I took it from the top. Okay, hi! My name is Denny Finnegan, and whether this is your first time joining us for virtual worship or this is a return visit on your part, we welcome you to join us in this time of worship. The only thing that I’m sad about is that I don’t get the opportunity to talk with the many people who come on Sunday mornings. But this is still a blessing, and even though we are not virtually in the same room, we are virtually together as the body of Christ.
So I hope this time will bless you as it does bless me as well. Before we begin our time of worship, there are just a few announcements I’d like to share with you. You can find these announcements at the end of the bulletin after the sermon outline that is posted on the website under the PDF under bulletins and such news and events. This will help you to see and remember some of these different announcements.
One announcement is that we are still helping out with People Helping People. If you would like to continue to contribute to that ministry, if you’re able to get any canned food items or fresh fruit, you can drop them off here at the church on either Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays between 8 and 1 while also socially distancing. As the items accumulate, I take them down to People Helping People to be an additional blessing to this ministry that feeds people seven days a week at lunchtime. Any fresh food items will usually be stored in the refrigerator until they are ready to be taken down.
Secondly, if this service ends up blessing you, in the announcements under announcement number three, there is a link to the sermons that you can copy and paste and then either text or email to somebody that you believe might need to hear this message, either because it might encourage them or it might give an opportunity to introduce them to get to know Jesus better. Whatever you may be led to do, we hope it blesses you and that through you, it can be a blessing to someone else.
Finally, a third announcement that I have for you is that if you have a prayer request, we want to make sure that we can take your prayer requests and send them to our prayer chamber as part of keeping our community of faith supportive of one another. Just call down to the office with your prayer request, an update on a prayer request, or maybe even a praise report of an answer to prayer. Don’t worry if Kerry’s not there because we do have voicemail, and Kerry will get those messages to me, and I will get them to our prayer team.
Now before we enter into our time of worship, one of the things that I believe is important for us to do as a church body is to remember why we gather so we will know why we go back out and disperse after the service is over. We confess together our mission statement, which is up on the screen behind us and will also be scrolled across the video feed. It is also in the order of worship as well. Please join with me right now as we confess together our mission statement for why we come and then why we go back out.
We serve to build relationships. We build relationships to share the gospel. Amen!
Now, before we prepare to give ourselves to Jesus through our call to worship, I’m going to ask if you would join with me in prayer. Let’s silence ourselves and declare to Jesus that we have come this day to give ourselves to Him and to worship Him. Would you please pray with me?
Lord Jesus, what a privilege you give us to worship you in spirit and in truth. I lift up all the people who are watching us and will be watching this, Lord Jesus, that your Holy Spirit even now would touch our hearts, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that wants to know what Jesus wants us to know. So Jesus, we declare that we come to you in this time to be a living sacrifice for your honor and for your glory. May the Lord Jesus bless you by His Holy Spirit. Now it’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
The call to worship that we will be doing at this time is from Psalm 145:17 through 21 as part of our preparation to give ourselves to Jesus. I will speak the leader part, but I will also speak your part as well so that we can stay together in this.
Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 145:
‘The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.’ Amen.
At this time, one of our responses and also a part of our preparation for worship is a prayer of confession that will also be showing up on your screen. At the end of it, we will pause for a bit to allow you for your own personal prayers of confession. But also, I want to assure you that in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
So would you please join with me right now in our prayer of confession?
Almighty God, Lord, we have sinned and been self-centered without considering how much you love us. You see our sins more clearly than we can see them ourselves. Lord, you know when we are indifferent to your word and how often we forget to pray. You know the times when we come unwillingly to worship yet we turn to you when we are in trouble.
Lord, you know when we are untruthful and when we think ill of others. You see our anger and our unkindness, and you know how hard it is for us to forgive. Lord, we ask you to forgive us and make us clean, willing to obey your call. We want to be salt and light in a dark world so that others know that we follow you through Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray. Amen.
Now let’s just pause for a moment. Let’s bow our heads and offer up to the Lord the opportunity to show us anything He would set us free from. Lord Jesus, if there is any unkindness, any unforgiveness, any habits that we participate in that you wish to remove from our lives, show us what these are right now, Lord. As you give us the courage to forgive, which means to let go of these things, then you also forgive and let go of these things.
So Lord Jesus, we lift these things up to you and ask that you would remove them from our lives. And now, Lord Jesus, as you have promised, wash our hands and our lives clean. You have promised to cleanse us from all unrighteousness through your forgiveness. So by the blood of Jesus Christ, I now declare you forgiven and clean in Jesus’ name. Amen.
At this time, as part of our response to what God does to prepare us for worship, that also responds to the prayer of confession and our call to worship, I’m going to ask that you would join with me in this hymn that is a type of prayer, a confession of our joy to the Lord. It’s called ‘O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.’
