Walk with Christ - Pray

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
Matthew 6:5-7

If you haven’t noticed so far in my blog, I’m fond of acrostics.  An acrostic is a series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, or motto.  Acrostic can also be defined as a Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as in Psalm 119 – sections are after the letters of the Hebrew alphabet).  This second definition is an “alphabetical acrostic” or abecedarian.  So, this writing technique can be first traced to the Bible.  Acrostic comes from the Greek language for ákros (top) and stíchos (verse).

An acrostic can also be used as a mnemonic which is a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.  So far in my blog, we have used acrostics such as W.O.R.D., A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E.S., and A&W.  Probably the most famous acrostic was made in Greek.  ΙΧΘΥΣ (transliterated - Ichthys) is an acronym for "Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr", which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".  Ichthys is the Greek word for fish therefore a partial reason the fish is used to symbolize Jesus from the early days of Christianity to now.

In the next few blogs, I’m going to examine another acrostic that I picked up when I attended Hibernia Baptist Church in Florida.  I use it everyday as I strive to achieve one of my vision statements, “Walk with Christ.”

• F – Families  –  John 4:31-35
• L – Lost  –  Acts 1:8 & Matt. 28:19-20
• O – Offerings  –  Matt. 7:7,  Malachi 3:10 & Philippians 4:19
• C – Children, Youth, and Pre-School Ministries –  1 Tim. 4:12 & Matt. 19:14
• K – Kindred Spirit –  Acts 2:41-46 & Ephesians 4:3

But before we examine the F.L.O.C.K. acrostic, let’s study tonight’s passage in Matthew.  Jesus has started his ministry and has just called Peter, Andrew, James, and John as His first disciples.  Jesus then travels throughout Galilee teaching, preaching, and healing.  He draws quite a crowd.  Seeing them, he goes up a mountainside and sits down to teach.  This time in Jesus’ life is commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount.”  Our passage tonight is Jesus’ instruction on how to pray. 

Pray in the Greek is proseuchomai or supplicate, worship, or earnest wish.  The word literally gives the impression of interacting with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith ("divine persuasion").  Jesus starts out by saying that we should not pray like the hypocrites who want to be phainó or shed light upon myself, shine, or become visible (look at me).  During the time of Jesus, Jews prayed every day at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00. At those times, they would stop, bow their heads, stretch out their hands with their palms facing up and pray.

The hypocrites cherish, regard with affection (phileó) the opportunity to become famous by men or to impress men.  Hypocrite in the Greek is hupokrités which is a pretender, a performer acting under a mask, a two-faced person, a person whose profession does not match their practice (e.g. says one thing but does another).  As Christians, Jesus requires our lives to be an open book and to be ourselves.  When we pray, we should be honest, transparent, true to ourselves, and seeking God’s wishes.  PRAY AUTHENICALLY.

Jesus further instructs when we pray, to pray in secret or kruptos which in the Greek is hidden, inward, concealed, or make private.  By asking us to go into our room (tameion – inner room, store room, secret chamber, closet), Jesus wants us to pray reverently, from our heart (inward parts), and silently (concealed).  God the Father sees our prayers or blepó which is behold, look, perceive, regard, take heed, watchful, or to see something physical, with spiritual results.  What He sees, He will reward, apodidómi (give back, pay back, render, return, restore).

Again, Jesus is dealing with the hypocrites that make a big show of praying to demonstrate just how much more spiritual they are when compared to us. They desperately wanted others to see them.  The hypocrites used what should be their private, personal prayers to God and put them on display so everyone would be amazed of their godliness and holiness. 

People have used this Matthew6:6 as a defensively position against public prayer.  However, we must make a distinct between our personal prayers and public prayers.  Examining Scripture, we can find in the Old Testament that public prayer was done: Solomon prayed publicly at the dedication of the temple (1Kings 8:22-23), Elijah prayed publicly on Mt. Carmel (1Kings 18:36-37), Ezra prayed before "a very large assembly of men, women, and children” (Ezra 10:1).  Furthermore, public prayer was also done in the New Testament: Christ prayed publicly before He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41-42), Christ gave thanks to God for providing food for the 5000 (John 6:11), Paul kneeled and prayed with the Ephesian elders before he left them (Acts 20:36).

