ARE SOME PRAYERS DISPLEASING TO GOD?
QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINE
Matthew 6:5–8 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. 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. 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.
Prayer was a pillar of Jewish piety during Jesus’ ministry. Public prayer was traditionally said aloud in the morning, afternoon, and evening. At a set time of prayer, devout Jews would stop what they were doing and pray, some discreetly and in private, but others would put on a very public display and pray in a way that everyone around them could see and hear what they were doing. Today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel is Jesus’ response to this type of extravagant prayer. Keep in mind that Jesus did not condemn public prayer. Jesus himself prayed in public on many occasions. What Jesus is concerned with and condemns in the above passage is the idea of a person’s internal motivation when it comes to prayer being out of line with God’s design and what he desires from us.
Jesus declares that those who pray only for public attention, or so people will see them as holy, are doing it for the wrong reasons. God is not pleased with a prayer that comes from a place of pride or attention-seeking. This is not how God has called his children to pray and he is not impressed by it. Though public prayer has value, prayer completely away from public view allows a person (or group) to focus more exclusively on God. The reason these religious hypocrites prayed was not out of devotion to God, or in true worship, but to be seen as devout. There were many other things these religious hypocrites did in regard to prayer that Jesus was not impressed with. Their motivation for prayer was not God-honoring but self-honoring. They would pray for long periods of time and use many words, even babbling incoherently just to fill space. This was something that pagans often did, simply repeating the names of their gods or the same chanted words over and over in a manic chant. A mindless, mechanical repetition of prayers that do not engage the mind and heart is not pleasing to Jesus. As Christians, we do not pray like the pagans, we are intentional when we pray, we communicate when we pray, we worship with a pure heart, and we listen for God’s voice. None of these things were happening when it came to the religious Pharisees Jesus was calling out and rebuking.
Jesus would later teach his disciples how to pray in what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. That teaching on prayer was a response to everything Jesus saw happening within the religious community. Prayer needed to be brought back into alignment with God. God cares first and foremost about the alignment of your heart and mind rather than what words are said or the duration of your prayer. Think about this in your own life. Are you sometimes guilty of slipping into prayers that are a show? Are your prayers full of mindless, repetitive words that you really aren’t thinking about? How can your heart and mind be renewed in this area?
Jesus declares that those who pray only for public attention, or so people will see them as holy, are doing it for the wrong reasons. God is not pleased with a prayer that comes from a place of pride or attention-seeking. This is not how God has called his children to pray and he is not impressed by it. Though public prayer has value, prayer completely away from public view allows a person (or group) to focus more exclusively on God. The reason these religious hypocrites prayed was not out of devotion to God, or in true worship, but to be seen as devout. There were many other things these religious hypocrites did in regard to prayer that Jesus was not impressed with. Their motivation for prayer was not God-honoring but self-honoring. They would pray for long periods of time and use many words, even babbling incoherently just to fill space. This was something that pagans often did, simply repeating the names of their gods or the same chanted words over and over in a manic chant. A mindless, mechanical repetition of prayers that do not engage the mind and heart is not pleasing to Jesus. As Christians, we do not pray like the pagans, we are intentional when we pray, we communicate when we pray, we worship with a pure heart, and we listen for God’s voice. None of these things were happening when it came to the religious Pharisees Jesus was calling out and rebuking.
Jesus would later teach his disciples how to pray in what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer. That teaching on prayer was a response to everything Jesus saw happening within the religious community. Prayer needed to be brought back into alignment with God. God cares first and foremost about the alignment of your heart and mind rather than what words are said or the duration of your prayer. Think about this in your own life. Are you sometimes guilty of slipping into prayers that are a show? Are your prayers full of mindless, repetitive words that you really aren’t thinking about? How can your heart and mind be renewed in this area?