Praying aright

Read Matthew 6:5-8

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This is the second of three examples which Jesus uses to show the wrong and right way of doing “acts of righteousness” (1). All three passages have four key words in common: hypocrite, secret, reward and Father. Prayer, like any religious act, should never be done to impress other people (5; cf. Matt.23:1-7). That’s hypocrisy, a word derived from actors’ wearing of masks in Greek theatre. Prayer must not be play-acting or putting on a show.

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This doesn’t mean that public prayer should not be done (Jn.12:27-29). But when we pray with other people we understand that it’s God alone who we come to and focus on. Nor should prayer be about mindlessly babbling words, without giving any thought to them. Jesus is not forbidding prayers being repeated – he did that himself (Matt.26:44; cf. Lk.18:1-8). Rather, he’s warning of “any and every prayer which is all words and no meaning, all lips and no mind or heart” (J.Stott).

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Prayer like that is based on an ignorance about God and who he is: “your Father” (8). We don’t pray to inform him or persuade him. Instead, we come to him confidently, knowing that we are loved and welcomed by him, and because we want to seek him and his kingdom.