Matthew 6:5-15 – Praying Like Jesus, Part 1

Parts of this passage are some of the most quoted verses from the Bible. The Lord’s Prayer is repeated before ballgames, during worship services, during weddings, and as life is ending for some. Some people say the words with conviction while others repeat them as if they hold mystical powers. Whatever the case, the words of Jesus are deeply felt and easily remembered.

But how much to we know about prayer?

Jesus continues correcting the misinformation that had emerged in Jewish tradition. Some believed that they could prove their “Jewish-ness” by praying so everyone could hear them – particularly in hopes of receiving accolades thrown at them from those who heard their prayer. Jesus again uses the “h” word – hypocrites!

I wonder if standing on a street corner in a small town and yelling at people about the coming judgments of God could be the same thing. I am not talking about approaching people in a “cold-call” witnessing technique; I am talking about those who yell at a passerby and at cars while quoting Scripture. I digress.

God is not impressed by loud public prayers. This does not mean we cannot pray in the church when asked to lead prayer. This does not discount those in the Pentecostal church who speak in tongues with interpretation. This also does not count out congregations praying out loud as a whole or in worship. God is not impressed with someone who blurts out a prayer to show how “spiritual” they are.

During the times of Jesus, they had times of prayer. These times of prayer are not to be confused with the calls of prayer seen in Muslim communities with their siren and everyone getting on their knees and praying towards a particular direction, and quoting pre-written prayers. As a practice Jews would use certain times of day as moments to spend time with God in prayer. Daniel is one who regularly prayed in this manner; this is how those who conspired against him knew what time to catch him.

Proving one’s spirituality by praying so outlandishly that we attract attention and congratulations is all the attention that prayer will receive. God will not listen and will not hear. Therefore, I can guarantee that God will not respond either!

If you have set up times during your day to spend with God, then do as Jesus suggests. Go to a quiet place and pray. Spend time with God, not getting attention or worrying if others are noticing. Your time with God is your time with Him. As with any relationship, you need time to build relationship and intimacy with God. Rapport is built upon trust, closeness, listening, and communicating. God desires it from you, and you will receive it from God. Praying in secret to build relationship and intimacy with God leads to God’s promise of reward.

Relationship and intimacy with God is built upon real communication. Babbling about nothing and just reciting a prayer from memory is not the basis for good communication. Kind of like the husband and wife who go to a marriage counselor. The wife says the husband never says “I love you.” The counselor asked if this is true. The husband replies, “I said ‘I love you’ when we got married and I meant it then and still feel it now.” Wives need to hear the words. Besides, when you say “I love you”, you are putting action to words. God wants to hear from you. He wants you to put action to your words by thinking about how you love Him and how you recognize His involvement in your life.

You cannot gain God’s attention by repeating His words over and over in hopes that He will eventually hear you. Being persistent about a need in prayer is fine when you do not chant a prayer in hopes for God’s rsponse. Pagans did this with their prayers. They said a chant over and over as if that chant would force action by their god. Our God is not a prayer puppet who works when we chant the right words or make the right noises.

You are to pray prayers with meaning. But with all this said, how can I say all of that when people quote and pray the words from the prayer of Jesus everyday? Is what they repeat meaningless and baseless? Yes and no.

Let me deal with yes. You are rambling if you just repeat the words of Jesus. These words have meaning and depth. These words have the power of life. These words are more than just repeating a mindless chant. When you repeat words just to be repeating, then you are playing the part of the hypocrite. Hypocrites try to use the words of Christ like a magical incantation. Do not do that. Let the words of Jesus have meaning.

This brings me to the “no” part of my answer. Quoting Scripture and praying Scripture has been used for centuries. It is more than tradition. People quote Scripture when Scripture speaks to their heart. People quote Scripture when it speaks for them. People quote Scripture because of the comfort it brings. Feel free to quote Scripture but I ask that you understand why it brings you comfort. In understanding, we begin to develop the rapport we need for intimacy with God.

In part 2, I will break up the prayer of Jesus to help bring a little more understanding to the fullness His words. For today, I want to reflect upon why you pray the way you do.

• Do you have times set aside for prayer? Do you have a quiet place?
• Do you use Scripture to help you pray? Why or why not?
• How does Scripture bring comfort to you? 
• What would you say to better help someone understand how to spend time building intimacy with God?