Secret Praying Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. In the race of life, success with God depends on time spent with Him in secret, time given to the discipline of prayer. For many, prayer is mysterious, especially private prayer. To find out what secret praying is all about, please stay with us.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, you are teaching us about sharing secrets with God. I believe you are turning to Matthew chapter 6 today. Yes, Dave, and I'm speaking about secret praying. Jesus said that we should go into the closet, and the Heavenly Father who sees in secret will reward us openly. Oh, I pray that God will help us to know that truth, and it might sink deeply into our hearts.

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Go to rtwoffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now, let's go to the words of Jesus about praying in that closet. Praying takes work. Only desperate people pray, and that's why God keeps bringing enough trials into our life to make us desperate enough so that we will seek his face. There's another reason why prayer is so difficult, and that is we are praying to an invisible being. It's a little different if we're conversing together, because we understand that, but God can't be seen, and so sometimes our minds wander, and hopefully before this message is over, I'll give you some suggestions on how to take care of that.

But our minds tend to wander, and we begin to wonder whether this invisible being is actually watching us and listening to us. Now, prayer is emphasized in the Bible, and the rabbis emphasized prayer. One of them said, he who prays within his house surrounds it with a wall that is stronger than iron. The problem was that during Christ's time, the whole idea of prayer had really disintegrated into something that was not only displeasing to God, but perfectly nauseating to him. And the reason for this was because the prayers were formalized.

You memorized them. Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. That was recited in the morning. That was recited again in the evening.

In fact, they knew when to recite it in the morning because they were told, the people were told that when it is light enough for you to be able to distinguish the colors, that's the time that you say that prayer. That became old, but they kept doing it. And then in addition to that, there were all kinds of prayers, up to 18 of them that were recited, and it was almost like an incantation or a spell. People just did it by route.

They just did it because that's what you do. Another reason is because there were prayers for all occasions. There were prayers when it lightening.

There were prayers when it thundered. There were prayers that were used at meals. There were prayers that were used when you were in difficulty. Prayers when you were joyful. And so there was a circumstance and people would say to one another, well, what prayer shall we use for this?

Can you imagine? Thinking of prayer in those terms. In addition to that, there were set times for prayer, much like the Muslims have today, and a tendency to long prayers because they thought that if we bang on God's door long enough, surely he will hear and maybe he can even be pestered into hearing. And then in addition to that, there were people who were praying to be seen by others. You know, Jesus will refer to this in the sixth chapter of Matthew, which is the passage we shall turn to in a moment, but there were those, you know, who pretended that they were so spiritual, they couldn't even make it to the synagogue before they were praying, and so they just prayed on the steps of the synagogue and everybody walked by and thought, my goodness, he couldn't even make it another 20 feet. He was so godly, he had to pray right there. And there were others who prayed in the marketplaces. You know, the Jews, when they prayed, they lift their hands to heaven, their palms toward God, their head is bowed down, and they would pray like this, standing in the corners of the streets and in the marketplaces, and for a show, Jesus said they would make long prayers.

Can you imagine anything more nauseating than that to God and as well as to the people, really? Now, it's in that context that Jesus Christ offers some very important instruction regarding prayer. Jesus is saying, you took the heart out of it.

You missed the point. You don't understand what prayer is all about, and so I invite you to turn to the sixth chapter of the book of Matthew where Jesus discusses this in more detail. You know, we're speaking about secrets in the Christian life, and last time I spoke about secret giving, this time I speak about secret praying, and I might say that this message could totally change your life forever if you and I listened to it carefully and if we obeyed the suggestions that I'm going to be giving.

Some of you who have struggled with addictions, some of you who have problems in your life that God doesn't seem to solve, down deep ingrained habits that you can't get rid of, this would do it if we really took this seriously. This message, along with the next one that is going to be on secret fasting if we put the two of them together. You'll notice what Jesus says, verse 5 of Matthew 6, and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.

I tell you the truth, they have received the reward in full. They prayed to be noticed, people noticed them, end of the deal, but when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father who sees what you have done in secret will reward you. First of all, Jesus said, pray secretly, pray secretly. Now that doesn't mean that we can't pray publicly. Jesus prayed publicly, the disciples prayed publicly, but what Jesus is saying, most assuredly, is please don't pray publicly unless you have first of all prayed privately. Because our public prayers should be the expression of the secret prayers that we offer to God and make sure above all things to pray secretly. Why secretly? Number one, because it helps keep our motives pure.

Because when we're praying in secret in the closet with the door closed, we're not praying that others would hear us, we're not praying hoping that the members of our family will find us. We are there simply because we want to be and it's between us and God. And so we do that in order that we might keep our motives pure. But we also do it to develop intimacy, that relationship. You know, there are times, there are times when three is a crowd.

There are times like that. And I want you to know that there are times in our relationship with God when it's just us and God as we go into the depths of our soul and tell God things that we could never tell anybody else, get to the closets of the heart where all of the things are hidden and we drag it out in God's presence. We honestly tell him exactly how we feel and we begin to develop those secrets with him, those good secrets of times of fellowship that we don't even have to explain to anyone else and it happens there in private.

