Use Not Vain Repetitions

Driving home: The key to all true prayer is to know who you're coming to when you pray.

Martin shares a possible etymological origin of the Greek word for 'vain repetitions' from a stuttering heathen king, illustrating the idea of meaningless, repeated words.

Now, it's interesting that the word that is used for vain repetitions is only used once, in the New Testament. And in checking out the derivation of the word, I came to an interesting thought. It can't be proven, but some lexicographers, that's just a fancy word for a man who gives himself, gives his life, to studying the meaning of words, the history of words. They say that this word possibly came from the name of a heathen king who stuttered.

9:48 - 10:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The key to all true prayer is to know who you're coming to when you pray.

He uses the detailed account of Elijah on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal to vividly demonstrate heathen prayer characterized by frenzied, repetitive cries and self-mutilation, stemming from a concept of a distant, unresponsive deity.

They think, Jesus said, they shall be heard for their much speaking. They conceive of God as so aloof that their much speaking is needed to bend a concerned ear to their problems. A classic example of this is found in the Old Testament in that conflict between Elijah upon Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal. And I read in 1 Kings chapter 18 beginning with verse 26 these words.

12:25 - 12:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He explains the meaning of 'vain repetitions' as verbose, empty words. Martin identifies two core reasons for this practice: a defective concept of God (either too distant or too…

Martin uses the analogy of a child manipulating an overindulgent parent (who acts on expediency, not principle) to illustrate how heathen (and often Christian) prayer attempts to coerce God, projecting human weakness onto Him.

You see, depraved man does not act upon principle but upon expediency. May I illustrate it like an overindulgent parent? A child who knows that his father or mother acts upon expediency and not principle will wrap that parent around his finger. The parent says, look, you cannot go out tonight.

14:28 - 14:48 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that Jesus is not prohibiting all lengthy or repeated prayer, citing examples from Christ and David. Instead, the condemnation is against prayer that lacks…

He describes the heathen concept of prayer as a 'spiritual battering ram' used to break down God's resistance, contrasting it with a right understanding of prayer.

They think of prayer as some kind of a spiritual battering ram and you come up to the gates of heaven and you ram that thing enough until you break down all these walls of resistance in the heart of the deity and then out from those broken down walls will pour whatever you want. Jesus said, don't view prayer like the heathen. Prayer is not some kind of a spiritual battering ram to break down resistance in the heart of God. No, no.

17:36 - 18:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that Jesus is not prohibiting all lengthy or repeated prayer, citing examples from Christ and David. Instead, the condemnation is against prayer that lacks…

Martin uses the metaphor of 'spiritual payola' or bribery, with examples of slipping money to change a contract or a cop, to illustrate the heathen idea that prayer can manipulate God to do things He otherwise wouldn't.

Jesus said, don't view prayer like the heathen, sort of spiritual payola,

18:08 - 18:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your prayers to ensure they are not merely the 'mouthing of words' but the 'seeking of a heart in the direction of God,' avoiding meaningless, heartless prayers.

He cites the Mohammedans bowing five times a day towards Mecca, uttering the same prayers while their minds are elsewhere, as an example of vain repetitions in heathen religions.

That's what our Lord's condemning. He's condemning all prayer that does not flow from the exercise of the lips and is not the intelligent spirit-directed utterance of the heart and of the mind. Now it's obvious what this would include. It would include all the praying of heathen religions, the Mohammedans who bow down five times a day toward Mecca, wherever they are when the call goes out, to pray.

20:41 - 21:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your prayers to ensure they are not merely the 'mouthing of words' but the 'seeking of a heart in the direction of God,' avoiding meaningless, heartless prayers.

Martin uses the practice of saying 'so many Hail Marys, so many Our Fathers' with rosary beads in Roman Catholicism as an example of repetitious prayers that dishonor Christ's redemptive work and fall under the category of 'vain repetitions.'

They bow and they pray and utter the same prayer day in, day out, week in, week out. The mind can be back in the shop and about the business to come, but they're going to utter their vain repetitions. This condemns all of the repetitious prayers encouraged by that system that dishonors the redemptive work of Christ,

21:12 - 21:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to God with absolute confidence for everything you need, never attempting to coerce Him to give you something you don't need or that isn't for your good.

He uses the analogy of collecting all the love from all earthly fathers throughout history into a single 'drop of water' to illustrate the infinitely greater love and concern of God the Father, making a profound point about His character.

is our Father? Well, project it down and then we'll project it back up. What's the relationship between an earthly father and his child? It's that relationship of protection, of provision, of concern, of counsel, of direction, of guidance, all of this on the earthly level now projected upward. Projected upward. And as one man has said, I believe I mentioned it two years ago here in this pulpit, but it bears repetition. If we could take all of the love that ever existed in all of the hearts of all fathers of all ages, now if we could somehow take that love as a test, and if we could somehow tak...

28:57 - 30:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Come to God with absolute confidence for everything you need, never attempting to coerce Him to give you something you don't need or that isn't for your good.

Martin shares a personal story from his junior high days when his parents required him to scrub floors before going to football games, illustrating how his parents acted on principle, not expediency, teaching him not to try to coerce them.

I won't ever try to coerce God into thinking that, well, if I beg and plead and whimper long enough, he'll give me something he's forbidden in his word. Oh, no, a righteous father, a righteous father never needs worry about his son trying to coerce him very often. He'll learn before long that when Daddy says something, he's got reasons for it and he means it, and I might as well just learn to do it. I thank God for parents like that. Wanted to go to the football games in junior high school. What a shame to do this to a junior high student. Warped him forever. Blessed warping. And I hadn't scru...

30:37 - 31:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God made you and God made me that we might take our place in absolute dependence upon him. And Jesus said, Without me he can't do what? Nothing. And what is prayer? Prayer is owning up to that.

He shares a personal anecdote about his son spontaneously saying 'I love you' for no reason, illustrating that true prayer is often the expression of a child's devotion to their Father, not just asking for things.

one of the most thrilling experiences for me as a parent. Sometimes in the middle of the day, for no reason whatever, my son will say, Daddy, and I'll say, What? I think he's going to ask me for something. And he says, I love you. He doesn't pronounce his L's too well. It's one of the most blessed shocks that I've ever had in my life. And I think I get it. And he says, Daddy, I expect, will you help me with this? Will you take me here?

32:41 - 33:02 Read in full sermon