In our personal prayer, we show our heart to God baring our soul, our struggles, our desperate need for him, and our thanks for our personal blessings.  However, in public prayer, we lead others to look on God, rely on God, thank God, praise God, worship God, and pray on the behalf of others.  Please remember the sin of Matthew 6:6 was the public display of private prayer.  PRAY PERSONALLY.

Finally, Jesus instructs us not to be like the pagans, ethnikos or standing outside God's covenant (salvation).  These people repeated their prayers incessantly or in the Greek, battalogeó which is to use meaningless repetition, blubber nonsensical repetitions, to chatter using empty (vain) words.  They didn’t mean or believe what they were saying.  They hoped by the constant repetition that their gods would take care of them.  The Greek word here is polulogia, voluminous words or a great quantity of words.  When we pray, do not grieve God by mindlessly saying the same thing over and over again.  We are to pray earnestly, pray genuinely from our heart, and pray silently, alone with God. PRAY FROM THE HEART.

Attitudes and Worries (A&W)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

I recently heard a very inspiring story that I hadn’t heard before.  I tried to find the story on the internet and found several sites that had referenced it.  The version that I’ll use in tonight’s study was from http://thinsilkthreads.com/worrytree.html

I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work (& his electric drill quit) his ancient one ton truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward he walked me to the car.  We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

“Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

“Funny thing is," he smiled", when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Worries and troubles can consume us, if we let them.  Most of our worries deal with things which we can’t control.  For example, how some people view us, how the government works, or how the company you work for treats their employees.  The truth is that we can only control ourselves and how we react to life.  Regardless, our worries are heavy burdens and within our own power – hard or impossible to shake.

This passage in Matthew is one of many where Jesus teaches his disciples.  Just before this passage, Jesus had given warnings to unrepentant cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.  Jesus chastises them for their unbelief in God and in Him.  Jesus had done mighty works of grace in theses cities but they still didn’t believe.  Jesus points out that the believers in Tyre and Sidon would be amazed and would believe.  “For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

From that discussion, Jesus goes on to thank God for revealing His word to babes (Christians who have not matured in their faith yet) and not to wise (learned, cultivated, clever) or prudent (wisdom by personal – not Godly - comprehension).  These young Christians have not had their faith skewed or tainted by the world.  They see the Truth for what it is – from God.

Now, let’s look deeper into our passage. 

Come (or in the Greek – deute – an excited come hither, follow) to Me (Jesus) all you who labor (kopiaó – work either mentally or physically until exhaustion) and are heavy laden (phortizó – overloaded, causing someone to be literally weighted-down, the burden was given sometime in the past to which you still carry), and I will give you rest (anapauó – rest or give intermission after precious toil and care). 

This first verse calls out to people who have been trying to carry the impossible load of the Jewish law and other standards imposed by religious leaders.  These people were exhausted from trying to meet the expectations of the law.  Furthermore, the people were burdened by the thoughts of their own sin.

Yoke is defined as “a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal.”  The Greek word here is zugos which is heavy yokes (burdens) resting on the animals' necks, a balance, a coupling, or figuratively a servitude to law or obligation.  The animals' master used the yoke to control and guide them to perform work.  Don’t miss this picture though.  The yoke was for two animals.  Together, they could pull a load that was impossible for one animal to pull on its own.

In the second verse, Jesus tells us two things.  First, take Jesus’ yoke upon you.  Let Jesus be the leader of your life.  Jesus implores you to learn or manthanó which is to receive instruction, learning key facts, or gaining fact-knowledge as someone learns from experience, often with reflection.   You need to come to realize that Jesus is gentle (praus – humble, mild, meek) and lowly in heart (tapeinos  Having dependence in a gentle and humble Jesus, you will find rest (anapausis which is refreshment, ceasing of labor) for your souls.  Second, the yoke is for two.  Not only does Jesus want to lead you but He also wants to share in or carry your burdens.

In the last verse, Jesus describes how his yoke is different from the burdens of the law.  His direction or obligations are easy.  In the Greek, easy is chréstos which is useful, gentle, pleasant, kind.  Jesus’ teachings are both kind and good at the same time.  The burdens we carry under Jesus are light which is elaphros or not burdensome, of little weight, or figuratively - easily managed (carried) because easy to bear.