You've heard me quoted before, haven't you? My God and I, we walk the fields together. We walk and talk as good friends should and do. We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter.

My God and I, we walk the meadows through. There are some things that you can share only with God and there in the closet you develop that kind of intimacy. Jesus said, when you pray, go into your closet, shut the door, pray secretly. He said, pray expectantly, pray expectantly.

You'll notice that the text goes on to say this. And when you pray, go into your room and close it. Jesus said, verse 7, and when you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them for your father knows what you have needed before you ask him. You know, the pagans have vain repetition and they keep talking and babbling. You remember in the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, that's what they did. The pagans cried to Baal for a half day. They kept saying, hear us, O Baal, hear us, O Baal, hear us, O Baal, hear us, O Baal. Jesus said, don't be like that. They can be like that because they have to say that because Baal's not listening. But when you talk to God, he's listening.

If I may use the marriage illustration and take it a step further. You know, some of us who are married, we know that when our wives talk to us, they have to tell us the same thing again and maybe again and maybe again and maybe again. Some of you guys are laughing and you know right well that you have a good reason to laugh. And I heard an amen even from the choir coming from the choir.

And it breathes there the man with soul so dead who hasn't listened to his wife say something like this, how many times do I have to tell you? Or you weren't listening last time. Well, that's the way we are. But that's not the way God is. God's not like that. When his bride, his people talk to him, he's listening. And therefore we don't have to use vain repetition.

Now that does not mean that we can't mention the same request more than once. Jesus did that too. The disciples did that. Paul did that.

He said, I besought the Lord three times that he might take this thorn away from me. That's not the point. But what Jesus is saying is realize that when you pray, God is immediately listening. You don't have to keep repeating the same thing.

Why? Because number one, he has very good ears, very good ears. He is listening and he is listening very carefully.

In him we live and we move and we have our being and God is there in the closet. Now also, it's because God has a good memory. Why do you have to mention him again? He remembers what you said yesterday. He's not like your husband ladies.

Just cheer up, cheer up. He's not that way. God knows and he understands and then Jesus adds these very, very beautiful words that ought to bless and warm our hearts. He says in verse eight, do not be like them for your father knows what you have need of before you ask him.

You come before the Lord and God already knows exactly what's on your heart. He understands the situation fully. He does not have to do any research to be caught up to date as to what is happening. You do not have to go to him again and again and again on the same issue as if he's not listening and can't remember what it is that you mentioned to him yesterday.

He's not like that. He is God, all knowledge, all memory, all and all and he's with us right there and that's why you can come before God and sometimes not use words. You don't always have to say things in God's presence. Sometimes you simply come and you simply rest in the Lord and you meditate on his promises and that's all that you do and that's all that you need because he knows in advance what your need is. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed, the motion of the hidden fire that trembles neath the breast.

You have a father who cares about you. So how do we pray? We pray secretly.

We pray expectantly. We know that he's listening and we also pray thoughtfully, thoughtfully and here Jesus gives us a pattern for prayer which is sometimes referred to as the Lord's prayer and it's the Lord's prayer because he taught us to pray this way but strictly speaking it isn't his prayer, it's the disciples' prayer because he would never have to pray. Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who have debts against us and so we wouldn't have to, he doesn't have to pray that way but he's giving us a pattern for prayer and he didn't intend that this short prayer be memorized though it's fine to memorize it and to be recited regularly he just said don't have vain repetition as the heathen do. There is a danger in memorized prayers. I think sometimes prayers can be memorized, prayers can sometimes be read and that's fine because there are ideas that you want to form and you want to form them properly and that's fine but if there's no heart in it, if this is just a prayer you're looking up what page it's on, you've missed the whole point and so Jesus said pray after this manner, pray in this way.

He did not say pray these words. Now what I'd like to do in the next few moments is to give you a pattern for prayer based on what Jesus revealed to us that could be life transforming. You know here at Moody Church we have what is known as the prayer wall. The prayer wall means that in addition to your regular praying that there is one hour a week designated when you especially meet to the Lord, just set aside and this time is for God. Some of you are on that prayer wall and perhaps you're discouraged, others of you have never signed up. I've had some people say well you know I pray a lot more than that, why should I even be on the prayer wall and I say well God bless you, we'll get a special wall for you folks but you know there are a lot of people here you've never signed up and you don't plan to and I'll tell you why. You say to yourself what on earth would God and I do together for a whole hour.

That's what you're thinking. A whole hour with a friend, I mean that's one thing but a whole hour with an invisible God, what would we do? You know what we need to do? We need to take some lessons from some of the folks who have preceded us, some of the godly people.

You know what they would do? When they were in that closet they would always bring a Bible and a hymnal, a Bible and a hymnal, absolutely essential for that hour. If your soul wants to be blessed and if you want to honor the Lord.

