(This exercise was written by Ben Sternke as part of our prayer journey with Christ Church, Fort Wayne)

Our series on prayer began last week by focusing on the Lord’s Prayer. This week we will be looking at several passages from the gospels where Jesus teaches about prayer. Today we start with a look at Matthew 6:5-8. Take some time to read the passage slowly and carefully, jotting down any thoughts or questions you have. Then continue on to read the rest of this post and do the prayer exercise at the end.

Praying to be seen
Jesus teaches us not to pray “like the hypocrites,” who love to pray in public spaces, not because they love God but because they love the commendation they receive from others when they do so. The word “hypocrite” is simply what we would call an “actor” today: people who are pretending to be someone else. The hypocrites are those who are pretending to pray, but really they are simply seeking the recognition of other people. “They have received their reward,” Jesus says. In other words, their prayers had nothing to do with God, so God stayed out of the way. The purpose of their project was getting the attention of other people. That which they sought, they got: attention from others. It had nothing to do with God, so God didn’t involve himself where he wasn’t invited or wanted.

Instead, Jesus tells us, we are to go to our rooms and close the door and pray to our Father, who sees what is done in secret and will reward us. The point is not that public prayer ought never to occur. This would outlaw any kind of corporate prayer. The point is that we ought to simply and honestly bring our concerns and petitions to God, without giving much thought to how we appear to others. When we pray in this way, Jesus tells us we can expect a reward from our Father.

Praying to accumulate merit
So we are not to pray like hypocrites. Jesus also teaches not to pray like “pagans,” people who “keep on babbling” because they think if they shout loud enough or stay fervent enough that the gods might answer because they are impressed with their desperation. These are people who are worried that unless they continually present the “shopping list” to God, he’s going to forget what their needs are. Jesus tells us quite clearly, “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Ours is not a god who is far-off and uninterested, like a father who’d rather read the newspaper and watch TV than engage with his family. The God we call Father is absolutely good, absolutely able, and absolutely wise to carry out his purposes and provide for our needs.

Prayer exercise
Set aside a good 20-30 minutes for this exercise. In this short passage Jesus is teaching that the basis of our prayer life needs to be a confidence that God is an interested, caring Father. Many of us struggle to really live in the constant awareness that God sees us, knows our needs, and longs to meet them. In order to take this from an abstract concept into a concrete belief, we’re going to riff off Psalm 136.

Psalm 136 starts with a general call to give thanks to the Lord, because his love never quits. It then goes into some very specific events in the life of Israel, always echoed by the refrain, “His love never quits!” You’re going to write your own personal Psalm 136:

• First draw a graph of your life. The horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is how close you felt to God, or how well you felt your life was going. Think of significant events, both good and bad, and trace a path of your life.
• Now think of the significant moments those points on the graph represent, and begin writing your Psalm, using the words below as the general pattern.

I thank you, High God
Because your love never quits.
Your love has been with me
From the moment of my conception until now.

When I first said ‘yes’ to you as a child, naïve and trusting,
Your love was there.
When I spent years in apathy and wanting to fit in
Your love was there.
When I first gave you my whole life, laid everything down,
Your love was there.

…etc…

And now as you’re bringing me into an unknown future,
Your love is here.

• Simply pray your Psalm back to God and rest in his love.

Yesterday, according to Jesus’ instructions, we learned to begin prayer by honoring God as our good and powerful Father and remembering how he continually cares for us. Today, in Matthew 6:10, Jesus teaches us to pray as revolutionaries:

“Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.”

This portion of Jesus’ prayer resembles classic Hebrew poetry, where two parallel lines interpret and explain one another other.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done”
Christians talk quite a bit about “The Kingdom of God” and its coming, and for good reason – the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of heaven” was Jesus’ central gospel message. This portion of the prayer teaches us what the kingdom of God actually is: the place where his will is being done.

“On earth as it is in heaven”
Jesus follows up the theological lesson on the kingdom with this startling line where we are taught to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth. Jesus is teaching that in prayer we are to think of the ways in which God’s will is not being done on earth, and pray that his powerful rule would come to those situations.

This brings up some disturbing questions: Doesn’t God always get His way? Isn’t He in control? If so, why would Jesus teach us to pray that His will would come about and what do our prayers have to do with God’s power coming to earth?

