WHEN THOU PRAYEST

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

Matthew 6:1-18

1.    GIVING ALMS (Mat.6:1-4)

Alms giving is translated as acts of righteousness fulfilling certain religious obligations. It involves giving to the needy as an act of mercy. Not to be done in public – meaning not to be done to receive the praise of men. That public show of piety was sharply rebuked by Jesus when He was dealing with the Pharisees (Mat.23:1-8).

1.1      The Pharisees wore WIDE phylacteries (tefilin) – boxes containing four scripture passages (Exod.13:1-10; 13:11-16; Deut.6:4-9; 11:13-21). It is tied to the forehead with a black leather strip. It is also tied on the arm, reminding them of God’s deliverance from Egypt.

1.2      They Made LONG Tassels (Tzitzit) – fringes tied at the four corners of the garment. It was a reminder to the observant Jew to keep the commandments of the Lord. But the made it long and elaborate for public show of piety. Jesus rebuked that.

 

He tells us that all our acts of righteousness, if they are to be acceptable, should be done without ostentation, without making a show of them.

The other extreme is when you know that there is some act of righteousness to perform and you avoid it. There are people in the Church or outside it who your resources could help but you avoid it. There are responsibilities in the Church, like evangelism, prayer meeting, Bible study, to attend but you do not care about it. You know you have to give your tithe to the Church but you are not doing it consistently.

2        PRAYING (Mat.6:5-15)

When you pray… Jesus expects us to pray. Prayer is communication between us and God. If we are not praying we are not communicating with God. Praying is the only way God’s people communicated to Him. Saints of God of all ages prayed – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Noah, Daniel, Jonah, Hannah all prayed (Dan.6:10).

Jesus prayed regularly (Mark 1:35; Luke 22:32; Mat.26:39) – when he began His ministry, during His ministry, when He performed miracles, during the time of His agony and on the Cross, Jesus prayed.

The disciples of the Lord prayed. They saw Him pray and desired to be taught how to pray (Luke 11:1). He taught them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer and gave that wonderful parable about persistence in prayer (Luke 11:2-13).

Why do we need to pray every day? Because we live in a fallen world! The effect of our fallen condition is everywhere – sin, sickness, crime of every kind, disappointment, hopelessness, selfishness, love of pleasure more that God, rape, murder. Have you observed how killing others is fast becoming fashionable for certain people?

Knowing that we will live in a fallen word the Lord gave us the gift of prayer. Jesus prayed to the Father for us. Hear what He said (John 17:15-17).

Prayer is given to us to protect us from the evil of the world. Through prayer, God can reverse the effect of sin in our lives. He can prevent calamities from befalling us. He can divert away from us the evil originating from the fallen nature in other people. If Jesus was here today He would accuse us of prayerlessness! But it should not be so.

3        FASTING (Mat.6:16-18)

When ye fast… Again here Jesus is saying that we have to fast. However we must not make a public show of it. The Jews of old when they fasted, would tear their clothes, put on sack cloth and throw ashes over their heads as a sign of mourning and repentance (1Kings 21:47; 1Chron.21:16). It would appear that the Pharisees made an open show of this so as to be seen of men.

But fasting is a way of humbling ourselves before God, possibly one way of bringing the body under subjection (Psalm 35:13). Fasting will intensify our prayer. Intensified prayer is real prayer, it is prayer that will receive answer. Therefore if fasting intensifies prayer, it means that fasting is necessary for some prayers to be answered.

Again fasting is not meant for public show. It is not public show when we gather like this to pray and fast as a church. It is not public show if your wife/husband knows that you are fasting. When we fast as prescribed by the Lord, there is reward from the Father.

It is not public show, it is not sounding the trumpet when there is a need in the Church and the pastor asks you to help with that need and you comply.

It is not public show for you to pray out loud when we gather together in Church. When you pray out loud you are being scriptural, not unscriptural (Psalm 55:16-17; 3:4; 5:1-3).

The Lord wants to answer our prayers. He wants to free us and protect us from the effect of the fallen nature. He wants to increase His Church through our prayer. He wants to bless us abundantly through prayer. Let us then come boldly to the throne of Grace to pray. He will hear our voice.