March 14, 2016
Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:5-8
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Questions for Reflection:
Jesus moves on into a discussion of prayer. This chapter includes some of the most famous teaching on prayer recorded. Jesus paints two contrasting images for us to help us understand how we should pray. What does he say we should avoid doing in prayer?
The Pharisees and the religious rulers of Jesus’ day struggled with pride. (If we’re honest, that struggle was not reserved for them alone, right?) Their pride displayed itself in their prayer life, among other places. They would go and stand in the street or the front of the synagogue and pray in a loud, demonstrative way. What was the problem with this type of prayer life? Is the problems with the words that they were praying? Is the problem with the location of the prayers? I would suggest to you that the problem is with their motives. They wanted the reputation of being people of prayer without really wanting the God that they were praying to.
Jesus also instructs the disciples in verses 7 and 8 to avoid repetitive prayers. DA Carson notes in his commentary on Matthew, “His point is that his disciples should avoid meaningless, repetitive prayers offered under the misconception that mere length will make prayers efficacious.” The number of words we use, the amount of syllables in those words do not matter. We are not playing Scrabble with God. We’re having a conversation. Prayer is designed for us to share our heart with God and for us to learn the heart of God. It’s not about the amount of words we use; it’s about possessing a surrendered life.
As we examine our own prayer habits, we should ask ourselves some questions. Does your public prayer life match your private prayer life? Do you pray with more passion and fervency when praying with others than you do on your own? Do you pray as often or more when you are alone with God as you do when you are with your group or team? Do you have a place where you go to regularly seek the heart of God? Why is it important to have such a place? In learning to seek God regularly in a particular place, we can learn habits that will allow us to listen and to respond to Him anywhere.
Spend time today talking with God about your prayer life. Begin by praising Him for making Himself available to you through prayer. Make sure you take time to listen from Him. Prayer is designed to be a dialogue and not just your monologue to God.