Why Do You Pray?

This week we are looking at a part of perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which we refer to today as the Sermon on the Mount. Yesterday, in Matthew 6:1-4, we saw Jesus warn the crowds listening to His sermon to be alert to the danger of living out their relationship with God in a way that is focused on impressing others. Jesus explained that those who live out their faith with a focus on impressing others will not be recognized by God as having a high-quality faith life.

After making the crowds aware of the danger, Jesus pointed the crowds listening to the spiritual practice of giving to expose those who live out their relationship with God in the presence of others with the goal of impressing others. Jesus pointed out that a person is not to publicize their giving so as to draw attention to themselves. Jesus continued by telling the crowd that the motive for publicizing their giving was so that they would impress and receive the praise of others.

Jesus then explained that the person who gives to impress others is a hypocrite, a pretender, a poser; that person is not spiritually mature and is not displaying the character and behavior that is focused on pleasing God; they are only focused on impressing others. And because of that reality, Jesus stated that those who seek to impress others had received their reward in full. Since they only sought the approval of their peers, nothing else was coming.

Instead, people who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God give out of their love for God, not to be loved by others. People who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God invest of treasure in God’s kingdom mission solely to please God and in a way that is known only to God. People who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God only seek the recognition that comes from God as having a growing and mature faith. Today, in Matthew 6:5, we see Jesus move from the spiritual practice of giving to the spiritual practice of prayer:

 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

To understand what Jesus is communicating here, we first need to understand what prayer looked like in Jesus day. In Jesus day, people prayed out loud in the temple. So, for those who wanted to show how spiritual they were, they would pray in a raised voice so as to attract attention and impress others. And if that wasn’t enough, they would also repeat their prayer requests over and over again.

Jesus, responding to what He had seen in the temple, explained to the crowds listening to His sermon that those who pray to be seen by men are posers, they are putting on an act. Jesus then contrasted the prayers of the posers with the prayers of those who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God. Now a natural question that arises here is “what does Jesus mean when He states that we are to go into our inner room, close our door, and pray to our Father who is in secret? Is Jesus stating that we are not to pray out loud?”

Now if that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that it is a great question to be asking. And my response to that question is this: I do not believe that Jesus is saying that we are not to pray out loud because it was common practice for people to pray out loud. Is Jesus saying that we are not to pray in groups? No, because it was common practice for people to pray out loud in groups, as we see in Acts 4:24, when a group in the early church did the following:

And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,

So, if Jesus is not talking about having a private prayer closet, which is what many have interpreted this passage to mean, then what is Jesus talking about? Jesus point was that the reason that people were posers was not because of how they prayed; the reason why they were posers was the motives behind their prayer. Jesus point to the crowd is that they were not to pray with a focus on what the people around them, who are visible, could see and hear.

The poser’s prayer was focused on being seen and heard as impressive by those who were visible around them. Instead, people who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God pray with a focus on being seen and heard by the invisible God who they cannot see.  Jesus point is that the prayer that is prayed with a focus of being seen and heard by the invisible God will not only be heard by God; God also recognizes the reality that that person has a right relationship with Him as His growing and maturing follower.

So, here is another question to consider: when we pray, where is our focus? Are we more focused on what others see in us by our prayers than what God sees in us? Are we more focused on what words will impress others than on what God hears from our heart? Because people who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God pray with the focus of being seen and heard by God, regardless of whether the prayer is private or public, silent or out loud.

Now a natural question that could arise here is "Well then how should we pray? What should we say when we pray?" If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that Jesus, anticipating that question provides the answer to that question in what He says next. So let's look at what Jesus says next, beginning in Matthew 6:7-15. Let’s walk through this prayer together and see what it says about God’s character:

 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen].' "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Here we see Jesus model for the crowds listening to His sermon how people who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God are to approach God in prayer. He models for us the reality that God is worthy of our awe because He sets the agenda as our provider, our forgiver, our deliverer and our leader who is beyond anything we can wrap our minds around. In addition, Jesus revealed to the crowd the reality that those who are living in a right relationship with God are called by God to forgive others. You see, Jesus never asks us to do something that He has not already done.

And in verses 14-15, we see Jesus reveal for the reality that an unforgiving heart can reveal the reality that we are merely posers who do not truly understand who God is and who do not demonstrate that they have a right relationship with God. This morning, the timeless reality is that forgiven people forgive. To refuse to forgive others reveals that one does not truly understand the depth of what they have been forgiven of. 

Friday, we will see Jesus move to a third spiritual practice to expose the differences between those who live out their relationship with God in a way that is focused on impressing others and those who live out their relationship with God in a way that demonstrates a right relationship with God...