Prayer Without Pretense
Matthew 6:5-8
Of all the privileges the child of God enjoys, perhaps the greatest is the privilege of prayer. True prayer is the act of talking to our Heavenly Father in the name of His Son Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.[1] Think about what a great honor it is that God invites us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16). To be able to come directly into the presence of God and to speak with Him Who created and controls the universe, and to know that He has promised to hear us and to answer us, is an unfathomable blessing. When we consider that real prayer is not just sending words out into thin air, but that real prayer is used by God to accomplish His purposes on the earth, it is overwhelming! What a privilege is ours, to be able to speak to God; knowing He will hear and He will answer; knowing that He has invited us to be involved with Him in the work He is doing![2]
In this part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:5-15), Jesus teaches on prayer. Remember from last time that Jesus gave the general principle regarding the practice of religious righteousness in Matthew 6:1, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds [or a better translation would be ‘righteousnesses’] before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Jesus is contrasting the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees with the true righteousness that must characterize His disciples, the people who belong to the Kingdom of Heaven.
In Matthew 5, Jesus corrected the scribes’ and Pharisees’ distorted teaching of the law. Jesus showed that just because you don’t break the external commandment, it doesn’t mean you aren’t sinning. God intended His law to promote an internal righteousness from the heart. Now in Matthew 6, Jesus shows that just because you do a good religious deed, that doesn’t mean that you are righteous. Again, God is concerned more about the motives of your heart than your religious performance.
Here in Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus gives us three examples concerning three very important areas of spiritual life: giving (Matt. 6:2-4), praying (Matt. 6:5-15), and fasting (Matt. 6:16-18). Our Lord is warning us against doing our acts of righteousness out of an unrighteous motive—so that others will see us do them, applaud us for them, and think well of us. Jesus teaches that if we give, pray, or fast for that reason, we may receive our temporal reward, the approval of men, but we will not receive any eternal reward from the Father.
The structure of these four verses is indicated by the repeated phrase “when you pray” (Matt. 6:5, 6, 7). Jesus emphasizes that we should not pray “like the hypocrites,” to be seen by others (Matt. 6:5); instead we should pray privately (Matt. 6:6). Next, He emphasizes that we should not pray “as the heathen,” that is, Gentiles, expecting to manipulate an answer from their deities (Matt. 6:7); instead, we should pray a simple prayer to our Heavenly Father (Matt. 6:8–13).[3]
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:5-8).
1. The wrong way to pray: to be seen by other people (Matt. 6:5).
Jesus taught a similar thing about prayer as He did about giving. The wrong way to pray is to pray to be seen by other people: “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” (Matt. 6:5).
It is significant that Jesus begins, “And when you pray . . .” Jesus does not command us to pray but He assumes that we will pray. Jesus is our example. Luke 11 records a time when Jesus “was praying in a certain place” and “when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’” (Luke 11:1). It was perfectly natural for Jesus to speak as a Son to His Father. And once we become children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, it’s perfectly natural for us to pray to our Father as well. Matthew Henry comments, “You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray.”[4]
Is prayer to your Heavenly Father a significant part of your life? If we can go through the day without talking to the Father at all, or speaking to Him very little, and find that it really doesn’t make that much difference to how we live, what does that say about our relationship with God?
Here, Jesus teaches that the wrong way to pray is “like the hypocrites.” This word occurs here for the first time in Matthew (see also Matt. 6:5, 16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13–15, 27; 24:51.).[5] The word “hypocrite” came from the stage. It referred to a play-actor. An actor in a Greek play often played several parts and wore masks to indicate the different characters. So, to be a hypocrite is to put on a mask, to pretend to be someone you are not.
Jesus says the hypocrites “love to pray.” That sounds good on the surface. We should all love to pray. But look at why they loved to pray: “that they may be seen by men.” They didn’t love prayer because they loved God. No, they loved to pray in public for public acclaim. That is why they made sure that at the time of prayer they would be “standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets.” The synagogue was the place of public religious worship, and the corner of the street was a public spot by which people passed as they hurried along on their business. The point that Jesus made is that, when the hypocrites found themselves in such a public place at the time of prayer, they “loved” it! And the reason they loved it was because they could then be seen and admired by men for the fact that they prayed.
