If I had to reduce to a single word Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, I’d go with “motive.” Christ describes two purposes that will corrupt our prayer life if we let them.
The first one deals with our perception of others.
“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. 6But 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.” – Matthew 6:5-6 (NASB)
If we attend church services, small groups, or Sunday School classes, sooner or later we’re going to join in some form of public prayer. It’s inevitable that people will overhear us talking to God.
But what’s our intent? Are we praying to impress others? If that’s the case, we’re not addressing God; we’re talking to our neighbors. And Jesus promises that their recognition will be our only reward.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with conversations, but let’s not confuse socializing with praying. If we talk to God, we should keep our minds on Him.
This doesn’t mean that we should ignore people around us. For example, if we’re leading a group in prayer, we will have to pay attention to our vocabulary and diction, but our main focus must remain on the Lord.
The second motive involves our understanding of God.
“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. 8So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” – Matthew 6:7-8 (NASB)
Do we trust the Lord? Is He dependable or precarious? Can we count on His wisdom, power, and mercy, or do we flip a coin to guess how He might respond to our appeals?
One of the reasons why we stuff our prayers with too much verbiage is that we’re skeptical. We believe God may be strong enough and rich enough to meet our needs, but we’re not sure about His character. So we talk up a storm and repeat our requests to wear Him down and compel Him to comply with our wishes.
If we pray this way, we’re behaving like lawyers arguing in court. Only in this case, we’re contending with a judge whom we suspect doesn’t have our best interests at heart. So we rely on our reasoning to force him to yield to our demands.
But Jesus corrects this misunderstanding. God knows all about our needs and desires and He’s attuned to these issues before we utter a single word. So we don’t have to use mindless chatter as a weapon against God; the Lord wants to hear our hearts. Are we willing to bear to Him the deepest desires and most personal longings of our souls?
How can we develop an attitude of prayer that pleases God? We can pray like Jesus taught us to.
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 10Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us this day our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’” – Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB)
For centuries, the church has called this special passage in Scripture, “The Lord’s Prayer.” Christians debate among themselves whether Jesus meant for us to quote it word-for-word or if He gave it to us as an outline.
I recommend both options. We’re free to quote it, remembering that this prayer is Scripture; it’s part of the Word of God. We should make sure to put our heart into the words, what we can refer to as “meaningful repetition.”
As we allow the Holy Spirit to use The Lord’s Prayer to structure our conversations with God, He will adjust our focus. Selfishness will yield to the kingdom of God; anxiety will fade in light of an ever-increasing confidence in His power and goodness.
And our effectiveness in prayer will grow because we will prioritize God’s glory above all else.
The ultimate motive for prayer.
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