THE CHURCH THAT PRAYS TOGETHER
PART 2
JANUARY 12, 2025

MATTHEW 6:5-15 – “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 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.

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. 9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father 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 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.]”

Four stages of prayer maturity:

Talking at God
Talking to God
Listening to God
Being with God

Common Prayer Mistakes:

Praying to be seen (the hypocrite’s mistake)
Praying empty words (the Gentile’s mistake)

JOHN 17:1-5 – When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

“Our Father in heaven”

“Hallowed be your name”

ἁγιασθήτω (agiastheito) – to render sacred, to consecrate (set apart – different), to honor, glorify for worthiness.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The danger with the prayer for bread is that we get there too soon. We come to prayer, aware of urgent needs, or at least wants. It’s tempting to race through the Lord’s Prayer, as far as ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, so that we can then take a deep breath and say, ‘Now look here: when it comes to daily bread, there are some things I simply must have.’ And then off we go into a shopping list. To do this, of course, is to let greed get in the way of grace.”
NT Wright

PHILIPPIANS 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

“For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”