Praying Sincerely

November 20, 2011


Background Scripture: Matthew 6:1 – 18
Lesson Passage: Matthew 6:5 – 15

Why do people pray? How should we pray? How are prayers answered? Jesus addresses these questions by contrasting the actions of two groups with that of true disciples. The first group Jesus refers to are the hypocrites. The word hypocrite comes from a Greek word, hypokrites, which means actor. The word referred to the leading characters in ancient Greek plays. The most essential part of their costumes was the mask. The mask allowed single actors to play many different roles in the same play. The facial expression on the mask expressed the temperament of the actor to indicate whether he was happy, sad, scared, or otherwise. Whereas the Greek word was descriptive of an occupation designed to entertain an audience, the English word has a very negative connotation. In English the word refers to someone who assumes a counterfeit personality. The English word is used to refer to someone who presents himself differently than he truly is for the purpose of deceiving others rather than entertaining them. In a real sense, they also wear a mask. To charge someone as a hypocrite is a serious matter. Jesus referred to two groups as hypocrites: those who prayed publically for the purpose of being seen by others and those who publically displayed a facial expression to indicate to others that they were fasting. Jesus declared that both had received their reward. There was nothing further to be given to them since they had received the public attention they desired. The second group that Jesus referred to is the heathens. He described the heathens as having long public prayers that used empty and repetitive words. They believe that the length of their prayers has significance as far as whether God will hear them or not. Simply put, heathens are persons who do not know God. So people do pray for different reasons and how they pray is often based on the reason they pray. Hypocrites pray to be seen of men and heathens pray out of ignorance of God. Disciples of Christ—or Christians, more specifically—should not follow the example of either group. Christians should pray to be heard by God and not to be recognized by men. Note that Jesus does not suggest that public prayer is never in order. He is referring to the reason the prayer is being prayed not where it is being prayed. How should we pray? He gives the model for prayer in our lesson text. Prayer should acknowledge God for who He is by showing Him reverence and acknowledge us for who we are by asking Him to forgive us—for all have sinned against God. Our request for forgiveness should be based on our willingness to forgive others. This is a condition that Jesus placed in the Model Prayer. We should make our requests known to Him—not that we are informing Him of our needs for He already knows what we need before we ask. When we pray for the right reason and pray in the right way, then God will reward us openly for those prayers we have offered in secret.


Robert C. Hudson
November 10, 2011