I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew and Gospel chapter six. While you're turning, I just want to make one or two announcements. The first one is to the children. This week we're going to have vacation Bible school every night, beginning at seven o'clock sharp. And you know, you get points for bringing other boys and girls along. And I was in the back building yesterday, and I saw some nice prizes that are going to be given away. next Sunday night. And the Bible says, and I'm only going to quote half a verse, it says, The hymn that workers is the reward. So you get busy, bring your friends along, and we're going to have a good time at Bible school beginning tomorrow night. And I'm looking for every boy and girl. And we're going to have some, we're going to learn some Bible verses. We're going to learn about the joy of the Lord. Well, now my second thing I'd like to say is for those people in the alcove back there. You know, those new chairs back there, I would ask my good friend back there if they sit well. Well, I know they do because I tried to mount. Now, there's a real problem. You might go to sleep on me. And you know what happened in seminary, don't you? The young fellow went to sleep in class. And the professor was just going along, and his buddy said to him, he woke him up. He said, he called on you to pray. And in the midst of the fellow's lecture, this guy stands up and begins to pray. So you never know what I'm going to do on you, you see? So I'm glad you have these chairs, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Well, we're in the book of Matthew, Gospel by Matthew, chapter six, and we're going to begin our reading at verse five, where our Lord instructing the people, he said, And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogue, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen a man. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. But when, but thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray that thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. For when ye pray, use not vain repetition as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be ye not, therefore, like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him. after this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for nine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen for if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let us pray together. Our Father, as we consider this subject of prayer this morning, what a vital portion is ours to bow before you, to commune with you, and to ask you to speak to our heart. Graciously, our Father, minister to us in this hour. Deliver us from anything that would detract and enable us to stand forth the result of the ministry of your word, full and complete, in all the will of God for Jesus' sake. Amen. When our Lord Jesus was here on earth, he was a man of prayer. However, human beings are ever trying to win the approbation of God by their own works. This is human nature. And they try to seek this. And in so doing, they make a pretense at praying. And our Lord deals with that here. This is the first instruction in the Word of God that the Lord Jesus himself gives concerning prayer. Now our Lord has dealt with the evil practices of the Pharisees, but he also deals with our evil doctrine, and we have both of them here. They had the evil doctrines, and we had that in chapter five. In chapter six, he deals with our evil practices. When you examine the first eighteen verses of Matthew chapter six, we find that our Lord lays down a general principle. It is contrary to the way and the thinking of the natural man. And he does this in relation to three specific areas. The first one has to do with giving. When you give, let it be secret. Don't give to be seen a man. For the more, he then deals with praying. You see, giving is manward. Praying is Godward. Our life lived Godward. And then in the section we did not yet read, beginning in verse sixteen, he deals with a subject of fasting, which is self-worth, that which we do ourselves. Now the first thing we notice in the instruction of our Lord is the reality of prayer. Our Lord says, when ye pray. He didn't say, if you pray. For God takes for granted... that his disciples pray. Now therefore when one prays, since they're going to pray, it is important that we give diligence to perform this duty, this duty of prayer, in a way that is acceptable to God. Now praying is important. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. God said of Saul of Tarsus to Enanias, when he confronted Saul of Tarsus on a Damascus road, Acts chapter nine, verse eleven, he said to Enanias, behold, he prayeth. Now Saul of Tarsus, as a Pharisee, had often said prayer. But this is the first time in his life that he prayed. Now you may be given the same prayer. You see, we have prayers that we teach children, that we teach our children. You see that bedtime prayer, now I lay me down to sleep. And for those sitting on those good cushions back there this morning, you can say, now I lay me down to sleep and the preacher is wrong and the sermon is deep. And if he should finish before I'm awake, somebody kicked me for pity's sake you see we teach children to pray but that isn't prayer that is simply saying words and until a person has been regenerated by the Spirit of God the prayers no matter where they're made no matter by who they're made they never rise higher than the roof A person must be born of God to pray. You see, someone has said the moment a spiritual baby is born into the new creation, it sends up a cry of helpless dependence toward the source of its birth. And Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Highway, the Lord could say about him, behold, he prayed. And what was he doing? He was acknowledging who Jesus Christ is. And he realized that his whole life as a religious person was wrong. And he needed the salvation of God that's in Christ Jesus. And my friend, until you have that, you have nothing and you're not able to pray. There is such a thing as reality in prayer. Our Lord says, when you pray, he's talking to disciples. He's talking to disciples. Now, that brings us to the negatives and the positives of prayer. Restraint in prayer. Now, this is the first recorded utterance of Christ on the subject of prayer. And the warning is against hypocrisy. Now, we need to take this for what it says. It's our genuine warning. In other words, don't be ostentatious in your devotions. In other words, don't parade publicly your piety. That's what the Pharisees did. They were looked at as being great and spiritual. Oh my, when they stood to pray, that was something. You see, God said with hypocrisy, that's what it was. In other words, don't seek to attract the notice of others. to win greatness for yourself or the reputation of being spiritual. That's not the purpose of prayer. What is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is a person who assumes the character that he is not. That is a hypocrite. Now what was the purpose of the Pharisees? What was the Pharisee doing? Well, he was praying to be seen amen. Now our Lord is not condemning the posture of prayer. when he said Pharisees love to pray standing. He's not talking about the posture in prayer that, well, it wouldn't be so bad if you kneeled instead of pray, instead of stood. That's not what our Lord is saying, because our Lord stood when he prayed at the grave of Lazarus. Furthermore, our Lord is not forbidding public prayer either. For you remember Paul in front of a whole ship's company of two hundred and eighty-five souls He stood and he gave thanks for everybody. Acts chapter twenty seven. Our Lord isn't condemning public prayer. You see, what he's doing is trying to get us to keep the balance. What our Lord is doing and teaching is what is the motive and the manner behind your prayer. You see, preachers pray. And preachers can be guilty of praying to the congregation. We're praying to other people instead of addressing the Lord. All preachers can do that so easily. And then, of course, this ministry of our Lord is directed to ministers in particular. You see, people expect ministers to be pious, you see. They expect ministers to be pious. Now, if we're asked to lead in prayer, We need to examine our hearts. And we need to cry to God in order that He mortifies pride in us. And we don't pray to the congregation. We don't pray to be heard and seen amen. But we are addressing the holy God of heaven. Who alone can meet the situations of life. For that word therefore in the beginning of our Lord's prayer. that he taught his disciples to pray, directs us in this area. You see, our Lord in this passage is commending the virtue of sincerity. You and I, who pray in public, must discharge the public duty of prayer the same as we would if we were alone all by ourselves at home. Just talk to God. That's all. Did you ever listen to someone who put on a different voice when they pray? I have often. Doesn't mean a thing. Doesn't mean a thing. The message of our Lord in this passage comes to us where we are. Now, we want to look at the positive side of this. We want to look, first of all, at the place prayer. Our Lord says, when you pray... enter into your closet. In other words, get away from everything that disturbs. Do you know what? I have a telephone in my closet. It's a disturbing thing. I often pray when I'm studying, and there's that telephone. It is a most disrupting thing that you can have. Now, it's very important. but it can disturb your devotion. Our Lord says, get away from that which disturbs. Private prayer is to be as secret as possible. When Christ prayed privately, he withdrew to the mountainside, and many times he spent all night there. He withdrew from the crowd. He retired to the mountain. Now we have to be careful of an extreme here. You know, we're so given to extreme. When Daniel prayed in Daniel chapter six, he opened his windows. Why? That people could hear him pray. But why did he do it? He did it because that if any man prayed to any God other than the king, he would be thrown in a den of lions. So what did he do? He opened a window, as he always did. He was not... He didn't do it to be seen or to be heard. He did it because he knew that he was in communion with the God of heaven. And we don't need to be afraid of the frowns of people. Oh, no. Nor should we be afraid of the sneers of men if we bow our head to give thanks to God before we partake