[Music]
O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise, The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease; ‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ‘Tis life and health and peace. He breaks the power of canceled sin; He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean; His blood availed for me. Hear, Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ; Ye blind, behold your Savior come, And leap, ye lame, for joy. My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim, To spread through all the earth abroad The honors of Thy name.
[Music]
Thank you for joining with me in that word of praise!
At this point in our worship service, oftentimes what we do is have the opportunity to continue our worship with the offering of our tithes. That particular announcement for how to do that is also included at the end of the order of worship.
I would just like to mention that we have the capability to allow you to tithe by QR code, or you can mail your check into the church. We still believe that God is using this church for ministry, and so it’s our desire to continue that ministry and to give us an opportunity to offer up by faith what God wants to do through this church.
But whether or not you tithe to this congregation or not is not important. What is important is that each one of us finds where and how God would have us support the ministry that He’s doing in our community or through this church.
So first, we give thanks for those who have already given as well as for those who will be. But what I would like to do at this time is simply pray a blessing upon those gifts that God has already provided through you folks or will provide.
So please join with me in prayer.
Lord Jesus, we praise you and thank you for the gifts that have been given, for the way you’ve touched people’s hearts not only through the giving of the gifts but also through the gifts that are given. Lord, we offer ourselves to you to be an instrument and a vehicle of how we might be your blessing and your proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ. We commit these gifts in Jesus’ name. Amen.
At this time, we are going to be continuing with the sermon series that we started last Sunday from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6. Last week, we took a look at something Jesus felt was very important for us to understand about practicing compassion with people.
Today, we’re going to be taking a look at something very important to Jesus about the practice of prayer from Matthew 6:5 through 8. But before I share this word with you, I’m going to ask if you would join with me in prayer.
As Jesus promised to provide His Holy Spirit as our counselor, let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, for all those who will be hearing this word, no matter when it is, the amazing thing is that your Spirit is available to us to touch the hearts of those who hear this word, so that each one of us would be able to receive your word. Holy Spirit, bless those who are hearing this, teach them, counsel them, and sow these words of life into our hearts. I bless you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hear now what Jesus shared with the people back then from Matthew 6:5 through 8.
Jesus said this: “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. 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. 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. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
One thing I noticed about these verses is how the bad prayer practices of others could create barriers to prayer. Look at this bad practice of prayer that Jesus points to in Matthew 6:5.
Jesus says this: “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.”
Jesus talks about this person in the same way He did back in Matthew 6:1 through 4 right before this passage by using the word hypocrite for both. As a reminder, a hypocrite was a Greek word for a stage actor, that is, a person who pretended to be someone they were not. In particular, Jesus points out that their behavior was solely for the praise and adulation of the people who observed what they did. Just like for actors, Jesus is drawing our attention to people who make a show of things in both the synagogues and in the streets in order to be noticed or praised by them.
In Matthew 6:1 through 4, these pretenders or posers used acts of compassion to draw attention to themselves, and now, in verses 5 through 8, they are using their prayer practices to impress people.
I can think of at least three reasons why this type of prayer performance could create barriers to prayer.
The first reason that comes to my mind is this: someone might think, “Well, that person is a religious expert. If that’s the way I’m supposed to pray, then God will never listen to me. I cannot do that.” So they end up not praying at all. Have you ever felt intimidated by the way someone prays?
Here’s the second reason that comes to my mind: someone might see through the insincerity of their performance and become offended. Have you ever heard anyone say, “I don’t go to church because they are just a bunch of hypocrites”? Some people end up not praying or going to church because they are offended by what they have seen other Christians do.
Finally, here’s a third reason that came to my mind, and this is similar to the first one: someone might think, “Well, they’re so good at it! They must have an inside track with God. So I will let them pray for me.” That is one of the number one reasons I have often heard from people. People want me to pray because they label me the expert, the professional. That is what the people of Israel got into the habit of doing with Moses not long after they left Egypt.
Hear how this happened in Exodus 20:18 through 19:
“Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking,”—this is happening on Mount Zion—“the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen, but do let God speak to us, lest we die.’”
The people of God were so insecure and fearful of God that they decided to leave the work of prayer to the professionals, the ones who they believed already had the ear of God. People have continued in this bad habit of prayer for at least a few thousand years. Marsha, my wife, has even had prayer delegated to her because she is a pastor’s wife. I guess they figure that what I do must rub off on her.
When we see someone whose prayer intimidates us or offends us, that can become a prayer barrier to us. Now, while there are other reasons people give for why they do not pray or do not pray very much, Jesus is teaching us here that God desires for us to overcome all wrong attitudes for prayerlessness so that we might be with God.