Taking upon His yoke, we must follow God’s instructions.  In Matthew 6, Jesus instructs us not to worry.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Worry is a sin.  I have difficulty not worrying about tomorrow.  I have trouble not having a poor attitude.  So, just as in the Worry Tree, I cast my worries and my poor attitudes aside trusting Jesus’ yoke that He will correctly guide me and He will carry me.  What a relief I experience every time that I give my poor attitudes and worries to Jesus. 

To help remind me to pray for God’s help, I’ve posted the sign below at my work and my home.  With Scripture references to help me stay grounded in Jesus’ yoke.  I cast my A&W’s to him, my attitudes and worries.

To Coach or To Mentor, that is the question

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

1 Timothy 6:11

A popular euphemism in today’s management culture is to use the word, “coach.”  When someone displays the behavior, activity, or disposition that management doesn’t agree with or pushes against management’s status quo, management believes that the employee must be coached.  This brings about visions of an overweight man chewing tobacco or smoking yelling at the players to do this or that.  As Tom Hank’s character once said, “There is no crying in baseball!”  Not all coaches or coaching is bad, but an athletic coach tries to direct or tell the players (employees) how to do something.

“Coach” is from the Middle English, coche, a large kind of carriage.  Around the time the word was created, people were being transported in wagon or carriage by a team of horses.  It wasn’t until the late 1840’s until “coach” was used as business is using it today.  At Oxford University, “coach” was slang for a tutor who “carried” a student through an exam.  The word gives a sense that the student was nowhere and knew nothing before their coach came along.  They were so daft that the coach carried them to a passing grade on the exam.  Coach is officially defined as a person charged with the instruction and guidance of another, one who instructs or trains, or one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a competitive sport and directs team strategy.  Coaching is telling someone what to do - whether it is right or wrong is up to interpretation.  Let’s compare “coach” to the word, “mentor.” 

“Mentor” is Latin from Greek Mentōr or wise advisor.  “Mentor” was a character in the "Odyssey," a friend of Odysseus, adviser of Telemachus, Odysseus' son (often actually Athene in disguise).  The word revolves around a trusted counselor (a person who gives advice) or a guide (a person who directs another's conduct or course of life).  Specifically, a mentor is an experienced adviser and supporter who is usually somebody older, wiser and more experienced, who advises and guides a younger, less experienced person.  Whereas a “coach” prescriptively directs a person, a “mentor” advises and shares their experiences with a person.  A mentor is trustworthy and builds a relationship with the person whom they are advising.

Paul writes to Timothy these letters in the Bible as his mentor not his coach.  Paul advises Timothy in the things of God and supports him on his walk with God.  In our passage tonight, Paul shows Timothy the characteristics or the pursuits of a “man of God.”

1. Righteousness (in the Greek, dikaiosuné) which means justice, justness, righteousness, righteousness of which God is the source or author, but practically: a divine righteousness.  A man of God pursues the approval of God for his actions that they are right and aligned with God’s mission, to reach and teach.
2. Godliness (in the Greek, eusebeia) which means piety (towards God) - properly, someone's inner response to the things of God which shows itself in godly piety (reverence), furthermore a "godly heart-response" naturally expresses itself in reverence for God, i.e. what He calls sacred, worthy of veneration.   A man of God is humble, reveres God, and gives God all the glory.
3. Faith (in the Greek, pistis) which means belief, trust, confidence, fidelity. Faithfulness is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people.  A man of God believes in Jesus and what he did for us on the cross with all his heart.  He does not waver from his faith.
4. Love (in the Greek, agape) which means benevolence, good will, esteem. Love in a way that prefers divine love, which centers in moral preference.  A man of God loves his neighbor as he loves his God.
5. Patience (in the Greek, hupomoné) which means endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for, remaining under, endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to "remain (endure) under" the challenges He allots in life.  A man of God is patient as he waits for God to answer him.  A man of God endures the tribulations of life always faithful to God.
6. Gentleness (in the Greek, praotés) which means mildness, gentleness, meekness, kindness, temperate, displaying the right blend of force and reserve (gentleness). A man of God avoids unnecessary harshness, yet without compromising or being too slow to use necessary force.

The key to this passage as with any passage in the New Testament is “love.”  In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus made clear how to be a man of God.

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Love is also the difference between a coach and a mentor.  A mentor loves who they are mentoring where a coach loves the result of the coaching.