And yet, this is how Jesus teaches us to pray. Take some time to do so now.

Prayer Exercise
Find time to pray alone and uninterrupted for at least 15 minutes. Pray this portion of the Lord’s prayer several times, allowing it to sink into your heart. Meditate on the words. Then, ask yourself: where is God’s will not being done in your life, in your city, in the world? Imagine how those situations would be different if God were getting His way. Pray for that.

Daily Advent Reading #1:

• Adults: Isaiah 52:1-12
• Kids: Isaiah 52:7

¹ Awake, awake, O Zion,
clothe yourself with strength.
Put on your garments of splendor,
O Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
will not enter you again.

² Shake off your dust;
rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.

³ For this is what the LORD says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed.”

⁴ For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“At first my people went down to Egypt to live;
lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

⁵ “And now what do I have here?” declares the LORD.
“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
and those who rule them mock, ”
declares the LORD.
“And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.

⁶ Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I.”

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.

⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.

¹⁰ The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.

¹¹ Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

¹² But you will not leave in haste
or go in flight;
for the LORD will go before you,
the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Advent is a Christian season practiced during the four weeks leading up to Christmas and helps us commemorate the first coming of Christ while also anticipating his return. Rediscovering the practice of Advent can help us shake off the commercialization of Christmas and reclaim this season for worship again, for genuine gift-giving, and especially, for fixing our faith on the radical hope of Christ.

Our Advent season this year will be marked by three practices:

Four Advent Sunday Gatherings
We’ll begin with the first of four gatherings starting on Sunday, November 29th. These will be short worship gatherings (about an hour) in each others homes that will involve everyone and focused on drawing our attention toward Christ and his coming. We’ll have scripture readings, songs, and prayer together. The dates and locations are:

Today is the last day of our journey through the Sermon on the Mount. You’ve spent almost 2 months reading and reflecting on the most important teachings of the most important person to walk the earth. Now is your chance to reflect on the big picture:

• What are some of the most important lessons you took from this?
• How did this change your perception of Jesus and his teachings?
• How will The Sermon on the Mount affect your practice of Christian faith from here on?
• Find someone to partner with and share your reflections. Talk about how you can help each other continue your journey of following Christ.

Today is our day to practice worship together. If you’re not part of Ikon Community, get together with a group of friends and practice the following exercises:

• Eat together
• Receive communion together (choose a reading from John 6:43-58, or 2 Cor 11:23-26, a liturgical book like the Book of Common Prayer)
• Read all, or some portion of the beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12 or Luke 6:17-26, together and share your experiences from your exercises this week
• Pray for anyone in need

Today is a Reflection Day. Enjoy the break.

Read the last portion of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 7:24-29 and do the exercises below:

• Jesus tells us here to put his teachings into “practice.” There are two ways to practice: Athletes have long known that aside from physically going through the motions, it’s critical to mentally visualize yourself performing new skills too. In fact, as a general rule, if you can’t imagine yourself doing a skill first, then you can’t learn to do it physically. So, the twofold question is, what do you tend to “practice” most in life? What do you tend to think about most and what do you tend to physically practice most?
• How can you begin to put Jesus’ teachings into practice more effectively in your life? What teaching in Matthew 5-7 provides you with the most understanding for how to do that?
• Jesus himself lived his life among others in a community of faith, and called others to do the same. Who are the people that you might consider inviting to walk more closely with you through your exploration of faith?
• Heavier lifting: Read Proverbs Chapter 1 and compare it to the words of Jesus here. What are the similarities?

Read Matthew 7:15-23 and do the exercises below:

• What words stand out to you most from this passage and why?
• I have a friend who calls “I never knew you” (v23) the four scariest words in the Bible. Reflect on what these words mean. How can Christ “know” us?

Read Matthew 7:13-14 and do the following exercises:

• What do you think the “narrow gate” and “narrow road” refers to? What other passages in the Sermon on the Mount (Chapter 5-7) also refer to this theme?
• Compare and contrast the previous passage (v7-12) with this one (v13-14). How are they similar? How are they different?
• What one word would you choose to summarize v7-12? What one word would you choose to summarize v13-14?
• How do these passages challenge your understanding of faith?