldn’t sleep so he started to look around in the room for something to read. In a drawer in that room, he found the book Give Me This Mountain, the autobiography of Dr. Helen Roseveare. 

He said that book changed his life. Shortly after, he came to the lord and went into the ministry. Now, out of the blue he gets this phone call to help her. There are so many nearly impossible circumstances that had to happen for any of this to work out, but God answered her prayer. There is no other explanation other than God for something like that. The Bible says the prayers of a righteous person accomplish much.

It is grace that God hears our prayers at all. Every one of us are sinners, undeserving of any reward. If we were paid fairly for what our lives have earned we would all be condemned. What we deserve is separation and punishment, but God sent His son Jesus Christ to do what we could not do. 

Jesus came in the flesh, truly human, and lived the life we were created to live. He was perfect. He did not seek His own glory, but in all things glorified the Father. Those rewards we talked about that we get, those are His rewards that He shares freely with us because we have been united with Him by faith. He takes our punishment and we get His rewards. He who was everlasting died, so that we who were dead could live. 

Our sins kept us out of heaven, but He came down from heaven so that our sins could be put on Him and He nailed them to the cross. Because He took them away, the veil is torn open, the way to heaven has been opened up. He is the way and everyone who puts their faith in Him will be saved. We do not pray in order to find the favor of God, we pray with confidence, knowing that our prayers are heard because in Christ we already have His favor. Jesus Christ intercedes for us in our prayers. It is the blood of Christ that makes our prayers acceptable to the Father.

What encouragement it is to know that our prayers rest in the finished work of our Savior who loves us and gave His life for us. Hebrews 4:14–16 says,

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We do not put our faith in the power of prayer. We put our faith in the eternal Son seated at the right hand of the Father who is above all things. We put our faith in the faithfulness of an almighty sovereign God who cannot lie and has promised that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Some have asked why pray if God is sovereign. I ask how does it make sense to pray if He isn’t? 

When we pray, it is not God who is changed, but us. Prayer is an expression of our humility and dependence on God and our trust in Him. Proud people do not submit themselves to faithful prayer. They don’t feel the need. They don’t feel the urgency. They think they can carry the load, make the call, or fix the problem on their own. 

But prayer is what happens when self-sufficiency breaks down and faith rises up. It's what flows out of a heart that knows it is not in control and doesn’t want to be because it trusts the One who is. When we pray, we are not informing God of anything. Don’t the desires for good things come from Him to begin with. Isn’t it He who gives us the discernment about who and what to pray for? Prayer is not about our will being done in heaven, it is about God’s will being done in us.

Praying in the Spirit, meaning praying according to God’s truth and God’s priorities is a form of fellowship with the Father, through the Son, enabled by the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in verse 7,

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Brothers and sisters, it is insulting to God to think we can somehow manipulate Him as if saying certain magic words will unlock the power of heaven. Mindless repetitions like rosaries and other superstitions are no better than heathen prayer wheels or incantations. Even biblical words can become vain repetition. The Puritan preacher John Bunyan rightly said,

“In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart"

Faithless prayers given in fine words are like putting gold plating on a garbage can. It looks impressive on the outside, but what’s inside stinks. It is better to stumble in weakness with a heart that trusts God than to try and impress with words that don’t. Sometimes friends, it might be the case that the most faithful, God honoring prayer we can manage is simply “Lord, help.” 

God knows what we need. One of the favorite verses of many of you is Romans 8:28, God works all things together for His people. These are tremendously comforting words for believers but rarely do I hear people mention the context of that verse. If they do talk about it, it is usually about the verses that follow, which promise that all who God calls will be raised to glory. But do you remember what comes before that verse? I think it is significant.

The apostle Paul introduces that astounding promise in an argument that flows out of an encouragement to believers about our prayers. That promise is revealed to deepen our assurance when we pray. Romans 8:26–28,

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

That extraordinary promise about all things working together for our good flows out of the amazing truth that in all our weaknesses, God Himself is at work to take our prayers and make them acceptable to God, with the result that everything is working according to God’s plan to result in our blessing. Reading further, we see this is based on God’s sovereign and gracious choice to pour out His love upon us. It is by grace we are called, justified, sanctified, and will be glorified in Christ Jesus. It is by grace our prayers are heard.

The prayers we offer are like when little children paint or draw pictures for their parents. When my kids were little they would often give me artwork. Let’s just say these were not museum quality pieces. I often had to ask them what it was they painted. But you know what, I was filled with joy to display every one of those on the fridge. What made them acceptable was not the skillfulness of the drawing, but my love as a Father for the children who gave them to me. That is the way it is with our weak and imperfect prayers.

What I hope you are beginning to see as we come near the end this morning is that prayer is an amazing blessing and privilege. I have to wait days or weeks just to see my doctor, but I can speak to the God who created me and all the universe at any time. I don’t need a priest or an appointment because Jesus has purchased that access by His blood. There is a famous photo of president John F. Kennedy at his desk in the oval office. The most powerful man in the world in one of the most secure rooms in the world, and there near his feet, is his son playing and enjoying the presence of his smiling father. 

That is nothing compared to the access we have as God’s children. If you have put your faith in Jesus, you are an adopted son or daughter not merely of a president, but of the King of the universe. You have access to His desk and He smiles to see you there. What an amazing Savior we have. We don’t need to try and impress anyone. God already loves us and accepts us. Christ died so that we could be with Him without fear or condemnation. To pray is to enjoy His presence. It is to fellowship with Him because we are invited. God doesn’t love us because we pray. We pray because He loves us.

If you would like help in pursuing prayer as a blessing rather than a work, I recommend to you this little yellow book called Enjoy Your Prayer Life. It is short, easy to read, and I found it very helpful. It is available on the book table at no cost. Please take one if it may be of help to you. Another practical thing is that sitting in with others as they pray can also be helpful to get us going. I encourage you to join us Wednesday evening or call on Monday morning to add fuel to your prayer life. If those times don’t work, reach out and ask another believer to meet and pray regularly. I am confident you will not regret time spent praying.

I began the message with the 19th century Scottish minister Andrew Bonar. I would like to end with another quote from him urging us to not neglect this great privilege of prayer. Not praying as hypocrites, but as those whose greatest desire is fellowship with Our Lord. He said,

O brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper—and sleep too—than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near.