But let me give you the pattern that Jesus has. First of all there is adoration, adoration. Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

You'll notice that first of all Jesus refers to God's name, our Father and the Greek word is really the Aramaic which is really daddy or papa. I mean here's where you have the intimacy with God. The recognition that if you being evil know how to give good gifts onto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good gifts unto you? God is really a good God. Now we see ourselves in distress, we see unanswered prayer, we see heartache and immediately we begin to think that God is not good and that's what keeps us from really seeking him.

We say well how do I know if at the end of the time of seeking him I'm going to get what I want? Well I'll comment on that in just a moment but I want you to know that all true prayer for the believer begins with a recognition that we are talking about an infinite being, the universe 20 billion years across and God much bigger than the universe, God infinite and we're talking about him and we're saying to him Father, Father. Well notice Father who art in heaven, yes oh he's in heaven but he's also on earth, he's transcendent and he is imminent as the theologians tell us. In India there was a missionary who said that he saw people tapping on a tree or tapping on a stone and whispering are you in there, are you in there because of the pantheism that nature is God and objects are God and what you have is therefore the idea that God resides in.

Well yes we as Christians believe that God resigns in but he's also independent of the universe and therefore he is our father in heaven and he's also our father on earth and we don't have to tap to see whether or not he's there. He is immediately present to us and so we say hallowed be thy name, thy name be honored, thy name is holy. Now notice under adoration we have first of all the name of God, the name of God and what you can do is during this time that you are there in the closet spending your hour with God you can meditate on his names.

There are various books and various helps that remind us of all of the names of God as to who he is. You'll notice the kingdom of God, your kingdom come and we are praying not merely for the present kingdom of God and the future kingdom, the millennial kingdom which is maybe what Jesus had in mind here but the eternal rule of God and what we're praying when we say those words are we're saying Lord first we are praying for the rule of God in the hearts of people. Isn't that what you pray for when you pray for the members and friends of Moody Church and when you pray for your staff and the elders and the leadership that you're praying for the rule of God, the sovereign work of God in the hearts of his people.

Your kingdom come and we're also praying for the return of Jesus Christ to earth. The name of God, the kingdom of God, the will of God, thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven. Is the will of God done in heaven? I would think that the will of God would be done on in heaven and the will of God done in heaven may it be so even on earth. Now theologically we have to distinguish between two different wills. There is the will of God that is always done on earth. God rules all things after the counsel of his own will.

That has to do with the providence of God but there's another sense in which the will of God is not often done on earth. That is the revealed will of God that we are to live by his precepts that we are to live in devotion to him and yieldedness to him but what we're praying when we pray this is saying oh God your will which is so perfectly done in heaven and so imperfectly carried out on earth may it be oh God that the will of God be done here just as it is being done there. Do you see in this prayer adoration yes but you also see the submission that is involved here the recognition of who we are in relationship to who God is.

So what do you do when you're there in the closet? How do you and God get along for that hour? You begin with adoration. Secondly you begin with supplication. Supplication you'll notice that the text says give us today our daily bread or perhaps as is prayed in city hall every once in a while give us this day our daily. I'm sorry for that I thought that was I thought that was a little better than it turned out to be but but we say give us today our daily our daily bread our daily bread.

Now folks as I look at this I can see for example the the the detail the detail with which we can pray. Is God interested in what we eat? Is he interested in whether or not we get that loaf for the day? The answer is yes yes not one hair of your head falls out but that God recognizes it and takes note of it.

I know in my case he's been doing taking a lot of notes recently. Aren't you glad that God looks upon his people? I see the details in the prayer I also see the faith that is involved because he's not saying Lord give me enough bread for the rest of the month or give me enough bread for the rest of the year or give me enough bread for retirement. What he's saying is give us today our daily bread satisfies today and then you know what you're gonna have to do tomorrow? You're gonna have to do it all over again because today's bread does not last until tomorrow. Well this is Pastor Lutzer that's certainly a lesson that God taught the Israelites isn't it?

The manna would get old by the next day. Jesus is making a point and that point is simply this that we should depend upon him daily. You know if you are blessed as a result of running to win it's because other people have invested in this ministry. It might be time for you to become involved so that your gift can bless others. Running to win exists to help people make it all the way to the finish line we deal with contemporary issues we answer the questions that listeners have we want to see their faith deepened and to encourage people as we run the race of life.

Thanks in advance for helping us. If you would like to become an endurance partner that's someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts here's how you can find out more information. You go to rtwoffer.com let me give that to you again rtwoffer.com when you're there click on the endurance partner button and it'll let you know and give you the information that you are seeking or if you prefer you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Let me give you time to find that pen so that you can write this down 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at running to win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614. In the Lord's Prayer Jesus showed us how to pray. Next time on running to win we continue our look at the depth and breadth of meaning latent in these sacred words and we'll gain insights on the way we should each approach God with our petitions. Running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening for Dr. Erwin Lutzer this is Dave McAllister. Running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church.