Notes from "And When You Pray: Or, Why Jesus Doesn't Think Much of Standard Fare Christian Prayer" (Matt 6:5-8) by Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.
[In my Sunday school class at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, we are currently studying through the Lord's Prayer, using Dr. Albert Mohler's book The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down as a discussion guide. This book from Dr. Mohler is based on his teaching from a series of chapel messages that he preached in 2009. Below are my notes from the first of these chapel messages, delivered on February 10, 2009.]
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 men. I tell you the truth, 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). [The above is from the NIV 1984, due to my preference of that translation for this particular passage– Dr. Mohler read from the ESV.]
A person’s prayer reveals that person’s theology:
The way that we teach our children to pray may actually be a form of child abuse– not that we shouldn’t teach our children words to pray, but we should encourage them in heart-felt prayer as soon as possible, to avoid leading them in vain repetition.
2 dimensions of prayer:
1. Private prayer: passages such as the one above reveal that private prayer for Christians is an assumption: in this passage, Jesus does not command His disciples to pray [although we are commanded to pray in other passages]; He assumes that those following Him will be people characterized by prayer.
2. Public prayer: this is an assignment for Christians, as seen in the Lord’s Prayer, when the pronouns are first person plural, rather than singular.
Presuppositions upon which prayer is based:
1. We are able to commune with God because we are made in His image.
2. Prayer is NOT an exercise in human creativity– we must pray in spirit and in truth.
Misconceptions concerning prayer [discussing what the nature of prayer is NOT]:
1. That prayer is therapy (prayer may rightly disturb rather than soothe us, depending on our circumstances);
2. That prayer is an exercise in manipulation;
3. That prayer is for the purpose of persuading God (as if God were complacent or hostile toward us as Christians);
4. That prayer is an exercise in bargaining or negotiating.
Correctives to our prayer from this text [discussing, even if we have a better understanding of the nature of prayer than mentioned above, what the motivation for our praying must NOT be]:
1. We are NOT to pray in order to impress other people.
2. We are NOT to pray in order to attempt impressing God.
[Listen to the entire message by Dr. Mohler HERE. Read the official chapel live-blog for this message HERE.]
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 men. I tell you the truth, 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). [The above is from the NIV 1984, due to my preference of that translation for this particular passage– Dr. Mohler read from the ESV.]
A person’s prayer reveals that person’s theology:
The way that we teach our children to pray may actually be a form of child abuse– not that we shouldn’t teach our children words to pray, but we should encourage them in heart-felt prayer as soon as possible, to avoid leading them in vain repetition.
2 dimensions of prayer:
1. Private prayer: passages such as the one above reveal that private prayer for Christians is an assumption: in this passage, Jesus does not command His disciples to pray [although we are commanded to pray in other passages]; He assumes that those following Him will be people characterized by prayer.
2. Public prayer: this is an assignment for Christians, as seen in the Lord’s Prayer, when the pronouns are first person plural, rather than singular.
Presuppositions upon which prayer is based:
1. We are able to commune with God because we are made in His image.
2. Prayer is NOT an exercise in human creativity– we must pray in spirit and in truth.
Misconceptions concerning prayer [discussing what the nature of prayer is NOT]:
1. That prayer is therapy (prayer may rightly disturb rather than soothe us, depending on our circumstances);
2. That prayer is an exercise in manipulation;
3. That prayer is for the purpose of persuading God (as if God were complacent or hostile toward us as Christians);
4. That prayer is an exercise in bargaining or negotiating.
Correctives to our prayer from this text [discussing, even if we have a better understanding of the nature of prayer than mentioned above, what the motivation for our praying must NOT be]:
1. We are NOT to pray in order to impress other people.
2. We are NOT to pray in order to attempt impressing God.
[Listen to the entire message by Dr. Mohler HERE. Read the official chapel live-blog for this message HERE.]
Labels: Bible study
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