This morning, we will look at Jesus’ good reasons for why we should pray—the attitude of prayer that Jesus offers us in these verses. Jesus points to something very precious God offers to us in prayer if we have a right attitude in prayer, and that’s what I call the ‘secret place.’
I believe what Jesus says here in Matthew 6:6 reveals God’s heart towards us. Jesus says, “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.”
Why do I say that this verse reveals Jesus’ heart toward us? Because of the phrase “go into your room and shut the door.” The Greek word for “room” that’s used here actually means a room or a place in the house where we will not be distracted or disturbed by others.
To emphasize the importance of this time we are to seek with God, Jesus also uses the word “secret.” In other words, it is a time and place that God could seal or hide and set aside for just us and Him. If God did not want to have one-on-one time with us in such a close and personal way, then why would Jesus encourage us to seek out God the Father in such an intimate way?
Jesus tells us that the triune God wants individual and focused time with each one of us and us with them. We are called to seek the secret place that God wants to meet with just you. Jesus describes a very personal and intimate setting that God wants to host for us with Him.
But why? Again, let me just offer you at least three reasons that I’ve been learning and experiencing for myself.
Number one: I’ve discovered that in my times alone with Jesus, I sense that God wants us to feel the freedom to share what is on our hearts without worrying what other people think or even what God might think.
Secondly, I also have been learning that God wants us to learn the freedom to express our love for Him without embarrassment or shame.
And then third, because God wants us to live in the security of His love for us. Each one of us is God’s favorite.
One way I’ve heard Jesus’ desire for us to meet Him in a secret place is that Jesus desires we pray with Him and not just to Him.
What is the difference? The difference is in the perceived space between us and Jesus. I’ve noticed that when we pray to Jesus, we have a tendency to think of Jesus as being far away and not near—maybe even somewhere else. Praying with Jesus believes Jesus is near in the same secret place we have been invited to by Jesus.
That is why Jesus then moves on to give another warning about another possible prayer barrier to remove those barriers of NMC. I would describe this as a wrong attitude in prayer or what I would like to call prayer babbling, because that is pretty much what Jesus says in Matthew 6:7.
Jesus says this: “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.”
Now, on one hand, I do not believe Jesus is talking about a person who is genuinely and sincerely pouring out their heart to God. For example, 1 Samuel 1:15 shows us this reality with Hannah when she is accused of being drunk by the temple high priest Eli. It says this: “But Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord. I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’”
I believe Hannah demonstrates the kind of freedom of heart God wants us to share with Him in the secret place when we come to Him.
By contrast, the type of prayer babbling Jesus is calling us to move away from is found in two different sets of words in verse 7 of chapter 6. These two sets of words are “empty phrases” and “many words.”
When we bring both of these two phrases together, Jesus is describing religious people who throw out a lot of pious prayer phrases that sound like the prayer babbling Gentiles possessed by demonic spirits and not the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gives us a snapshot of people who either believe that their prayers are some kind of magical formula that God has to answer, or Jesus is pointing to people who are not praying to God but are simply trying to impress others. Either way, I believe Jesus is referring to people whose prayer babbling only tries to use and control God or to use and control other people rather than to let God be in control of our prayer.
Through this verse, Jesus shows us God’s desire for us to come to Him with open hearts, not prayer babbling. Open hearts that just want to be with Him in prayer.
Why? Because believe it or not, that is also God’s attitude towards us when we come together in prayer.
There are three truths about God’s attitude towards us in prayer that I have been learning and would like to share with you. These are things I’ve discovered through my own prayer adventures with God throughout the years, and I share them with you because I believe if we truly understand what God’s attitude is towards us about our prayer with Him, then maybe we will be encouraged to pray more.
Here’s God’s attitude:
Number one: God’s ability will always be greater than ours. Maybe like me, you have felt so overwhelmed or underwhelmed by the need to pray that you felt it was the last thing you wanted to do or could do. The words just do not seem to be there anymore, nor the energy or motivation to pray.
Here is a promise that God gives to help us in just those times from Romans 8:26 through 27: “Likewise, the Holy 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. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Now, some people have said that these verses refer to the gift of tongues or what’s also known as a prayer language. I do not believe it is limited to just those two options.
To take these words literally, Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says that if we need help to pray—whether it is because we are overwhelmed or underwhelmed—God promises to help us. I do not have the gift of tongues, but I do believe I have a prayer language, even if it is in English, my own language.
Here is a personal challenge: Let Jesus help you pray the next time you are struggling with what to pray. Why not ask Jesus’ Holy Spirit to help you? It is that simple. Then wait and listen, and then pray as you sense the nudge by the Spirit to pray.
