The Spiritual Life: Mercy, Prayer & Fasting

The purpose of the passage (Mt 6:1-18) is to teach us how to please God in our acts and how to avoid the very real and ever present snare of hypocrisy.

Giving – I think we all know the importance of sacrificial giving we just don’t do it enough. (See Randy Alcorn’s Treasure Principle.)

Fasting – See Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology. (Pg 390)

In the Bible (Old and New Testament) fasting accompanied prayer in:

· Intensive Intercession

· Repentance

· Worship

· Seeking of Guidance

Why?

1. Fasting increases our sense of humility and dependence on God

2. Fasting allows us to give more time and attention to prayer

3. Reminder that as we sacrifice some personal comfort to the Lord by not eating, so we must continually sacrifice all of ourselves to Him

4. Moreover, fasting is a good exercise in self-discipline and strengthens our ability to say no to sin. (Heb 5:8, 1 Pet 4:1-2)

5. Fasting heightens spiritual and mental alertness and a sense of God’s presence

6. Fasting expresses earnestness and urgency in our prayers (Joel 2:12-13a)

How do we avoid the danger of hypocrisy?

The Remedy:

Hopefully you covered some of these ideas at your tables:

· We fall prey to sin’s deceitfulness (Heb 3:13)

· Take the Bible and it’s teaching seriously

(Rom 8:13 – “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.”)

· Take seriously God’s promise to reward us in full and not seek men’s praise

· Trust in God as your heavenly Father and be secure in Him

· Seek to live lives of Integrity and Real Humility

· Be Honest in self-evaluation and how you interact with others

· Don’t be judgemental - See yourself and others in the light of the Gospel

· What kind of reward are we looking for?

(Matt 6:4b, 6b, 18b – “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”)

***If we want to see growth in our lives, the lives of our friends, in our CU’s, in Index, in Carrubbers, in Edinburgh – We need to take God’s Word seriously!***

It’s no coincidence that the Lord’s prayer is bang in the middle of a passage warning against hypocrisy exhorting us to have the right motives for our ‘righteous acts.’

The purpose of the Lord’s prayer (Ferguson):

· Provides a model prayer – easily memorised outline that shows us how to approach and talk to God

· Underlines life’s priorities and helps us get them in focus

Ferguson focuses on 5 concepts that we should strive to emulate:

1. Worship of the Father – Intimacy, adoration, fellowship

2. Kingdom of the Father – Rom 8:23 – Waiting with groaning

· Bowing to God’s sovereign purposes

· Seeking the Spread of the Gospel

· Searching out God’s will in Scripture

· Praying for Christ’s return

3. The Sustenance of the Father – Daily Bread

4. The Grace of the Father – Keep short accounts with God

5. The Protection of the Father – Armour of God (Eph 6:10-20)

Iain