A Pattern of Excellence in Faithful Prayer - Part 1
in Faithful Prayer
Sermon Title: A Pattern of Excellence in Faithful Prayer, Part 1 Preacher: Tony Padgett, Brookfield Church of Christ Date Preached: March 22, 2026 YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/live/S-NEyDwco_A?si=R1aMTm8d6sGUszW7&t=1742 (Length: 40 minutes, 30 seconds) Key Scriptures: Matthew 6:5-13; Ecclesiastes 5:1-2; Colossians 1:13, 1:18; Matthew 16:18-19; Ephesians 5:23; John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Kings 18:20-39
A Pattern of Excellence in Faithful Prayer, Part 1
Righteousness That Goes Deeper | Sermon on the Mount: Pursuing Excellence in Christ
Have you ever bowed your head to pray and — halfway through — realized your mind was somewhere else entirely? Or, worse, that you were more aware of who was listening around you than of the God you were speaking to? Be honest. Most of us have been there. In this first installment of a two-part series on the Lord's Prayer, Tony Padgett cuts straight through the ritual to ask the question Jesus asked first: What is your intentionality when you pray?
The Problem Jesus Saw — and Sees Today
Jesus opens His teaching on prayer in Matthew 6 with a pointed warning: "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites." (Matthew 6:5) Tony paused here to teach something most of us skim past. The word "hypocrite" in the original Greek referred to actors — people on a stage playing a role, pretending to be something they were not. In Jesus' day, religious leaders would position themselves in the most visible spots — synagogues, street corners — and deliver elaborate, eloquent prayers. Not to God. To the crowd.
And what did they receive? Exactly what they were after: admiration. But Tony was unmistakable: "That's it. That's your reward right there. God is not impressed."
This is just as true today. The performance prayer — the one calibrated to make us look spiritual rather than connect us to God — earns no divine response. Why? Because God is not in the audience watching our performance. He is the Audience of One, and He sees straight through the words into the heart. As Tony said, "He knows what you do, why you do it, if you're true or faking it. He knows every single reason why you do what you do. Why? Because He is God, and He made you."
Tony illustrated this with the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Those prophets shouted and chanted for hours, cutting themselves in desperation, putting on a show for everyone watching. Nothing happened. When Elijah prayed, it took only a few minutes — because his heart was right and the glory went entirely to God. "What took them hours and hours and did not come to fruition, he did in probably less than a few minutes because his heart was right." The principle doesn't change. God responds to sincerity, not spectacle.
The remedy Jesus prescribes is beautifully simple: "Go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret." (Matthew 6:6) Prayer is not a public demonstration. It is a personal conversation with the Living God.
Prayer Begins with Reverence: "Our Father... Hallowed Be Thy Name"
Having addressed the wrong motivation, Jesus gives His disciples a pattern — a model prayer that orients the heart before it opens the mouth. He begins: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."
Tony lingered on every word here. "Our Father" — not just my Father. When we pray, we are joining countless thousands of believers around the world simultaneously going to the same God. And this God, Tony explained, hears every single one of them individually. "He is omnipresent — not just here today, but present in the past and present in the future. He's not limited by linear time. He's outside of time." That's who we are addressing when we bow our heads.
The word "hallowed" means holy — set apart, distinct, completely other. Tony was careful not to let us drift into casualness: "I see some people say 'daddy.' That's lovely, but I just cannot bring my mind to call God daddy. I see Him so much greater than that." He is not a holy bail bondsman. He is not, as Tony memorably put it, "a galactic Santa Claus" who exists to fill our wish list. He is the God who made the universe — whose vastness is so immense that the light from some of the stars we see tonight has been traveling for thousands of years from explosions that are already over.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 frames it perfectly: "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God... Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few."
None of this means we approach God cowering and ashamed. Tony was equally clear on that. Because we have obeyed the gospel and are covered with the blood of Christ, we come with confidence — not arrogance, but the assurance of the adopted child before a holy Father. "When God sees me, He sees His Son." So slow down before you speak. Acknowledge who you are talking to before you begin your list of requests.
Prayer Aligns with His Kingdom: "Thy Kingdom Come"
The final element Tony introduced — which he will develop further in Part 2 — is the phrase "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
In the Churches of Christ, we understand that God's earthly kingdom is already present: it is the church, the body of Christ. Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18-19, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Colossians 1:13 confirms: God "has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son." When you are baptized into Christ, you change positions — spiritually moved from darkness into the body of Christ.
Tony was sobering and direct: "If I'm not in this kingdom here, I'm not going to be in that kingdom." The church is the earthly expression of God's kingdom — the dressing room, as Tony put it, for the eternal kingdom to come. This kingdom is temporary, with limitations. The eternal kingdom will be free from the inclination to sin, free from tears, free from loss. But to get there, you must be here first.
And what is His will we align with? "The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) When we pray "Thy will be done," we are agreeing with God's deepest desire: that souls be saved.
💬 Barry's Personal Connection
Having preached at Brookfield for 23 years, I know this congregation takes prayer seriously — it is in the DNA of this church. But Tony's word about intentionality is one every congregation, including this one, needs to revisit regularly. I have sat in prayer services where the oratory was polished but the heart was cold. I have also been in that room myself. Tony's reminder that God looks past the eloquence to the motivation is a corrective I needed to hear. Brookfield is a praying congregation. Let's make sure we're praying to God, not performing for the room.
🎯 This Week's Challenge
This week, I challenge you to restructure how you begin your prayers. Before you bring a single request to God, spend 60 seconds acknowledging who He is. Look up one specific attribute of God — His holiness, His omniscience, His timelessness — and address Him with that truth before you say anything else. Following the pattern of Matthew 6:9, let "hallowed be Thy name" come before "give us this day." Practice this for seven consecutive days and note what shifts in how you pray — and in how you feel when you're finished.
📖 Small Group Discussion Questions
Tony said the hypocrites prayed "to be seen" and received their full reward — human admiration. In what ways might believers today fall into this same pattern, even subtly? How do you guard the motivation behind your own prayers and public worship?
Tony described God as existing outside of time, space, and matter — hearing millions of prayers simultaneously. How does meditating on God's transcendence change the way you approach Him? Does the vastness of God make you feel small, or more confident in prayer? Why?
Ecclesiastes 5:2 says to "let your words be few" when approaching God. How do you reconcile that with Jesus' teaching on persistent, even relentless prayer in Luke 18:1-8? What's the difference between heaping empty phrases and persisting in genuine faith?
Tony said, "The more you study, the more your prayers will be conditioned by what you study." What is the connection between biblical literacy and a rich, deep prayer life? Has your study of Scripture ever changed what you prayed for, or how you prayed?
Tony taught that the earthly kingdom — the church — is the "dressing room" for the eternal kingdom. How does understanding the church as a kingdom, not just an organization or a social community, change how you think about your commitment and participation in your local congregation?
Prayer is not a performance — and it is not a routine. It is an intentional, reverent act of aligning your heart with the holy God who gave His Son so you could approach Him at all. Tony Padgett has given us Part 1 of a pattern worth building into our daily lives. Don't miss Part 2.
Watch the full sermon at the link above, and test what you've learned with the interactive quiz and study game at barrysbureau.org.
— Barry G. Johnson, Sr. | Barry's Bureau Ministry | barrysbureau.org
in Faithful Prayer, Part 1
Matthew 6:7–13 • Tony Padgett, March 22, 2026
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