PART TWO- GOD REWARDS PRAYER-But NO Double Dipping

In the United States and countries around the world, people get ahead by double dipping. They may work two jobs, work the system to get two pensions plus social security, and in some cases, illegally and immorally take two or more wives or two husbands in marriage.

TODAY, I am going to show you through the words of Jesus himself that God doesn’t double dip when it comes to hearing and rewarding our prayers. You either claim the reward for yourself here on earth or you depend on God to reward you supernaturally. The choice is yours.

In Part One of this “REWARD” series, we looked at when God rewards us through giving to God and others. In total, there are three specific areas Jesus addressed in Matthews 6 regarding when God rewards His people and when they “have no reward” (Matthew 6:1).

Those three areas include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Now that we have already addressed “GIVING” in the last episode, today we will discuss “PRAYER”.

Whether GIVING, PRAYING or FASTING, the principle of receiving God’s reward(s) are exactly the same in that He disallows “Double Dipping”. By this I mean that God disallows for us to claim our own reward by way of taking credit on earth as well as receive God’s reward directly from Him. It’s one or the other.

In Matthew 6, Jesus lays out for us when we are eligible for God’s reward or when we forfeit receiving that reward.

In Matthew 6:6-16, Jesus addresses when God rewards us through PRAYER. To clarify, God is not a vending machine that we can mechanically plug a prayer into and pop out some sort of supernatural response. On the contrary, God answers our prayers in His time, according to His will.

In Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus makes clear that when you pray, you must not pray hypocritically like the Pharisees did. The Pharisees like to stand and pray in public before all the people as some kind of group of privileged religious leaders “seen by others” (v.5).

REWARD RECIEVED PREMATURALLY

The consequence for their doing so means,  “…THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD” (v.5).

In other words, Jesus makes clear that double-dipping is not allowed. You either get your own self-made rewards through attention, credit and worldly honor on earth, or you wait for God the Father to reward you in His way.

HOW THEN SHOULD WE PRAY

Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark regarding how to pray but provides us a perfect model as to HOW we are to PRAY, saying this:

“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” (Matthew 6:6).

Let’s break this down to see exactly how we are to pray and receive God’s reward.

FIRST: We are to go into a private room where nobody will disturb us. In this way, we will not be disturbed, and we can speak freely and unhindered with God. The alternative is to pray in front of others publicly, drawing attention to ourselves. As a result, the “attention” received becomes the “reward”.

SECOND: We are to SHUT the door and pray to God in SECRET. When we go into our prayer closet, private room, or wherever we go to be in deep and intimate conversation and relationship with God, we need to do TWO things. First, SHUT the DOOR and Second, meet with God in SECRET; not with any other person(s). That said, there is a time and place for group prayer, but not when we meet with our Lord in private.

Jesus says that as a result, “And your prayer to your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (v. 6). But Jesus doesn’t stop there but goes on to give greater clarity as to how we are NOT to pray in that we are not to pray in a mechanical prefabricated fashion, saying:

“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” (V.7-8).

HOW NOT TO PRAY BROKEN DOWN

FIRST: When we pray, we are not to pray from a memorized script, but from the heart and mind; laying out our praises to God and our burdens, our requests and our thankfulness to Him.

SECOND: We are not to use TOO MANY WORDS. Why? Because “Your Father (God) knows what you need before you ask him” (v8). God is “Infinite” and “All Knowing”. As such he knows the past, present and future as one. Furthermore, He knows what is in our heart and mind better than we do.

THIRD: Jesus goes on to give us a MODEL PRAYER in verse 9-13. Let’s ready that prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV) " 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” (Matthew 6:9-13).

I am not going to break down in detail the components of this prayer but simply want to summarize them to say that the components are simply elements that should be present in our daily, organic prayer. The general idea of how Jesus is telling us to pray is that we should praise God, ask that His kingdom come and not our will be done. That God would provide us our daily bread, meaning the things we NEED as opposed to all the material things we want.