It’s important that we not misunderstand what Jesus is trying to tell here about public prayer. Some people have taken Jesus to be saying that we should never pray in public or with other people. And of course, if that’s the case, then we should never have public prayers in our worship services or as an invocation at important events; and we should never have prayer meetings.
Plainly, though, Jesus is not speaking against all forms of public prayer. There are several times in the Bible in which it’s assumed that we will pray together. In Matthew 18 for example, in the context of confronting and disciplining another professing believer in the church for sin, Jesus says, “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19-20). When He was in the garden awaiting His betrayal, He told His gathered disciples, “Watch and pray . . .” (Matthew 26:41). Clearly, Jesus assumes that His followers would pray together and in front of each other in such cases.
In the book of Acts, the believers regularly gathered together to pray with one another. After Jesus had ascended to the Father, we find that all the disciples “continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14). And after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and Peter had preached and more than 3,000 believed, we find that they all “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Peter and John even attended the regularly appointed times of prayer in the temple (Acts 3:1); and in times of persecution, the church gathered together to raise their voices to God in with one accord (Acts 4:34-30).
The apostle Paul commands us to pray together. Paul writes to Timothy and the church, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men . . .” (1 Tim. 2:1); and “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting . . .” (1 Tim. 2:8). Obviously, Jesus is not teaching us to refrain from praying together, lest we might be heard by one another. In fact, our Lord Jesus even once prayed with the specific intention that other people hear what He prayed. Just before He raised Lazarus from the dead—with all the people gathered around Him—He prayed, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me” (John 11:41-42).
Jesus is not discouraging us from praying in public, or in praying together in earshot of one another. There’s no sin in doing that in and of itself. In fact, it is assumed by Him that we will pray together and before one another. It’s all a matter of motives. We are not to do any of our righteous deeds before men with that one, specific, sinful motive: “to be seen by them.“
Consider these questions to examine your motive in prayer: Do I pray more in public than I do in private? Am I more concerned with others hearing my prayer than with God hearing my prayer? Do I critique the prayers of others, thinking that I could do better? Do I often tell people about my prayers? Do I pray in public with carefully chosen words that demonstrate to others the greatness of my faith? Do I expect people to thank me for my prayers?
That’s the danger we face in praying. It’s the most profound act that any child of God can ever engage in; and yet, we can so easily taint it with sin when we seek to pray in such a way as to be seen and admired by others.
Now Jesus gives,
2. The right way to pray: to your Father in secret (Matt. 6:6).
Jesus places the emphasis on the phrase, “But you . . .” As He did in Matthew 6:2, Jesus addresses His disciples individually. He’s not speaking to us in the plural; because that’s the context within which we would be seeking to be seen by one another. Instead, He draws us out of the crowd and deals with us as individuals.
“But you, when you pray, go into your room . . .” The word that Jesus uses, that’s here translated “room”, is one that refers to a “storage room” or “closet”. It’s a room that was usually separated from everything else; and because it contained valuables or grain or goods, it was usually locked. It wasn’t a room that people spent time in. It was certainly not the place someone would expect to find someone else praying—which, of course, is the point.
Jesus goes to great lengths to express the seclusion we should seek in getting away to pray. Not only does He say, “go into your room,” He tells us that “when you have shut your door,” then you are to “pray to your Father who is in the secret place.” Now praying in a private place with the door closed is great for privacy and to cut down distractions, but Jesus has a different reason in mind here. He wants to remove the temptation of praying in order to be seen by others. It doesn’t do any good to go into your room to pray if you hang a big sign on the door saying, “Do not disturb. I am busy praying!”
Jesus doesn’t want us to lose our Father’s favor in our prayers. And so, He urges us to find a place of seclusion in our lives, get completely away from the eyesight of other people, and away from the temptation to make ourselves seen by them in our praying. There we are to pray to our Father in secret. We should place a greater emphasis on secret prayer than on public prayer. As someone said, “In public – pray short; In private – pray long.”[6] There are no secrets with God. He sees the prayer that no one else can see. And He will reward you because He is your gracious Heavenly Father by Christ’s death and resurrection.
