Matthew 6:5-13 When You Pray

Here we go, Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 5. You'll follow along with me.

"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, 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. Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'

So, the first thing we want to understand here is, Jesus is saying, "When you pray," not "if you pray." The understanding is that for those of us who are followers of Christ, who are people of God, prayer is a normal part of what we do. It is a normal part of our daily life. It is meant to be ongoing and continual. So, one of the first things that I want you to do is simply evaluate what your prayer life looks like today. Is it vibrant, or is it non-existent? Is it crisis-based, or are there other times you pray? And when you pray, is it a drive-by prayer where you put in your order and go to collect a few seconds later, or is it a deep, meaningful conversation?

Those are the points of evaluation I want you to consider this morning as we talk. When you pray, it's not "if"; it's "when" you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners. The word "hypocrites" is kind of interesting when you study it in the original language—the connotation is that of an actor, someone who puts on a mask to play a part other than who they really are. And so, that's the terminology that Jesus is using. These Pharisees, these religious leaders who stand out there and pray for public accolades, were hypocrites. They were praying like they had it all figured out when it came to the things of God, and yet they really didn't. And so he's pointing out, don't be like them. This is not for public consumption.

When you pray, now don't get me wrong, there are times where you may be asked to pray publicly. There are times where that is appropriate. But what we're looking at is the heart. Are you praying publicly, or are you putting on a show for others to watch? Or are you communicating with your heavenly Father? There's a difference in those two things.

Now, let's keep going here. So 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. And that was the issue last week if you'll remember with giving—if you're giving for public consumption, so others can see that you've been giving, then you've received your reward. There's nothing beyond that. There is no spiritual significance beyond that. You've gotten everything that's coming to you. And that's the point—if you're praying for other people's applause, then if you get those applause, that's all there is. That's not the purpose of prayer. That's not what God designed it for.

Notice what Jesus tells us here. "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. So a couple of points we want to point out, going back to this idea of how the hypocrites prayed. Prayer is a personal thing. And that's your first "P"—it's personal. It's not for everybody else. It's not for my neighbor. It's not for my wife. It's not for my kids. It's not for anybody's applause. It's my communication with God. It's personal. It has to be personal because this is God's invitation to come and commune with Him in fellowship.

But secondarily, notice what he says. "When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret." Prayer is private. One of the reasons so many people struggle with their prayer life is they don't block off a place and a time to pray. "Well, I pray all my way to work." That's one, as you're avoiding the other 120 idiots around you, right? You can't concentrate on prayer. And the whole point that we want to understand what prayer being private is, it's a conversation. Your deepest conversations are held in private. Prayer should be your deepest conversation.