“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:5).
There is a lot of what we call prayer that is not. Some people, like the Pharisees Jesus was speaking of in this verse, pray in such a way as to prove their righteousness to others and God. They only prove their spiritual deficiency.
Jesus had to teach the people what prayer wasn’t before He taught them what it was (Matthew 6:5-13). To do this, Jesus had to oppose the religious ideas of His day concerning prayer. If He had not challenged these ideas, the people would have never been able to understand what He had to say.
The same exists today. Just as the Pharisees Jesus confronted, prayer for many Christians has become a religious exercise instead of a time of shared intimacy with the Father. Some try to impress others and God with the depth of their faith. They pray, trying to manipulate God and get Him to move. Jesus showed in Matthew 6:5 that it was not the prayers themselves that were the problem but the motive behind them that was wrong.
God is more interested in your heart attitude. You may pray hard. You may pray moving prayers. You may exercise spiritual gifts and make an unbelievable sacrifice. But if your heart attitude is wrong, you won’t impress God. You won’t accomplish anything. Others may tell you how well you prayed or how holy you are, but their approval will be the only reward you receive.
God desires honesty in your relationship with Him. You have nothing to hide from the Father and no need to impress Him. He knows right where you are—what in your life is good and what keeps you from Him. He wants you to surrender it all to Him. He desires you to come before Him in your time of need, trusting that when you pray His will, He hears you, and you will receive what you have asked. God is the Word and responds to His Word when you pray. He desires your good health and your soul and body to prosper. He wishes to keep nothing from you that is yours. You are His child, and He just wants you to receive His love and love Him in return. He doesn’t require any right words. He just needs your heart.
In Corinthians 13:103, Paul writes: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”
You can pray in tongues, prophesy, have great understanding and faith, give to the poor, and even lay down your life, but if you don’t have love, it profits you nothing.
Are you willing to critically and objectively examine your prayer life? What is your honest evaluation of it? Are your prayers genuinely motivated by love? Does prayer profit you, or have you prayed and never experienced the results of your prayers? If not, are you believing God? Are you praising Him for His answer? Are you praying His Word? His Word is His will. If you have not received the healing you have prayed for or your life isn’t improving, perhaps you should look at your heart attitude.
When you come into prayer believing you have to prove yourself worthy enough to receive from God, you come to Him thinking there must be some perfect thing you must say or do right, or God will not see or hear you. God loved you first in Jesus. You don’t have to prove you are worthy of His answer. He has made you worthy of His answer. He doesn’t need you to pray beautifully perfect prayers to move Him. God has already moved for you in Jesus. He needs to hear you honestly speak to Him —without pretense or trying to find the perfect words. Just saying “Jesus” or groanings you can’t put into words is often enough.
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your unseen Father. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).
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