Your Father knows what you need. The act of prayer is to align your heart with what God knows already. In that posture, we can then ask him for things which bring redemption to situations in your life, the lives of those around you, and the world in which we live…
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:5-13 NLT
I’m paying attention to what Jesus says not to do. Oftentimes when I read this passage I go to the instruction of how to pray in the pattern and model of the Lord’s prayer. Today I noticed what Jesus highlights to not do.
Hypocrites love to pray publicly on street corners or in churches where everyone can see. Their desire, at least in part, is to be seen. It is to be noticed and likely admired for their piety. Just as we saw with giving, the Lord does not esteem publicity. He esteems true generosity in giving and true worship and faith in prayer.
The antidote to this issue is to pray in secret. Now, I have to admit that I intentionally pray in public. I don’t do it for accolades, but rather I intentionally pray with people who I meet or with whom I work. I pray in the moment wherever we are because we are trying to build a culture of prayer. I will do the same in the church setting, whether in the auditorium/sanctuary or in the foyer. Or the parking lot. It’s always time to pray.
The other thing Jesus warns against is babbling. Some people apparently just repeated the same words over and over. This sounds mantra-ish in its form. In modern context, I find this appears in the power-word repetition. “God” and “Lord” are holy names of God, and oftentimes people will pepper them into the middle of sentences with no respect for grammar, seemingly to make sure there are enough godly power-words to get the message across.
Jesus says don’t be like them. It’s like he is saying, “Cut to the chase!” Your Father knows what you need. Before you fold your hands to bow before him, he knows. So tell him what he knows. The act of prayer is to align your heart with what God knows already. Then ask him for things which bring redemption to situations in your life, the lives of those around you, and the world in which we live.
Seems simple, doesn’t it? But we complicate prayer like we complicate life. God, help us to redeem our prayers…
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 