of food in a public place. Let's be balanced. Our Lord says, when you pray, just don't be like the hypocrite. It's the attitude of the heart. Let the heart be sincere. Now, not only is it to be a place of seclusion, it's to be a stated place. The scripture here says, when you pray, enter into your closet. You see, it's a place that we pray. When David heard the news that his boy Absalom had been slain in battle, He went up to the secret place, up the stair, to the secluded place, and as he went he cried, and he prayed. And there he prayed. Furthermore, in Acts chapter seventeen, we learn that the Lord is a possessor of heaven and earth, and he doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. The widow of Zerapath, in first Kings chapter seventeen, when her boy died, She took that boy and took him to the upper chamber where Elijah slept, and she laid a dead boy on the bed of Elijah. A secluded place, you see. Enter into thy closet. Now that word closet is an interesting word. It means secret chamber. Have time with God in secret. In other words, this text speaks of silence. It speaks of secrecy. It speaks of seclusion. And it speaks of separation. We draw away from others. And we draw near unto God. That brings us to the second part. The privacy of prayer. It says, Enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut the door. When thou hast shut the door. Now the spirit and the letter of this verse teach us a lot. They teach us that this idea of special buildings. special prayer rooms and special this or that that enables you to draw near to God are worthless. You see, God can meet me if I'm in a boat. He can meet me if I'm in a closet. For the Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't dwell in a temple made with hands. This is why I object to what is known as the altar call today. That prayers said at an altar mean more than prayers said somewhere else. We must be so careful. The God that we serve is a transcendent God. He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. But he has been pleased to reveal himself to us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is spirit. and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Therefore, no matter where we are, I can never be anywhere that God is not. And I can never be anywhere where I cannot pray and enter into communion with our Lord. Now, that brings me to the third part. Not only do we have the place of prayer, not only do we have the privacy of prayer, but we have the privilege of prayer. Our Lord says, when you enter your closet, and when you shut the door, you pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees where, in secret, shall reward thee openly. Hebrews eleven six says, He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who diligently seek Him. And we know as we draw nearer to God because of His attributes and His perfection. When we think of the attributes of God, we think of His ineffable holiness. God is holy, friends. He cannot admit any taint of sin. But He's almighty and He power. Almighty power belongs to Him. He is unchanging in His faithfulness. He's infinite in His mercy. And when we think of his law, the infiniteness of the love of God, the privilege of prayer rewarded openly. I love to think of First, Second Kings chapter eight, of that widow. You see, well, she wasn't a widow. She was a great woman. She's called a great woman. And Elisha the prophet stopped there. And God had blessed her abundantly. And Elisha the prophet had raised her boy from death to life. And one day Elisha said to her, to this woman, I want you to move. I want you to go wherever you want to go. But God has called for a famine in the land and the famine is going to last seven years. God revealed his will to this woman. Well, she went. She dwelt in the land of the Philistine seven years. See. Her communion with God was basically private. God revealed his mind through the prophet, and she obeyed the voice of the Lord. Now, when she came back, God never told her what would happen to her in the land wherever she went. He didn't tell her what would happen to her when the seven years were over. He just told her to go, and in secret she determined to obey God. Thy father, who seeeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Well, the time came, and she returned from the land of the Philistines So she went to see the king to get her house and all her land and everything that belonged to her. And just as she was going in to see the king, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha was there. You talk about divine providence working on behalf of the people of God. And just as the king said, tell me about the dead boy that Elisha the prophet raised the life. And Gahazai, the servant of the Lord, he looked, and he said, Well, there is a boy, and there's a boy's mother. And she was rewarded. You know what she got that day? All the fruit of the land that her land brought forth in the seven years she was gone, was given to her, and she was restored unto everything. Thy father, who seeeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. You see it. Now, This expression, reward thee openly, is set over against, verse five, for it speaks of the Pharisees who love to pray to be