Flashback Episode — Praying For Praise: Matthew 6:5-13

As we continue moving through events the gospel writers include in Jesus’ life, we arrive at a point in Jesus’ ministry where He is teaching the crowds about prayer. For those of you who are familiar with the gospels, you’ll easily recognize that this topic comes immediately following the opening to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. After Jesus has shared blessings for various groups of people in the opening portion of His sermon, He shifts the focus of His message first to the big topic of prayer, and what Jesus says might just surprise you.

While Jesus includes a very famous model prayer in our passage, what Jesus says leading up to this prayer are in many ways more important than the prayer itself.

Our passage for this episode, and Jesus’ teaching on the subject of prayer, is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 6, and we will read it using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 5, Matthew tells us Jesus transitions to talking about prayer by saying:

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. ⁶ When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Let’s pause reading here because I want to draw our attention onto several specific points. First, the way Jesus describes prayer in this passage is as though prayer is primarily a personal thing; it is something we do with God. Prayer is a two-person event: person 1 is praying, and we could call “Person” 2, God, who is receiving the prayer. God, who we don’t see, sees what we do in secret, and he rewards our personal relationship with Him.

The powerful truth Jesus alludes to in this passage is that our public relationship with God does not matter as much as our private relationship with God. While a public and private relationship are important, Jesus tells us that those who only have a public relationship with God have already received their reward, because their relationship with God is not for God’s benefit, but simply for show.

It is like someone who says they are your friend when other people are around, but who ignores you or doesn’t want to spend time with you when it is just the two of you. That’s not much of a friendship.

Instead, Jesus teaches us that God wants a personal relationship with you – a relationship that is solid on a personal level and that doesn’t feel as though it needs to be displayed in public. This leaves public prayers for addressing simply the group and/or event they are included in, which keeps them relevant as well.

Praying in public or when others are present is something that is beneficial, but only when it is given sincerely, from someone who also has a personal relationship with God in their private life as well.

With this foundation in place, Jesus then shifts the focus slightly in the following verses. Continuing in verse 7, Jesus tells those present:

⁷ “And when you pray, don’t be like those people who don’t know God. They continue saying things that mean nothing, thinking that God will hear them because of their many words. ⁸ Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. ⁹ So when you pray, you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name always be kept holy.
¹⁰ May your kingdom come
and what you want be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us the food we need for each day.
¹² Forgive us for our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.
¹³ And do not cause us to be tempted,
but save us from the Evil One.’ [The kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours forever. Amen.]

While it would be very easy to focus in on Jesus’ model prayer here, the statements Jesus share leading up to this model prayer are just as powerful, and they are oftentimes lost or forgotten. When setting the stage for this powerful prayer, Jesus makes a clear distinction between people who either pray meaningless words, or who act as though God has no idea what they want or need.

If you pray in order to let God know what you need, that subtly suggests that you believe God isn’t all knowing. If we believe God is all-knowing, it is only logical to conclude that He knows what we need, want, and will ask for before we even bow our head to pray. While we can and should still ask for things, it is better for us to understand the truth that by asking, we are intentionally submitting to God and His will. When we ask God for something specific, let’s not treat God as though He is learning something new; instead, let’s ask God to step into our lives and our situations in ways that only He can.

Jesus directly says that using more words does not mean you have a more effective prayer. Probably the opposite is true. I shouldn’t have to say this to us here, but this truth about prayer is true in our private prayers, and it is really, really true in our public ones. Keeping our prayers short in public will keep everyone satisfied, and we can say we are following Jesus’ instructions for us.

Chanting repetitive words or phrases fail Jesus’ prayer instructions for His followers. When we say empty, meaningless, or shallow words, they cheapen our prayer. When we repetitively use words or phrases, each subsequent time we say them may get more intense, but do we think God didn’t hear us the first time. God heard our request before the thought even had occurred in our mind – the first time – and he certainly does not need to hear the request multiple times.

However, what about times or places in the Bible where we are challenged to persist in our requests to God. Is repeating our requests ever okay?

In my own mind, I think it is, but only in specific cases or situations. When we are facing something in our lives that we need God’s help with, it is beneficial for us to repeat our request because repeating the request reminds ourselves of something we have given to God, and repeating our requests reminds us that God is still in control. Also, if we are tempted or struggling whether to give our situation over to God, we should repeat our prayer request because repeating our prayers helps us wrap our minds around our need for God’s help.

In our prayers, we remind ourselves that God is in control, and that He knows the best outcome from eternity’s perspective. We tend to limit our focus to our own limited perspective, but God knows all the possible outcomes, and reminding ourselves that He is in control also reminds us that He knows the best path for history to take from this point forward. God looks at the perspective of eternity, and He wants as many people as possible in His kingdom with Him.

When we pray to God, let’s intentionally focus on drawing near to God and opening our hearts and lives to Him. God loves you and me, and through prayer, we can grow a strong, personal relationship with Him that will extend forward into eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and intentionally work towards growing a personal relationship with Him and with Jesus – giving emphasis on growing your personal, private relationship.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn more about God and about Jesus and what He is like. While other people have ideas and opinions, the best place to learn about God is through what He has revealed to us in the Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!