Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

Jesus:  5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. 7 When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” Matthew 6:5-8 (NLT).

In the Bible, prayer involved a conversation between God and people --- two way communication.  Prayer is our connection with God. And, God wants people to have friendship and communication with Him as God (Genesis 2:21-25; Genesis 3:8). Sadly, some people only pray to be seen as "holy" and to draw unnecessary attention from other people. Jesus calls these people hypocrites! God NEVER wants people to do good acts for appearances only and yet behind the scenes does the worst sorts of greed and corruption (Matthew 23:23–24). Instead, God desires good acts out of sincere compassion, mercy, and love for others (Matthew 22:34-40). God sees our hearts and sees through self-righteous acts. He wants our motives for prayers to be pure, sincere, and true.

Liking giving to others in need (Matthew 6:4) and fasting (Matthew 6:18), we should pray to God quietly or in secretly. Jesus stressed that prayer is a private, intimate, and honest talk with God. Jesus is not stopping corporate or public prayer (see Matthew 18:19-20; Luke 11:2-4). There is a place for public prayer. But Jesus condemns prayer as a means of drawing attention to ourselves. To pray only impress people or boast reveal that God is not the true audience. Our prayers must be God-centered that seeks to do and obey God’s will more than anything else. Whether prayer, giving, or fasting, our good deeds must not be done for public praise and people-pleasing but as a service to God (Matthew 6:2-18). God desires secrecy to offset the human tendency to seek praise for oneself rather than for God alone (also Matthew 5:16).

Moreover, Jesus encourages persistent payers to God, but not repeating the same words over and over like a magic charm.  Jesus condemned shallow prayers to God. Instead, Jesus taught on the importance of prayers to God, not people, from an open and honest heart! True prayers result in a desire to please and serve God, not human praise of people. Remember that God sees everything, even the secret heart motives. The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4) is a good pattern for everyone to follow so that we will put God’s will and concerns first and not forget to forgive others. So, never forget that God welcomes honest, persistent, and sincere. Pray with simplicity, honesty and your heart!