By Pastor Stephen Hess –
Recently at Highview we began a sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer has been the focus of Christian teaching in the church for centuries because it is the place in Scripture where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. Therefore, if we want to learn how to pray well, there is no better place to start than the Lord’s Prayer.
However, it’s worth noting that before Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, he also teaches them how not to pray in Matthew 6:5-8. Perhaps just as important as what we should do in our prayer lives is what we should not do. So what can we learn from Jesus’ instructions about how not to pray? Jesus tells us specifically that we should avoid two types of prayer.
First, we should avoid hypocritical prayer. Jesus says, “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” (Matt. 6:5-6). As R.C. Sproul has pointed out, the original meaning of the term “hypocrite” was a person who engaged in drama or theater. When Jesus talks about the hypocrites here, he is referring to those who are merely putting on a show when they engage in prayer. In other words, instead of praying to please God, they are praying to impress others.
Jesus’ instructions here are a warning against praying for the wrong reasons. When he says that we should pray “in secret” he is not implying that we should never engage in public prayer (after all, the New Testament has many examples of public prayer). Rather, Jesus is warning against making a show of our own piety. When we pray, we should be praying to an audience of one, and our concern should be with pleasing God alone. Prayer that is offered to impress others is hypocritical prayer.
Second, we should avoid empty prayer. Jesus says, “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” (Matt. 6:7-8). What Jesus was speaking against here were those who viewed prayers as sort of magical incantations. They wrongly assumed that if they just said the right words and repeated them enough times that God would hear them. But true prayer doesn’t work that way; true prayer comes from the heart.
I encounter many Christians today who are afraid to pray because they think that prayer must be long and include fancy language. But Jesus doesn’t care so much about the words we use as he does the condition of our hearts. He wants us to come to him with sincerity and pour out our hearts to him. As Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” True prayer is simply conversation with God.
As Jesus pointed out, our Father already knows what we need before we ask him (Matt. 6:8). Therefore, let us come to God for the right reasons and with sincere hearts, knowing that there is great reward waiting for those who seek him (Matt. 6:6).