Narrow Gate Series
Welcome back to the narrow gate series. I hope you’re enjoying our review of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. It’s a homily with crucial Christian truths.
Today, we focus on proper praying. Nothing catches God’s attention more than prayer. In fact, it’s our only way of connecting with His Spirit. I think you’ll agree with me when I say prayer brings powerful results. Every answered prayer gives testimony to God’s unmatched strength. But many people don’t know God’s preferred method of praying.
Christ understands God’s outlook on prayer and shared it in this sermon.
Unfavorable Prayer
Jesus starts with unfavorable praying:
5 “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 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 is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:5-8
Did you notice Christ identified two unfavorable ways of praying? He first showed prideful communication with God doesn’t work. And in verse eight, He unmasked the unpopular repetitive prayers. But in verse six, Christ disclosed God’s intended approach when praying.
Jesus addressed God’s dislike of hypocrites. His publicized prayer isn’t showing others. Prideful prayers have no effect because they root their motivation in self-glorification. They’re not humble but filled with ego and full of self-righteousness.
Repetitive prayers bring no result. These prayers are long with religious rituals aimed at drawing God’s consideration. They fall on deaf ears because their words are meaningless. The Lord knows what’s in our hearts (Hebrews 4:12) and won’t respond for that reason.
But what God wants is private time. This awareness pleases Him and shows our faithfulness. He rewards our alone time with grace manifested through the Holy Spirit. Our conscious connection brings profound outcomes.
Praying From the Heart
As noted, Christ untangled the holy mindset for praying. Next, He unfolded the blueprint for praying from the heart.
He started with:
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Matthew 6:9
Jesus’s immediate words focused on beginning prayer with acknowledging God. He placed the spotlight on our Father. He explained God wants glorification and by placing Him ahead of ourselves shows our adherence to His commands. In fact, hallowed means holy, and God’s holiness surpasses humanity. The two greatest reasons we should praise Him are His creation of us and saving us from eternal damnation.
Then Christ said:
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
Jesus shared praying from the heart recognizes God’s kingdom. This heightens God as sovereign. He is our ruler, salvation, and creator. Christ reminds us to ask our Father for the wisdom of His will. Jesus highlighted God’s will on earth. We are preparing for our place in heaven and, by doing God’s will here on earth, we gain knowledge of His supreme power.
Then He tells us to ask for spiritual food:
11 Give us today our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11
Our daily bread doesn’t come from us or the world. No, it must come from God embodied through Christ and administered from the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our daily bread (John 6:51). Without Him, our spirit stays malnourished, stripped from holiness, and void of God’s grace. The spiritual ingredients are but are not limited to love, peace, joy, forgiveness, holiness, and humility.
The Significance of Forgiveness
His next prayer instructions reference forgiveness.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Matthew 6:12
God embraces forgiveness and Christ reminds us of this profound experience. One of God’s magnificent characteristics is His incredible clemency. It’s through the Lord’s mercy our sanctification emerges. Since God forgave us for our sins, He commands us to do the same with those who sin against us. And forgiving others is the narrow gate because moving past wicked deeds with consistency takes persistent faith.
Jesus ends this prayer with:
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13
This scripture starts with being led away from temptation. Jesus shows us God never leaves us without a defense against Satan’s enticement (1 Corinthians 10:13). The “lead us not” phrase means reliance on God overtakes the devil’s plan to lure us away from His kingdom. And the last part unveils God’s mighty omnipotence over evilness. Christ highlights deliverance from Lucifer’s spiritual darkness only comes from God. So, we must humble ourselves before God and surrender our individualism.
Jesus’ last words on praying from the heart:
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:14
Christ reemphasizes forgiveness. These two verses clarify God’s stance on this significant Christian action. God won’t forgive us until our heart releases animosity towards those who do us wrong. An unforgiven spirit places us at the wide gate because it disobeys God’s forgiving commandment.
As noted, praying from the heart leads to the narrow gate. Glorifying God, performing His will, receiving daily spiritual nourishment, forgiveness, power over temptations, and deliverance from Satan are necessary to live in God’s kingdom. These Christian values aren’t easy, and true believers must use perseverance to stay in goodness with God.
Stop by next week and share your thoughts on fasting, heaven’s treasures, and salvations of holiness.
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