THE SECRET LIFE OF CHRISTIANS, part 2: prayer

“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…

“When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask.”

~ Jesus, in Matthew 6:1, 5-8

What is your relationship with prayer like? Do you find it comforting, frustrating, or pointless? Is it usually a one-sided conversation (you speaking, not God) or simply another task on your spiritual to-do list that needs to be checked off each day?

You may be surprised at how many followers of Jesus have an unhealthy view of this spiritual practice.

We are continuing with our devotional series The Secret Life of Christians as we look first half of Matthew 6 where Jesus warns his followers against doing spiritual deeds in order to be seen by others.  In his context he refers to the three disciplines that were the most common displays of Jewish piety in his time – giving to the poor, praying, and fasting.

Last week we looked at the spiritual discipline of giving.  Today we look at the spiritual discipline of prayer. 

The Reality of Prayer*

Let’s start by making something clear: Prayer is not a human invention. God initiated prayer. Prayer begins in the bible with God speaking to humans (Genesis 2). Human prayer is a response to God’s words to humanity, and because humans are designed to take all their life experiences to God, prayer connects to everything.

It has been said prayer is as human as eating.  Every human culture throughout all time has engaged in some form of it or another. However, when we are talking about prayer to God, we are talking about a beautiful invitation from God to partner in heaven’s invasion of earth.

In Jesus’ day, the Jews prayed 3x a day: before bed, when they arose, and at the afternoon sacrifice.  The problem was, and the issue Jesus is addressing in these words, is that some hypocrites planned to be conspicuous at these hours of prayer (I just happened to be on the street corner when the hour of prayer came…). Jesus rebukes the habit of praying publicly to be observed by others.

WHEN you pray…

Just like last week, where Jesus said, “WHEN you give to the needy…” here he says “WHEN you pray…”  Not if.  When.  Jesus expects that his followers will be praying people, and he says WHEN we do, to not be like the hypocrites (we discussed last week what a hypocrite is). Instead, Jesus desires concentration on God with no eye on the people around. Nothing else matters.

Don’t misunderstand. There is nothing wrong with praying in front of others. What is wrong is praying in front of others to be seen by those others. Jesus focuses on our intent, and he says that those who pray to be seen have received all the reward they will ever get (we discussed reward last week as well).

If they’ve received their reward, there is nothing coming from God above. “They got the good they wanted, but what they wanted was not good” (source unknown). The only reward of pretentious prayer is that others have seen you.

So instead of praying to be seen by others, Jesus says, “But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray…” This has also been translated as “prayer closet.”

Understanding the “Prayer Closet”

Basically, the prayer closet is a hyperbole for privacy. It’s not meant to be taken literally.  There is benefit to having an area set aside for prayer, but it’s not commanded. Praying in private allows us to focus more exclusively on God and not be distracted by our surroundings.

However, even though praying in private protects us from the hypocrisy of praying to be seen by others, it does not protect us from hypocrisy in prayer. Even alone, if we play a role and are not honest in prayer to God, we are hypocrites.  But whereas our hypocrisy may fool some of those around us, it never fools God.  So Jesus says, “When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words…” 

Many words…

Using many words in prayer was a Gentile custom when addressing their gods. For example, in 1Kings 18:26 we read: 

“So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, ‘O Baal, answer us!’ But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.”

A pagan god can be manipulated by using the right phrases and number of words. But God already knows our need and can be trusted. He says in Isaiah 65:24:

"I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!”

The focus of Jesus’ criticism is our intent in using the words. The pagan intent was that if they are long-winded or pray long enough or if they show their sincerity by going on and on, their god will hear them.  But Jesus rebukes non-stop prattling in the presence of God. Non-stop talking is anxiety in prayer.

God does not respond to the number of words we use, but to our prayerful dependence on him. This does not mean we should never pray long prayers or never repeat our prayer requests. Read prayers and traditional prayers are also fine if they flow from an imploring heart turned to and focused on God. 

PAUSE and REFLECT:

It is an unspeakable privilege to pray. Take a moment to pause and reflect on your motivation for prayer. Does your prayer life echo your trust in God? Do you find yourself using many words out of anxiety, or trying to convince God to listen?

Here’s a suggestion: begin your prayer time with a few minutes of silence. Use the time to gather your thoughts and rest in the assurance that God already knows what you need. Then begin to share your heart. End your time with silence as well, again resting in the love of God.

*Some of this material is based on older notes which did not record my sources of thought. If it's good stuff, the seed of the thought may have come from someone else. The dumb stuff is all mine. Apologies to any person who may have been quoted without reference!