The Audience & Content Of Prayer Series

Some overly reactionary believers have used these warnings of Jesus as a reason to renounce all public prayer. But the Lord taught no such thing. Jesus Himself often prayed in the presence of others including His disciples (Luke 11:1) and in public, as when He blessed food before feeding the multitudes (Matt. 14:19).

The public prayers of the typical scribe or Pharisee were ritualistic, mechanical, inordinately long, repetitious, and above all ostentatious. Like the hypocrites who gave for the sake of men’s praise (Matt. 6:2), those who prayed for the sake of others praise also had their reward in full/ received their reward. They were concerned only about the reward others could give, and that is all the reward they received or would receive.

POEM: In considering the audience of prayer, properly put, it is God, yet, it is the company of others that deserves prayer. William Cowper wrote this entitled: "On Opening a Place for Social Prayer"

Jesus! where’er Thy people meet,

There they behold Thy mercy seat;

Where’er they seek Thee, Thou are found,

And every place is hallow’d ground.

For Thou, within no walls confined

Inhabitest the humble mind;

Such ever bring Thee where they come,

And going, take Thee to their home.

Dear Shepherd of Thy chosen few!

Thy former mercies here renew;

Here to our waiting hearts proclaim

The sweetness of Thy saving name.

Here may we prove the power of prayer,

To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;

To teach our faint desires to rise,

And bring all Heaven before our eyes.

Behold, at Thy commanding word

We stretch the curtain and the cord,

Come Thou, and fill this wider space,

And bless us with a large increase.

Lord, we are few, but Thou are near:

Nor short Thine arm, nor deaf Thine ear;

Oh rend the heavens, come quickly down,

And make a thousand hearts Thine own.

(Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York as recorded in Galaxie Software. (2002; 2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.)

For 1) The Audience of Prayer. (Matthew 6:5-6) if A) The False Audience: is Other People. (Matthew 6:5), the true audience must be God

2) The True Audience: God. (Matthew 6:6)

Matthew 6:6 [6]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. (ESV)

“When you pray” expects each of us to do this regularly, (just like the preceding example of giving) (Lenski, R. C. H. (1961). The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (260). Minneapolis, MN.: Augsburg Publishing House.).

The basic definition of prayer is “communion with God,” and if God is not involved there is only the pretense of prayer. Not only must He be involved, but centrally involved. Prayer is God’s provision; it is God’s idea, not humanity’s. There could be no prayer if God did not condescend to speak with us, and we could not know how to pray had He not chosen to instruct us.

Jesus’ teaching here is simple, in contrast to the complicated and difficult traditions. The phrase when you pray implies great latitude. No prescribed time or occasion is given by the Lord. The tameion (inner) room) could be any sort of small room or chamber, even a storage closet. Such rooms were often secret and used to store valued possessions for protection. The idea is that of going to the most private place available.