seen and heard of men. They have their reward. When? No. No. And if you pray to be seen or heard of men, you've got it. You've got your reward. But if you pray entering into the secret place of the Most High, to have fellowship with the Lord of heaven and earth, The reward will be openly. You see, the Pharisees was not the approbation of God. It was the admiration of men. And then our Lord said something else. He said, now when you pray, don't use vain repetition. Our duty in prayer is not merely labor. And when he talked about vain repetition, that doesn't mean that you cannot ask for something more than one. Let's again be balanced. You see, Paul asked the thorn in the flesh to be removed, and he asked three times. In the hundred and nineteen psalms, the psalmist cries out, teach me thy statutes, O Lord. And he asked that same prayer seven times. What is our Lord talking about? He's talking about men like the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel that you read about in First Kings chapter eighteen. They were saying a lot of words, but didn't mean anything. In other words, our Lord is saying that cold, formal prayers that have no genuine meaning of devotion are worthless. I want you to look at verse eight in particular. Verse eight says, be you not therefore like unto them. Don't be a person who just babbles words. Don't be like unto them. And then he adds, for your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask. And what is Christ using here is that he saved the prayer, the knowledge of the Father. He uses that as an inducement to pray in full. Now, isn't it amazing? This is a very reason that the infidel gives for not praying. The unbeliever says this very truth, or this very thing, not the prayer. They say, well, is your God omniscient? Oh, yeah. He knows all things. Well, if he knows everything, why do you pray? Why do you try to inform him? You see, let me tell you something. We don't inform God with our wants. Oh, no. Well, why do we pray if God knows what we need before we ask? Why do we pray? First, we pray because it is obedience to his commandment that requires this duty. Men are always to pray and not to face. Second, prayer honors him. It acknowledges Him as the knower of our heart. Third, He is the giver of all mercy. Prayer is a means that heaven has ordained for souls to receive the gifts of heaven. And the one to whom we pray is our loving Father who uses prayer to ensure the supply of every need of his children. Why preach? You see, the same truth that the certain groups of people use as the preaching of the gospel. Well, if God is a sovereign God and he chooses, why do you preach the gospel? Aren't they going to be saved anyway? You see, it is through the preaching of the gospel that God saves sinners. Well, does God know every need that you have? Yes. He knows them better than I do. He knows it before you ask, yes. And yet you ask? That's right. He's commanded me to. The same as he's commanded me to preach the gospel. Now, let's see how this works. When you were saved, what were you doing? I've asked this question of all these kinds of people. That moment that you trusted Christ, what were you doing? I'll tell you what you were doing. You prayed, but you're not saved by praying. The Word of God nowhere says that you're saved by praying. The Word of God said you're saved by believing. But when you got saved, you were praying. Why? It is through that medium of prayer that faith became a genuine reality too. And it's through the medium of prayer that the supply of our needs, the fellowship with God, the preparation of the heart becomes a genuine reality to the people of God. Do you pray? Do you know something of entering into the closet and shutting the door and praying to your Father in secret? I'll tell you something, and I'm not bragging when I tell you this. There have been times when I was oppressed, and I went to my father in secret. No one else knew anything about it. And while I was praying, I knew that I had the answer to my prayer, and it was days in coming. And I was assured of the answer when I was before the Lord. as I was when the answer came. That's genuine communion with God. I ask you in the name of the Lord, do you know anything about it? Our text this morning doesn't say if you pray, it says when you pray. And if you're a genuine child of God by the blood of his cross, then prayer is as much a reality to you, and it should be as a baby calling to his mother in crying after it's born. When you pray, say, that's what we have in Luke chapter eleven. Is this matter of salvation a reality? Is this matter of prayer a reality? Now this one to whom we pray is the Lord of heaven and earth. Therefore let us sing together. In number four hundred three. Like a river glorious is God's perfect peace. Overall victorious in his bride and creed. Perfect yet it floweth for every day. Perfect yet it groweth deeper all the way. Stayed upon Jehovah. He's the one to whom we pray. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding as he promised perfect peace and rest. Let's sing together that first stanza of four hundred three as we stand in Steve Lee. Folks, you're here without Christ. Don't go away without him. Trust him, the dead end.