Thursday of Trinity 20

 When You Pray...

Matthew 6:1-21 (ESV) Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 
To be justified means to be “declared righteous” by God for the sake of Christ’s own righteousness, and we receive this declaration of God passively, by faith. When we are justified, however, we also receive the Holy Spirit, who regenerates us and leads us to an active life of practicing righteousness, as Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
 
In Matthew 6, Jesus clearly teaches that various aspects of “practicing your righteousness” are humbly giving to the needy, praying, and fasting, all of which are simply assumed to be part of the Christian’s life (“when you give…when you pray…when you fast”).
 
Without this section of Matthew’s Gospel, we would not have the whole Lord’s Prayer (the version in Luke 11 is abbreviated), about which Jesus specifically says, “Pray then like this…” The gift of this prayer liberates us from the typically pagan notion that the more words one uses in prayer, the more likely you are to be heard by the gods. Rather, the one true God provides us with a short prayer to use every day (“give us this day our daily bread”) that identifies and asks for our greatest needs, with a special emphasis on God’s forgiveness of our sins and our forgiving of others.
 
Jesus also assures us that our Father in heaven knows everything that we need so that we don’t have to “cover all the bases” by manufacturing our own prayers. Furthermore, the corporate nature of the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) helps us recognize that Jesus’ injunction in 6:4–6 about avoiding a public show of our prayers and praying in private does not mean that all public prayer is forbidden. Rather, we gather together as baptized children of the heavenly Father week in and week out to pray together, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”
 
Prayer (LSB 766:1-4, 9):
 
1. Our Father, who from heav’n above
Bids all of us to live in love
    As members of one family
    And pray to You in unity,
Teach us no thoughtless words to say
But from our inmost hearts to pray.
 
2. Your name be hallowed. Help us, Lord,
In purity to keep Your Word,
    That to the glory of Your name
    We walk before You free from blame.
Let no false teaching us pervert;
All poor deluded souls convert.
 
3. Your kingdom come. Guard Your domain
And Your eternal righteous reign.
    The Holy Ghost enrich our day
    With gifts attendant on our way.
Break Satan’s pow’r, defeat his rage;
Preserve Your Church from age to age.
 
4. Your gracious will on earth be done
As it is done before Your throne,
    That patiently we may obey
    Throughout our lives all that You say.
Curb flesh and blood and ev’ry ill
That sets itself against Your will.
 
9. Amen, that is, so shall it be.
Make strong our faith in You, that we
    May doubt not but with trust believe
    That what we ask we shall receive.
Thus in Your name and at Your Word
We say, “Amen, O hear us, Lord!”