We are to pray daily for God’s forgiveness and that He give us the strength and wisdom to forgive others. Lastly, we are to submit our requests to God, including the request that God help us in our sinful nature to avoid TEMPTATION and deliver us from this evil world. In general, these are the key elements that we should pray organically daily.

LASTLY-DON’T BE DERAILED

Jesus closes out His counsel on prayer by being abundantly clear that we are to FORGIVE OTHERS-and that our failure to do so will not invoke God’s reward to us through prayer. Again, the focus on the loss and gain of God’s reward. This is how Jesus put it:

“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” (Matthew 6:14)

Let’s keep in mind that the GREATEST REWARD is God’s forgiveness on our lives-covering our own sin.

IN CONCLUSION

God’s reward in and through prayer is very real. But we must remember that we cannot double dip and have it both ways. In other words, we cannot gain God’s reward and also self-proclaim or self-claim attention and worldly honor by our publicly praying and being outwardly religious. In other words, there is No Double Dip-Reward System with God.

The world is run by the prince of darkness (Satan) who rewards double dipping-but not God. In the United States and countries around the world, people often and sinfully get ahead by double dipping.

Today, we looked at the words of Jesus himself to understand the fact that God doesn’t allow us to double dip. In other words, we cannot trick God into giving us His reward if we have already taken that reward on earth through our own means. It simply doesn’t work that way.

Obtaining God’s reward starts with a proper understanding and implementation of the spiritual discipline of “PRAYER” as laid out by Jesus in Matthew, chapter 6. You either claim the reward for yourself on earth or you depend on God to reward you supernaturally in His way and in His time. The choice is yours.

WHEN GOD REWARDS OUR GIVING
It has often been debated as to IF and WHEN God rewards us for our good deeds. In the Bible, Jesus discusses three pharisaic practices of piety that all us can fall into if not careful and the consequence of handling those practices rightly or uprightly. They include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Today, we are going to look at the first of these, which is “GIVING” and I will show you where and when God rewards us-and when He doesn’t. Let’s get started.

In the Book of Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus tells His followers how they (and we today) are to “Practice living out the Kingdom Life” which ultimately results in our receiving a REWARD from God our Father as opposed to other human beings. It's all about doing things God's way as opposed to our own way.

When we fail to keep God’s ways and carnally follow our own, we end up worshipping or drawing attention to ourselves. As a result, we receive an ARTIFICIAL REWARD in place of the authentic reward from the Father. This, then, is the beginning of a three part series covering the subject of God’s Rewards in relation to GIVING, PRAYER and FASTING. Today, we are going to address the FIRST, which addresses GIVING-how we are to give and the rewards given to us by God the Father.

REWARDS FLOW FROM A GIVING HEART
Jumping right in, Jesus opens Matthew, chapter six, speaking about practicing our righteousness or righteous acts “before other people” (v.1). Why would one act righteously in front of others, you might ask? The answer is “ …in order to be seen by them” (v.1). It wasn't too long ago when giving was something done modestly and in private-and to do so publicly was rare outside of political figures. Today, sadly, it's considered the "right" thing for everyone to self-promote themselves above others.

GOD'S WAY-THE RIGHT WAY TO GIVE
Jesus goes on in verse two to speak to the PROPER way to give so that we are to avoid our good deed(s) being seen by others in verse 2, saying: “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.” In other words, there is a real consequence for or taking God's praise as our own. 

THE CONSEQUENCE: Jesus goes onto explain the consequence of letting others deliberately know that you have given to others in verse one, saying: “…for then you will have NO REWARD from your Father who is in heaven.” WHY would God NOT REWARD a good deed? Because, as Jesus explains in verse 2, we are not to be like the religious leaders who were hypocrites in that they did what they did in terms of giving for personal attention, as opposed to giving praise, honor and credit to God. 

