Sermon for Sunday, March 30th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Ecc 5:1-3 ESV] 1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. 2 Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 For a dream comes with much business, and a fool’s voice with many words.
New Testament Reading:
[Phl 4:4-7 ESV] 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Reading:
[Luk 11:1-4 ESV] 1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Sermon Text:
[Mat 6:5-15 ESV] 5 “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. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Introduction
The title of the sermon this morning is “Getting Started in Prayer.”
It can be very difficult when you take on a new task in life. Baking a cake in the kitchen, making a chair in the wood shop, or learning downhill skiing. It sure helps to have someone showing you the ropes. Apparently that phrase comes from the days of sailing-ships, and you could imagine how complicated the sails and rigging on a large ship were. You need someone to literally show you the ropes.
Usually it is not recorded in history just exactly WHO was the first to figure out each new thing. But they must have been very intelligent and inquisitive. The reality is that it is not easy to figure out something new. (So don’t feel bad if you don’t understand calculus; no one did until a few hundred years ago!) To figure out something new it helps to have a jumpstart in the form of a mentor who you point you in the right direction, or a master to lead your apprenticeship.
If you’ve never prayed before, that also could be a daunting task. Even the disciples weren’t sure how and had to ask Jesus. (In Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer, Luke chapter 11) They needed a jumpstart in prayer. What do I say? How do I say it? They often saw Jesus praying. He was always in prayer. So they wisely asked him “Lord, teach us to pray.”
We now come to Jesus’s answer. You can get started in prayer with this model prayer which we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”
These are the words probably more well known that any others in the whole Bible. We memorize it as a child. And we memorize it in the old King James:
Our Father
Who art in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
And then there is the ending that was added at some later time:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever amen.
This ending is a “doxology,” a praise to God. A natural addition to the prayer.
I. We may pray the Lord’s Prayer.
I’ve heard of some Christians who refuse to pray the Lord’s prayer.
They contend that it is only an example, not a prayer we are to make verbatim. But while it is true that it is an example, it is a very good example. So good that we may and should use it regularly.
In fact, while Matthew 6 teaches us that this is a pattern for prayer, in Luke’s Gospel Jesus makes it to be a prayer in its own right.
He says:
[Luk 11:2 ESV] 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, SAY: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
You can say those exact words.
So, pray the Lord’s prayer, but don’t pray ONLY the Lord’s Prayer. It is not to limit us in prayer, but to get us started in prayer.
And we can use this prayer in our worship service as well.
But whether we say the prayer alone or together, it is important that we understand the words and do not just repeat them mindlessly.
Looking at the Lord’s Prayer as a model prayer we see a number of important features.
1) It gives glory to God.
2) It asks for blessings upon man.
and
3) It is not repetitive or overly lengthy.
These are good features.
Jesus actually emphasizes that last one when he says “do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
II. We ought not to use “many words.” (v. 7)
When Jesus says that our prayers are not to have “many words” he is speaking against “vain repetitions” and “empty phrases.”
If you repeat the Lord’s prayer over and over without thought, it could be repetitious. So we are to remember that is a prayer, and not a recital of memorization.
In prayer, we only need to say something once for God to hear us. (Really, he even knows our thoughts before we say them out loud.) He is not like the limited “gods” of the foreign nations that don’t hear you the first dozen times you pray. In reality those gods never hear you at all, since they do not exist.
And there is also a warning against “empty phrases.” We are not to say things that “sound religious”. You should pray in normal language, speaking to God in your own every day language (but of course without any bad words that sometimes slip into our vernacular.)
If your prayer does have “many words” in the sense that you pray for a half an hour, that is not necessarily a bad thing. But if you’re praying long so that other people might see you and think you holy, that is to be avoided.
So in “getting started in prayer” (our sermon title and focus today) we are to remember to use “not many words.” I think this is a great encouragement in prayer. You don’t have to learn lofty language or have grandiose ideas to pray to God. He hears ALL of our prayers. And the simple prayers we give are best. That means we all can pray.
Looking at the content of the Lord’s prayer we see that it can be broken down into two subjects, God and self.
III. We should recognize the Sovereignty of God (v. 8-10)
Regarding the first of these, we see that the Lord’s Prayer is mostly about God.
From the lines about God we understand that we should recognize God’s sovereignty; His kingship, His authority over all things. In fact, showing God’s sovereignty, Jesus says “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” That is how powerful and knowledgable God is.
So a big part of ANY prayer is worshipping God. In another form of prayers I’ve been taught we have the words ACTS. And A is for Adoration. (the others are Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication), but the first one is Adoration. Prayer is well-started when we give praise to God, and speak of his excellencies.
So the Lord’s Prayer has these lines focused on God:
OUR FATHER who art in heaven
Hallowed be THY name.
THY kingdom come.
and
THY will be done.
