Matthew 6:1 Prayer - For The Glory of Jesus

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Prayer

Do you worship God for praise from men or from God. Let your giving be in private. How is your prayer life?

This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.

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1. What you do is “supposed to be worship rendered to God, never displays of self-righteousness to gain the admiration of others.” (MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. [Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005], 1132)

“The true righteousness of the kingdom must be applied in the everyday activities of life. This is the emphasis in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus related this principle to our relationships to God in worship (Matthew 6:1-18, our relationship to material things (Matthew 6:19-34), and our relationship to other people (Matthew 7:1-20). (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 25)

2. “Giving is between you and God, and the very minute you get a third party involved, you don’t get any credit in heaven.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 36)

3. “The positive alternative Jesus commands is that we should give in such a way that there is no temptation for others to glorify the giver rather than God.” (Blomberg, Craig L., The New American Commentary, Volume 22, Matthew. [Nashville: Broadman Press], 117)

4. “No amount of giving can purchase salvation, for salvation is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9)…It is the glory and praise of God that really counts!” (Wiersbe, 25)

Worship through Prayer

5. “Prayer ought not to be used to gain plaudits, summarize a sermon, or communicate information to an audience but should reflect genuine conversation with God.” (Blomberg, 117)

6. Find a private place in your home to pray. This is between you and Jesus alone. It is not a public prayer.

7. “Prayers are not to be merely recited, nor are our words to be repeated thoughtlessly, or as if they were automatic formulas.” (MacArthur, 1133)

“A request becomes a ‘vain repetition’ if it is only a babbling of words without a sincere heart desire to seek and do God’s will. The mere reciting of memorized prayers can be a vain repetition.” (Wiersbe, 26)

8. “We need not badger him with our requests. God knows our needs, but he has also chosen to grant some things only when his people pray (James 4:2). (Blomberg, 118)

Pray after this Manner

9. Jesus “gave this prayer to keep us from using vain repetitions. Jesus did not say, ‘Pray in these words.’ He said, ‘Pray after this manner’; that is ‘Use this prayer as a pattern, not as a substitute.’” (Wiersbe, 26)

“‘Which art in Heaven.’ God is not a prisoner in this universe—He is beyond and above it…He is the One sitting upon the throne of the universe, and He has it under His control!” (McGee, 37)

“‘Hallowed by thy name,’ more correctly translated, would read, ‘Let thy name be made holy.’” (McGee, 37)

10. “‘Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ expresses the desire that the acknowledgment of God reign and the accomplishment of his purposes take place in this world even as they already do in God’s throne room.” (Blomberg, 119)

“The purpose of prayer is to glorify God’s name and to ask for help to accomplish His will on earth. This prayer begins with God’s interests, not ours: God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will.” (Wiersbe, 26)

Our Needs

11. “If we put God’s concerns first, then we can bring our own needs. God is concerned about our needs and knows them even before we mention them.” (Wiersbe, 26)

12.” Spiritual debts to God are first of all in view. Our pleas for continued forgiveness as believers, requesting the restoration of fellowship with God following the alienation that sin produces, is predicated on our having forgiven those who have sinned against us.” (Blomberg, 120)

13. “In light of the probable Aramaic underlying Jesus’ prayer’ these words seem best taken as ‘don’t let us succumb to temptation (Mark 14:38) or don’t abandon us to temptation.” (Blomberg, 120)

“In this petition we are asking God to guide us so that we will get out of His will and get involved in a situation of temptation (1 John 5:18), for even in a situation of tempting God so that He must miraculously rescue us (Matthew 4:5-7).” (Wiersbe, 26)

“This well-known conclusion (‘for yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.’) appears in the NIV margin but almost certainly did not appear in Matthew’s original text.” (Blomberg, 120)

“It nevertheless affords a very appropriate conclusion, and no one need campaign to do away with its use in churches today. Christians regularly and rightly utter many things in prayer that do not directly quote the autographs of Scripture.” (Blomberg, 121)

Forgive Others

14. “When we forgive each other, we are not earning the right to prayer, for the privilege of prayer is part of our sonship (Romans 8:15-16).” (Wiersbe, 26)

15. “Forgiveness belongs to the matter of fellowship: If I am not in fellowship with God, I cannot pray effectively. But fellowship with my brother helps to determine my fellowship with God; hence, forgiveness is important to prayer.” (Wiersbe, 26)

“The important thing about prayer is not simply getting an answer, but being the kind of person whom God can trust with an answer.” (Wiersbe, 26)

Fasting

16. “The Pharisees fasted each Monday and Thursday (Luke 18:12) and did so in such a way that people knew they were fasting. Their purpose, of course, was to win the praise of men. As a result, the Pharisees lost God’s blessing.” (Wiersbe, 27)

17. “As with almsgiving and prayer, those who fast must not advertise their piety by visible signs of suffering and deprivation. Otherwise a person again gains accolades from people rather than God.” (Blomberg, 121)

18. “Instead people must groom themselves according to cultural norms in order to appear joyful and content.” (Blomberg, 121)

References

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

Blomberg, Craig L., The New American Commentary, Volume 22, Matthew. Nashville: Broadman Press
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Bible Commentary. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Inc., 2005
Robertson, A. T., A Harmony of the Gospels. New York, HarperCollins Publishers
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004

Morality Worry

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