Anchor My Faith

When We Pray

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8

With this lesson we move to a new section in our journey along the gospel path; a section on prayer and fasting: ^{Mt 6:5} “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ 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. 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.”

The statement “when you pray” stresses the importance of prayer. When we pray, Jesus tells us to not be like the hypocrites, who were pious Jews, who would at given times of the day, stop what they were doing and pray. Some of the Jews would pray discreetly, but others, the hypocrites, would pray with pretentious display, in the synagogues and at the street corners, to draw attention to themselves. Any reward they receive will be from men and not from God.

Jesus was not condemning public prayer, but how they were doing it and for what reasons. Jesus prayed in public, not to be noticed, but to accomplish a positive result. For example: “Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matthew 14:19 ESV). Through this public prayer, Jesus provided food for a hungry crowd. Most of the time when we find Jesus praying, he is by himself, in a remote location, focused on a purpose with his Father.

In contrast to the hypocrites, who desire exposure for receiving praise from men, Jesus instructs us to go into our room and shut the door and pray to our Father in secret and he will reward us. Again the condition of the heart is of central concern. It is not the act of praying that is important, but the focus of praying. It is not to be about me and what I get out of praying, but what my prayer will accomplish in doing the work of God.

Jesus is not saying public prayer has little or no value, and that it should be done completely away from public view, but he is saying that when done completely away from public view, it allows a person or group of people to focus more completely on God.

Jesus concludes this section on prayer with instruction on the length of our prayers. He was not speaking about how long we pray, but on how many words we use to express a single item of prayer. There were times when Jesus went off by himself, to a secluded location, and prayed all night. Jesus gives some guidance on this by telling us not to use empty phrases as the Gentile did, because they thought many words were needed for God to hear them. The Spirit of God dwells within each believer and he knows, even before we pray, what is on our hearts. Just a few sincere words about each prayer item from a heart focused on God will accomplish more than many words from a divided heart.

Prayer

Father, I am reminded that the effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much. Intentional praying is an effective way of accomplishing work for the kingdom of God that we seem to have lost sight of because it requires effort and may not be immediately gratifying. Prayer requires faith and work and as a result we tend to default to what the world has to offer for our time invested.