There is also the later-added conclusion which also is focused on God:
THINE is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory.
Regarding that ending of the prayer, that phrase—for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever”—it is absent from the earliest Greek Bible manuscripts, but was often added in later manuscripts. While the statement —God’s is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever—might not be in the original of the Bible, it is a true statement.
Questions 100 through 107 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism address the Lord’s prayer in each of its “petitions.” Each of its lines.
It explains that
The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven,” teaches us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father able and ready to help us, and that we should pray with and for others.
That is so comforting. We are to draw near to God, knowing that He is there for us.
And while prayer made ben done alone, it also may be done together. So we say “our Father” rather than just “my Father.”
The catechism explains that “Hallowed be thy name” means that we pray that God would enable us to glorify him. To recognize and honor His holy name. For us to properly recognize His holiness.
Then, it explains, that in saying “Thy Kingdom come” we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed and that the Kingdom of Grace may be advanced, with ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
We should indeed pray for the Kingdom of Grace to be advanced. On the personal and societal level, how great would it be if our interactions were seasoned with grace and forgiveness; that there would be no more confrontation and animosity with each other. But even more, this calls for the grace of God to be upon us, in that we have been God’s enemies and yet he has grace upon us. Then, finally, for the kingdom to come in its fulness if to pray for that Day of the Lord in which all things will be made right and our eternal state of blessedness will begin. I think we sometimes forget about this plea in our modern Christian world. But in Biblical times they often prayed “Come, Lord Jesus.” (That indeed is the end of the book of Revelation) While we should appreciate what the Lord has given us, let us not be so attached to this world that we do not pray for the better world which is to come. We should pray that it comes quickly. Pain will be over. Guilt no more. Sin no more. THY Kingdom come! Indeed, we should pray that.
And Thy Will be Done. The catechism says that in this we pray that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels in heaven do. So “thy will be done” not only in the things out in the world, but IN US. Thy will be done, Lord, not mine! And make my will to come into line with yours. Make me holy and you are holy, and perfect as you are perfect. That is our plea and petition.
IV. We should pray for ourselves. (v. 11-13)
So there are those lines focused on God. Then, the Lord’s Prayer also has lines regarding self, the one who is praying. Or the group who is praying together.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
We learn that it is OK to pray for yourself. It is OK to want the blessings of the Lord.
And so we pray to the all-mighty God because we are NOT able to do what He can do for us.
We pray “give us this day our daily bread.” Our catechism says this is that “we pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.” So you don’t have to feel guilty when you’re enjoying the gift of this world; they are blessings of God. We certainly don’t want to overindulge or get focused on worldly things, yet God blesses us with “our daily bread” and all our daily needs. This is recognition also that HE is the giver of all things, not just life but even our food; something so simple as bread; it is yet from Him.
We pray “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” asking for God to freely pard0on al our sins and give us grace to enable us from the hear to forgive others. Both are important. We need to be forgiven, and we need to forgive. This is essential to prayer. In fact, all of the petitions of the Lord’s prayer, if they are not absolutely necessary, they at least should be regularly included in prayer.
We then pray “lead us not into temptation but devil us from evil” asking God to “either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.” It is a recognition that we need the Lord’s help through each day of our life and in all our decisions, temptations, and trials. The best scenario is that we are not tempted in the first place. But when evil does arise, we pray that we are delivered from it. We pray “deliver us from evil” because we cannot resist the devil in our own strength.
So each of these petitions are well added to our prayers. We are to take the example here Jesus gives us. And then, praying frequently, we learn more what to pray for. For God’s will to be done, for others to be blessed, and for us to walk with God. Prayer then is endless, for there are an endless number of things and people to pray for.
We’ve learned somethings (I hope) about the Lord’s prayer. But I want to note some others in applications.
Application 1: God expects His people to pray.
Jesus says “When” you pray. Not “if.”
If you’re not regularly praying, you need to get started in prayer. At least get a time scheduled for praying the Lord’s Prayer. Then think of others things or persons to pray about.
Application 2: Don’t be scared of Prayer.
Don’t be scared of prayer. God is approachable. He is “our Father.” And a good father indeed.
He doesn’t need us to use long complicated words to reach out to him. He doesn’t demand grammatical excellence or poetic verse.
He calls us to prayer as something beneficial to us. A conversation with God as we read His word and respond to Him in prayer.
And He teaches us how to pray so that we need not be afraid that we’re doing it wrong, or being selfish in asking for his blessings.
The Lord’s prayer is our model for prayer. Profound enough to lead us into many prayers, and simple enough for all to memorize.
Conclusion:
Later in our service we will recite the Lord’s prayer as we do each Sunday. But let it not end there. Say the prayer in your homes. And use it to lead you to further prayer, all to His glory. Let us pray.