Worship Through Prayer

We’ve been answering the question of how we worship, and so far, we have seen that we worship through confession and through singing. One theme that I hope you picked up on with both of those sermons is the fact that confession and singing are expressions of the delight of our hearts. What we talk about reflects the condition of our hearts, and what we sing about flows from our heart’s delight. Worshiping through confession and singing both reflect a heart that is dependent on the Lord. This morning, I want us to consider the clearest way that we show our heartfelt dependence on God, and that is through a life that is devoted to prayer.

Prayer has often been defined as simply the act of conversation with God, and to a large degree that is true. Yet, I think that there is something deeper that is going on when we pray. John Piper put it this way: “Prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that he will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” Prayer is more than just the occasional conversation with God. When we pray, we are exalting God and minimizing ourselves. We are worshiping. This morning, I want to understand as much as we can about prayer by looking at the who, why, and how of prayer. Let’s read Matt. 6:5-15 together as we seek to understand prayer better.

To understand prayer, we must start by asking, “to whom do we pray?” In the passage we just read, Jesus is preaching to his disciples in the famous “Sermon on the Mount”, when he turns to the subject of prayer. In this teaching, he gives them a model prayer which we have come to call the “Lord’s Prayer.” Notice how Jesus begins this model prayer in verse 9: “Our Father who art in heaven.” So, the first answer to the question of who we pray to is here: we pray to the Father. When we pray to the Father of heaven and earth, we are recognizing two things. First, he is the sovereign over all things and is able to grant your prayer. We do not pray as the pagans do, running from one god to another trying to find the right one to address our needs. We do not pray as some mistaken Christians do, calling upon Mary or some saint to intercede for us. We pray directly to the Father because we believe that he is able to do what we ask. Second, we pray to the Father because we know that he is compassionate towards those who call on him. Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him.”

Yet, it is not enough to say that we pray to the Father. Anyone who has studied the Bible knows that we have a problem. The Bible states very clearly that God hears the prayers of those who are righteous. For example, Prov. 15:8 says, “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.” We see this played out in the history of Israel. There were many times that Israel failed miserably, like the time when they made a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain. Yet, in Deut. 9:20, Moses reminds them that God relented of his judgment on them because Moses prayed for them. So, we see that those who are sinful need a mediator to intercede for them. Now, you might be thinking, “Preacher, I’m not nearly as bad as most people, so I’d consider myself to be righteous.” But, Rom. 3:10 says “there is no one righteous, no not one.” It appears that we are stuck. We know that we can pray directly to the Father, but how can we know that he will hear us? In John 14:13, Jesus tells his disciples, “whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” It is because of Jesus Christ that the Father hears our prayers. It is because God has imputed the righteousness of His Son to us that we can now approach his throne with boldness.

You might be thinking, “OK, I know that I can pray directly to the Father, and I know that he will hear me because of Jesus. But, I just don’t know what to pray or how.” Take heart! Romans 8:26 says, “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.” So, we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. When you pray, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. Also, praying that the Spirit would open your heart to the things of God will always lead to deeper prayer.

Now that we know the “who” of prayer, we need to ask, “why should we pray?” Back in Matt. 6, verses 6 and 8 present a problem that we need to work out. Both verses tell us that God knows everything. He knows what goes on in secret, and he knows what we will ask before we do. So, if God knows all things, if he is sovereign, and if his plan will come to pass, why should we pray? The Reformed theologian, John Frame, gives three reasons that we should pray that are helpful, and I want to add a fourth of my own.

First, we should pray simply because the Bible commands it. Phil. 4:6 tells us to pray in everything. There is never a reason not to pray. You may know the solution to the problem that you face, but you should still pray if for no other reason than that God commands it.

Second, we should pray because it is a means of fellowship with God. In Luke 11:9-13, Jesus compares prayer to the relationship of a father with his son. He asks, “what father, when his son asks for a fish will given him a serpent.” Like a son fellowships with his father through his dependence on him, so too we fellowship with God through prayer.

Third, we should pray because prayer does in fact change things. Isaiah 37 recalls two times when God sent word to King Hezekiah that something bad was going to happen (once was word that the Assyrians were at the gate, and the second was that Hezekiah would die). In both cases, Hezekiah prayed, and God responded to his prayer by changing the circumstances. Now, saying that prayer changes things tends to present problems for us, because, if God is sovereign and has a perfect plan for this world, how is it that our prayers change things. What we fail to recognize is that prayer is part of God’s plan. God has always purposed to answer the prayers of his people. God delights in answering our prayers because it brings him glory. Can God carry out his will regardless of whether we pray or not? Absolutely! Does he want us to pray so that we can show our dependence on him and see him at work through our prayers? Absolutely!

The fourth reason we should pray is this: prayer is an act of worship. Rev. 5:8 says that the prayers of the saints are offered before the throne of God like incense in a worship service. Prayer – even when it is about the smallest of things – communicates our dependence on the Lord, and this brings glory to him.

Next, we need to ask how we should pray. In Matt. 6, Jesus gives us three rules for how we should pray. In verse 5 we find that we should pray with humility. Instead of praying for public recognition, Jesus says that we should pray in secret. In verse 7, he says we should pray in faith. Jesus warns us not to pray as the pagans do. They used all sorts of incantations and special formulas of words thinking that they could manipulate the gods with their fancy speech. Instead, Jesus says that we should pray knowing that God hears us and that he already knows what we need. Third, in verse 14, Jesus tells us that we should pray from a position of repentance. The warning he gives here is a hard word, but it pictures a life that has truly been forgiven. In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a tax collector and Pharisee who both go into the temple to pray. The Pharisee prays and thanks God that he is not like the tax collector. But, the tax collector can do nothing but beat his breast and cry out for forgiveness. Jesus says that it is the tax collector who went away forgiven.

So, what should we pray about? Jesus gives us four ways to pray in his model prayer. He starts in verse 9 with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” We should hallow God’s name, which is to say that we should praise him for who he is and thank him for what he has done. Col. 4:2 says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Second, Jesus leads us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We should pray for the things that God cares about: for justice, for the salvation of a friend, for the success of missions around the world, for the growth and unity of our church. Third, in verse 11, Jesus teaches us to pray for our needs. Most examples of prayer that we find in Scripture are those of intercession for personal needs, the needs of a friend, or the needs of the church or nation. James 5:16 tells us to pray for the healing of our brothers and sisters in the church. Lastly, verse 12 tells us to pray for forgiveness. As we saw a few weeks back, we should confess our sins to God as an act of worship and dependence on him.

Finally, when should we pray? 1 Thes. 5:17 says, “pray without ceasing.” I take from this that the whole of our lives should be in constant conversation with God. When we wake in the morning, we should pray for strength for the day. When we have a challenging day at work, we should pray for wisdom and patience. When we hear of someone’s need, we should immediately pray for them. But, it is also wise to have a time and a place set aside for prayer. Jesus tells us in verse 6 that we should pray in private. We also find saints of the Bible praying at specific times of the day. I, personally, wake early in the morning so that I will have time to pray, and I would recommend that you discipline yourselves to have a time in which you pray.

We should also pray as part of our congregational worship. In Acts 2:42, we find that the first church devoted themselves to praying together. We dedicate a large portion of our services to prayer for that very reason.

Brothers and sisters, prayer should be an act of worship which shows our total dependence on our God. May we be faithful to pray, and may we rejoice in the ways that God answers our prayers.