Walking With Christ

(Part 11 of 12)

Matthew 6:7–8 (7)“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. (8)Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.(ESV)

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Then why ask?

Seriously. If God already knows what I need, why do I need to tell Him? If He knows what happened, why explain it? If He knows what hurts, why describe the pain? If He knows what I’m afraid of, why name the fear? If He knows what tomorrow holds, why ask Him to prepare me for it?

Jesus makes an extraordinary statement about prayer. Then, almost immediately, He says: “Pray then like this…”

Matthew 6:9–13 (9)Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10)Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11)Give us this day our daily bread, (12)and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13)And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.(ESV)

God knows. So pray.

Apparently those ideas aren’t contradictory. Maybe we’ve misunderstood what prayer is doing.

God Is Not Being Briefed

Sometimes my prayers sound like I’m giving God a status report.

Here’s what happened. Here’s what they said. Here’s what I think they meant. Here’s what I’m worried will happen next. Here are the seventeen possible outcomes I’ve considered. Here’s the one I prefer. Here’s what I think You should probably do. Amen.

I’m exaggerating. A little. But there’s something revealing about the way we pray.

We can approach God as though we’re bringing Him up to speed. Jesus says we aren’t. “Your Father knows.”

Before the first word leaves your mouth, He knows. Before you organize the thoughts, He knows. Before you understand what you need, He knows.

That doesn’t make prayer unnecessary. According to Jesus, it changes how we pray.

Look at What Jesus Was Correcting

Jesus’ statement comes in the middle of a warning. Don’t pray like the Gentiles who “heap up empty phrases.” They think they’ll be heard because of their many words.

Matthew 6:7–8 (7)“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. (8)Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.(ESV)

The problem isn’t long prayer. Jesus Himself sometimes prayed for extended periods. The problem is the assumption underneath the words.

Maybe if I say enough. Maybe if I phrase it correctly. Maybe if I repeat myself enough times. Maybe if I can somehow convince God.

Jesus removes that anxiety. Your Father already knows.

Prayer isn’t a password. It isn’t an incantation. It isn’t a sales pitch. You aren’t trying to get the attention of a reluctant God. You’re speaking to your Father.

Before You Knew You Needed It

There’s another side to this. Sometimes God knows what we need before we know what we need.

We usually become aware of needs when they arrive.

Something breaks. Someone calls. The diagnosis comes. The job disappears. The relationship changes. The opportunity opens. The temptation appears. The question gets asked.

Suddenly we need wisdom. Strength. Provision. Patience. Courage. Comfort. And from our perspective, the need just appeared.

It didn’t just appear to God.

That’s the thread connecting this message to everything we’ve been talking about. We experience the story as it reaches us. God does not.

Sometimes the Answer Predates the Prayer

We’ve already seen this throughout Scripture. Israel cried out in Egypt while Moses was in Midian. Joseph’s family needed grain only after Joseph had spent years in Egypt. The threat against the Jews appeared after Esther was already queen. Peter needed restoration after Jesus had already said, “I have prayed for you.” Ruth couldn’t see generations beyond her own life.

Again and again, people eventually encountered needs that God already knew were coming.

Sometimes they could eventually look backward and recognize preparation.

But be careful here. That doesn’t mean every prayer has a visible answer already waiting around the corner. It certainly doesn’t mean we’ll always recognize what God’s doing. And it doesn’t mean the answer will look like what we asked for.

Scripture doesn’t give us permission to promise that. Sometimes we pray and wait. Sometimes we pray and suffer. Sometimes we pray for one answer and receive another. Sometimes we spend years without understanding why God allowed something.

Knowing that God knows isn’t the same thing as knowing what God will do.

Jesus doesn’t say: Your Father knows what you need, so you’ll always understand His response.

He simply says: Your Father knows.

That’s More Important Than It Sounds

There are times when I don’t know what to pray. Not because nothing is wrong. Because too much is happening. The situation is too complicated.

Every answer seems to create another question. Every path has consequences. I don’t know which outcome is best. I don’t even know what I should want.

Paul addresses something like this in Romans.

Romans 8:26–27 (26)Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (27)And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.(ESV)

“We do not know what to pray for as we ought.”

That’s reassuringly honest. Sometimes we don’t. But our inability to articulate the need doesn’t prevent God from understanding it.

The Spirit intercedes. God knows.

Prayer doesn’t depend upon our ability to perfectly diagnose our own situation. Thank God for that. Because sometimes we’re wrong about what we need.

Give Us This Day

Now look at what Jesus teaches us to pray immediately after saying the Father already knows our needs.

Matthew 6:9–13 (9)Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10)Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (11)Give us this day our daily bread, (12)and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (13)And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.(ESV)

One request is wonderfully ordinary: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Daily bread. Not a lifetime supply. Not a warehouse. Today.

We’ve seen that before. Elijah had a brook. Then ravens. Then a widow. Israel had manna. Enough for the day.

Jesus teaches His disciples to ask their Father for today’s bread even though He’s just told them their Father already knows they need it. So asking can’t simply be about transferring information.

Prayer is relationship. Dependence. Trust. Submission. Recognition.

When I ask God for daily bread, I’m not reminding Him that human beings require food. I’m reminding myself where bread ultimately comes from.

Prayer Changes the Position of the Heart

That’s part of why the Lord’s Prayer begins where it does.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Before my needs comes His name.

“Your kingdom come.” Before my plans comes His kingdom.

“Your will be done.” Before my preferred outcome comes His will.

Then: Give. Forgive. Lead. Deliver.

Prayer places my needs inside a larger reality.

God already knows what I need. Prayer helps me remember who He is. That’s a very different thing.

Then Why Tell Him Everything?

Because He’s your Father. A child can tell a good father about something the father already knows.

The value of the conversation isn’t dependent upon the transfer of previously unknown information.

Sometimes the point is simply that the child came to him. Scripture repeatedly invites us to do exactly that with God.

Bring the fear. Bring the anger. Bring the confusion. Bring the gratitude. Bring the request. Bring the question. Bring the thing you’ve already prayed about fifty times.

Not because God forgot. Because relationship speaks.

Before You Asked

Maybe you’ve been praying about something for a long time. Maybe you started this morning. Maybe you haven’t started because you don’t know what to say. Maybe all you have is: God, I need help.

He doesn’t need the rest of the explanation before He understands.

You can give Him the explanation. You can pour all of it out. You can sit there for an hour and tell God every detail.

There’s nothing wrong with that. But you don’t have to be afraid that the right sentence is hiding somewhere and everything depends upon you finding it.

Prayer isn’t informing an uninformed God. It’s trusting a Father who already knows.

That doesn’t answer every question about prayer. It doesn’t explain why some prayers seem unanswered. It doesn’t explain suffering. It doesn’t tell us what God will do next.

It gives us something else. Someone to trust while we don’t know.

Jesus didn’t say: Your Father knows what you need, therefore don’t ask.

He said your Father knows. Then: Pray.

Ask for the bread. Ask for forgiveness. Ask for deliverance. Ask for wisdom. Ask for healing. Ask for help.

Tell Him you’re afraid. Tell Him you don’t understand. Tell Him you don’t even know what to ask for.

And when you finally reach the end of everything you know how to say, remember what was true before you said the first word: Your Father already knew.