Matthew 6:5-8 5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love standing and praying in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by people. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, go into your inner room and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not repeat empty phrases as the pagans do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Jesus next addresses the second act of Jewish piety by giving directions about how disciples should and should not pray. He again mentions the hypocrites who do their acts of piety to get attention and praise from other people. The thought of these verses is similar to verses 1-4. Some Jews would stand and pray loudly to impress people with their religious piety, but their prayers went nowhere except to their already swollen heads. They loved to pray to get attention. Behind their pious prayers was their pride. Their reward was only temporary.
Disciples, however, have a different practice and purpose for prayer. Just as acts of mercy should be done in secret, so should prayer. God knows all about us–what we do behind closed doors, both the good and bad. Jesus highlights three problems for how some people pray: 1) praying to look righteous before others, 2) mindless repetition, and 3) wordiness. He tells his disciples how to pray and modeled prayer on many occasions.
There are several reasons why we should pray secretly behind closed doors. Obviously, we will find there a quiet place away from the distractions of life. But more significantly, we will find God’s presence in the secrete place as we get alone with him. Praying to impress people will separate us from God. Praying in secret brings us into the presence of God. There are good reasons to pray publicly as we voice our needs together with others. We can teach others how to prayer. Our prayers can be great encouragement to others who are struggling. Jesus prayed before his disciples and taught them how to pray.
We must pray simple prayers straight form the heart and not babble on with meaningless words, phrases, or sounds. There is no need to be long or impress God with our vocabulary or grammar. The so-called hypocritical Jews believed that the effectiveness of their prayers was directly related to their length. Rabbi Levi said, “Whoever is long in prayer is heard.” The length of our prayer is not important. Jesus prayed short prayers, as the following verses indicated, and also all night (Luke 6:12). The problem is thinking the longer we pray the more we can convince God.
If God knows what we will pray, then why pray? So that we can spend time in fellowship with him. We grow in our love for God as we spend time with him. We come to be more aware of God’s presence. God changes our thinking and opens the eyes of our hearts more to see him. We pray not to tell God something he does not know but to worship him.
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