Better yet, WHY would anyone take the credit for what God has given them to begin with? The ANSWER IS: “…that they may be praised by others” (v.2). In our carnal nature, we want to be known by others for our generosity in giving to others. By parading this openly or simply making our good deeds known among others, we put OURSELVES in a positive light among others within the Christian community. It might even put us in a positive light within the secular community depending on what the good deed is or what the giving opportunity. For example, if we help a person in the inner city and tell everyone what we did, even non-Christians might praise us for doing such a thing in the name of charity, social justice or works that are faith related.

END RESULT
Jesus makes abundantly clear in verse 2 that such giving negates the Father's reward, saying: “Truly, I say to you, they HAVE RECEIVED their reward.”

When we make our good deeds and generosity seen before others, our reward ends up being given to us carnally. This is as opposed to our true reward if given by God. Carnally means we are seeking adoration or fake glory through the praise of other human beings. As a result, we forfeit the reward(s) of God our Father. We can’t have both. If someone happens to find out about our good deeds or act of giving by some way other than our own, we should not entertain discussing it, but change the subject and move on. By donig so, we will gain God’s reward in that it is God and not ourselves who provides and gives all good things; we are simply a steward of them.

Jesus goes onto say in verse 3, “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 our Father who sees in secret WILL REWARD YOU” (v.4).  This is WHEN God dispenses His reward. 

The bottom line is that when we give of ourselves, as best as we can, we are not to make it known to others. Letting others know “THAT WE GAVE," and "HOW MUCH” or “WHEN” we give of ourselves gains us credit before others, especially within the church. As such, our reward is given to us through  the acknowledgement and praise of others. According to God, a truly selfless heart gives unconditionally and is kept between the giver and the receiving party of the gift.

By being humble and giving selflessly in the NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give all honor, glory and credit to God who owns and gives it all to us as stewards of His blessings and resources. And when we do that, we invite the blessings and reward(s) of God the Father upon us. This is when God blesses us for GIVING to others. To GOD be ALL the Glory. Have Peace in the New Year.

While the country of Turkey is legally set up as a "Secular Nation", the truth is that 98 percent of the Turkish Population is Muslim, but call themselves a “SECULAR” nation. TODAY, I am going to give you my thoughts from a Christian perspective on the flourishing country we call Turkey. Let’s get started.

While 98 percent of the population are Muslims, the obvious is that Christians are a minority religion in Turkey. Turkey is the only Muslim country in the world that has no State religion as the Constitution guarantees religious freedom, and tolerance is the "stated" rule. 

In truth, the bottom line is that there is no real “freedom of religion” in this Islamic country of Turkey as Turkish authorities are branding Christians with so-called “N-82” or “G-87” security codes, which are used to label a person as a “THREAT TO PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY”. These effectively function as “ENTRY or RE-ENTRY” BANS into the country. Once Turkish government is wielding these codes to prevent missionary activity in the country. 

On the contrary, I was unable to find any instances of legal action taken AGAINST MUSLIMS for sharing the Islamic faith by the Turkish government. Hence, NO, turkey has no freedom of religion and is an Islamic country. The good news is that Turkey is a flourishing country economically speaking. The good news is that the younger generation(s) in Turkey don’t particularly care for a forceful, Islamic cultural regime running things in the present. 

This should bode interesting for the world as Turkish manufacturing their economy grows, it is most likely that Turkey will continue to become more moderate in years go come-much like Saudi Arabia. 

WHAT CAN YOU AND I DO? FIRST: We can pray for the country of Turkey. SECOND: We can pray for their leaders of Turkey to be more accepting of Christians peoples to exist and live out their faith freely. THIRD: We can pray for the Christian church and for the remaining remnant of Christians left in Turkey. FOURTH AND LASTLY: We can speak up for Christians in Turkey and support Turkish missionaries who are taking the real risks.

IN CONCLUSION: Turkey is a rising economic star which usually leads to greater freedom. Let’s pray that God would bless Turkey with a heart for as much religious freedom for Christians as they have economic success. And with that—May God bless Turkish Christians and all Turkish peoples to their rightful, historic place, and restore them to their rightful land in Turkey.