Next, Jesus turns to another problem in prayer:
3. The wrong way to pray: meaningless repetition (Matt. 6:7).
Look at verse 7: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matt. 6:7). Here Jesus moves from the Pharisees to the pagans, from the wrong motivation for prayer to the wrong manner of praying.
Jesus says that the heathen “use vain repetitions” in their prayers. The pagans babble repeatedly in prayer because they think the more words they use, the more likely their gods will hear. We read in the Old Testament how the prophets of Baal danced around the altar and cried out to Baal from morning to noon. But no one answered. There was no response. (1 Kings 18:26) Some pagans ran through a rapid-fire list of all their different gods’ names when they prayed in hopes that one of them might pick up on the request. John Broadus comments,
“Many Buddhists spin wheels containing written prayers, believing that each turn of the wheel sends that prayer to their god. Roman Catholics light prayer candles in the belief that their requests will continue to ascend repetitiously to God as long as the candle is lit. Rosaries are used to count off repeated prayers of Hail Mary and Our Father, the rosary itself coming to Catholicism from Buddhism by way of the Spanish Muslims during the Middle Ages. Certain charismatic groups in our own day repeat the same words or phrases over and over until the speaking degenerates to unintelligible confusion.”[7]
Jesus says that the reason they pray this way is “they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus says this is the wrong way to pray. God cannot be manipulated by our many words, by our sincerity, or by our ceremony. But, if we are not careful, that is exactly what we will do. We will pray the same prayer over every meal. We say the same phrases morning and night when we pray. We use the name of God, or Father, or Lord, over and over when we pray. God, save us from pretentious, manipulative prayer!
Finally, that brings us to what Jesus taught about,
4. The right way to pray: with simple direct petitions (Matt. 6:8-13).
Pagan prayer is about the manipulation of spiritual forces and entities that do not generally care about you as an individual. But Jesus shows that the Lord our God is a Heavenly Father who cares deeply for us. He says, “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” God is not some distant, distracted deity that you need to yell at to get his attention. He is your heavenly Father who loves you and loves it when you ask. God is not reluctant to hear and answer your prayers. He is your heavenly Father!
As God says in Isaiah 65:24: “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24) This is the beauty of prayer. God knows what you need, but He still wants you to ask. God is good, and He is aware of your needs long before you ask. Just trust Him, speak to Him, and seek His face. As Jesus will teach later in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7). Jesus goes on in Matthew 6:9-13 to give us a pattern, a model prayer. Notice how short and simple it is. We simply come to our Heavenly Father in praise and petition, knowing that He cares for us and answers our prayers.
Some might say, “If God already knows what we need, then what is the point in praying?” Prayer gives God the opportunity to hear His children express their love for Him, their thanks to Him, their dependence upon Him, and their faith in Him. Pray affords God the opportunity to demonstrate His love, power, glory, providence, sovereignty, and provision for His children. Our Father sees in secret, He knows our needs, and this motivates us to go to Him.[8]
Do you know the joy of praying to the heavenly Father like that? Are you confident that the Father loves and cares for you in that way? Do you long to speak with Him? If not, Christ is calling you today by grace to embrace the Heavenly Father and see that He is the one who longs to be your God and to make you His people. You can have that kind of relationship as a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He died for your sins. He was raised to life for your justification. He saves completely everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.
[1] Greg Allen, Prayer in the Secret Place, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/010905.htm (I drew from several points that Allen makes in his sermon).
[2] Alan Carr, Praying without Pretense, http://www.sermonnotebook.org/new%20testament/Matt%206_5-8.htm#_edn1
[3] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 210.
[4] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1636.
[5] David Turner and Darrell L. Bock, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 11: Matthew and Mark (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 99.
[6] John G. Mitchell, Matthew (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1974), p. 19. Cited by Greg Allen, ibid.
[7] John A. Broadus, Matthew [Valley Forge, Pa.: Judson, 1886], p. 130. Cited by Alan Carr, ibid.
[8] Ligon Duncan, True Religion, Part 2: Praying. http://fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/true-religion-part-2-praying/