The next attitude of God:
Number two: God’s desire will always be greater than ours. There have been times when I was not so sure God wanted to hear from me, either because I had really messed up or because I did not feel good enough in comparison to other people’s goodness. There have also been times when I was apathetic or even complacent about praying. I thought I had better things to do; my desire level was low.
Here’s the promise that God gives us from 1 John 5:14: “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
We’re being told that God’s desire—His confidence towards us—is greater than ours. So no matter how weak our prayer desire may be, we can have confidence towards Jesus because God’s desire to hear our prayers will always be greater than our desire to pray at any given time, no matter what kind of prayer attitude we are struggling with.
So, as another personal challenge, let Jesus give you desire for Him. The next time you’re wrestling with the will and the desire to pray, again ask for help. I believe we pray way less than we believe we should and could. Let Jesus help our prayer to be proactive and not just reactive. Let’s start praying about what God wants to see happen in and through our lives, in and through our families, in and through our communities, state, nation, on and on. Don’t just pray in reaction to a crisis; pray that in Jesus’ name, God will work to avert crises.
Finally, the attitude of God:
Number three: God’s delight will always be greater than ours. I have met people who do not pray because they believe their prayer requests are unworthy to ask. Before, I got intimidated by people who I call prayer grinches. I used to sense the freedom to ask God for a whole wide variety of things, and not because I believed I was trying to be selfish but because I believed in God’s delight.
What the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:20 is this: “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us.”
I believe that God cares about a great deal more of what is happening in our lives than we give God credit for. I believe it pleases Him to bless.
So as a final personal challenge, let Jesus teach you to delight in Him. Believe, when you pray, that God is for you and that you are not inconveniencing Him when you ask for personal things. The worst that can happen is that God will say no, and if He does say no, it does not mean God loves us any less. But then again, He might also say yes.
To close, in summary, here are three things to remember about overcoming barriers to prayer:
1. Jesus desires us to overcome obstacles to prayer. 2. Jesus desires us to pray with Him and not just to Him. 3. Jesus also desires to be with us when we pray.
So let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, right now, I lift up these people—these brothers and sisters who are hearing this word right now. Lord Jesus, let them be encouraged. Let us be encouraged to know that your ability is always greater when we feel we have no ability to pray, that your desire will always be greater when we feel we have no desire to pray, and that your delight for us to pray will always be greater than whatever we may feel at any given moment.
Help us to be encouraged in your delight to be with us and us with you through this work of prayer. May the Lord bless you and protect you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
At this time, as a way just to respond, let’s do so with great thought that God desires to bless us in this time of prayer. I believe it’s a part of what Jesus means when He says that our Father in heaven will reward us. I’d like you to join with me in this praise course that is simply known as ‘Bless the Lord, O My Soul.’ I believe it’s from Psalm 103.
[Music]
[Applause]
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, And forget not all His benefits.
[Applause]
Lord Jesus, I praise you and thank you that it is your delight and your desire to bless us in our times with you. Thank you, Lord God.
At this point in our worship service, we also have an opportunity simply to be God’s blessing to other people by praying together. As the book of Hebrews tells us in chapter 4, that Jesus, our great high priest, has made a way for us to approach the throne of great grace. You can read those verses from Hebrews 4:14 through 16 yourself.
What I would like us to do right now, as we’ve talked about the importance of understanding God’s love for us when we come to our times of prayer, is to ask God to help us pray in four different ways. So whatever prayer position you would like to use—whether you have your eyes open or closed, hands raised or on your lap, or just simply face down—prepare yourself right now.
Here’s the first thing I’d like you to pray: ask Jesus to grow His love in you.
Here’s the second thing: now, ask Jesus to grow His love in someone else who needs His love. Just simply mention their name. Tell Jesus that you want His love to fill you and flow out of you to others—the name of that one particular person.
Now think of our communities in which we live. Ask Jesus to grow His love in our communities. Lord Jesus, fill up our lives and our communities with a flow of your love that does not stop, that pours out of us into the people who are around us.
And Lord, finally, we ask you that you would grow your love in our nation. Blessed be your name, Lord Jesus!
And now, Lord Jesus, we offer up this prayer that you taught us to pray when we say, “Our Father who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, our trespasses, as we forgive those who are our debtors, who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” Amen.
As we prepare to close out this time of worship together, I’m going to ask that you would join with me in another hymn that I hope touches your heart, similar to how it touches me at different times when I think of the lyrics and the reason why it was written. It is “It Is Well with My Soul.” If you do not know this hymn, that’s fine. You’re welcome to just simply speak the words as you see them come up on your screen.
[Music]
When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’
[Applause]
It is well, it is well With my soul. Though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
[Applause]
It is well, it is well With my soul. It is well, it is well With my soul.
[Applause]
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin—not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, And I bear it no more. Praise the Lord!