THE WRONG MOTIVE IN PRAYER

MATTHEW 6:5

A. "AND WHEN THOU PRAYEST, THOU SHALT NOT BE AS THE HYPOCRITES ARE: FOR THEY LOVE TO PRAY STANDING IN THE SYNAGOGUES AND IN CORNERS OF THE STREETS, THAT THEY MAY BE SEEN OF MEN. VERITY I SAY UNTO YOU, THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD."
  1. Our Lord, who reads the thoughts and motives of men turns the attention of his listeners:
    1. To the field of public prayer, as practiced by the Pharisees
    2. He exposes their hypocritical motive in parading their prayers in public places
  2. In so doing:
    1. They sought to impress unsurmising and gullible by-passers, as being pious
    2. But in this they showed conclusively that they were blind to the true purpose of prayer
B. "WHEN THOU PRAYEST"
  1. Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are"
    1. How are they? They feign to be something which they are not - as was the case of the praying Pharisee - Luke 18:11,12; and as was Saul when he worshipped before God in spite of his disobedience - I Sam. 15:12
    2. They pretend to be something which they are not - thus deceiving themselves and others - Matt. 23:25
  2. When prayer becomes an abomination in the sight of God:
    1. When it is used to advertise and serve the human ego - that is when prayer, a holy vocation, becomes the servant of human selfishness - Job 27:8-10
    2. When the words are there, but the heart is far removed from God - Is. 29:13; Luke 18:10,11
    3. When the prayer is the very opposite of the life one lives
    4. Says the Preacher, "He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination" - Prov. 28:9
    5. "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight." - Prov. 15:8
    6. Said the Psalmist, "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me" Ps. 66:18
C. THERE IS, DEAR FRIENDS, DANGER EVEN IN PRAYING
  1. When the motive is sinful:
    1. In many instants - human selfishness becomes the barrier to our prayers - Examples: Balaam prayed three times to God, yet each prayer was motivated by his selfishness - Num. 22:5-11; the praying pharisee - Luke 18:11-12; King Uzziah - 2 Chron. 26:16-21
    2. When we seek the blessings of the Lord to use them for our own selfish ends - James 4:3-4; Jer. 11:11-14; Examples: Hezekiah prayed for recovery from his illness - then he misused the experience - Is. 39:1-6
  2. It is, therefore, imperative for us before we pray:
    1. That we search our hearts to know if there be any wrong and sinful motive in our approach to God in prayer
    2. The Psalmist was deeply concerned about his own motive when he came to God in prayer - "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and knows my thoughts." - Ps. 139:23
    3. Prayer is a most precious privilege, yet it is a most solemn undertaking because God knows our thoughts and our motives - Ps. 139:1-15
    4. "The Lord knows the thoughts of man that they are vanity" - Ps. 94:11; Is. 55:8-11
    5. That we determine the motive in our prayer, then we can approach the throne of grace with holy boldness and full assurance - Heb. 4:14-16
    6. Writes John, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us; and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" - I John 5:14-15
  3. How blessed and helpful the warning of our Lord must ever be even with regard to the wrong and sinful motive of prayer:
    1. For one must ever realize that prayer is directed to God, who knows our every thought and motive
    2. He cannot and will not honor our petition if it is contrary to His holy will
    3. If God would grant some of our petitions they would become our own ruin and damnation


Design © John Bryant 2011