Sat, 6 January, 2007: Today’s Bible readings.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Jesus here teaches His disciples about prayer.
What do we learn from this?
One of the hard things about prayer is that we are talking to God. By faith we know that He hears us. But we can’t see Him. However, we can see the people around us. So when we pray in public, it is hard to keep in mind that we are praying to God. We can easily fall into the trap of trying to impress the people around us with the eloquence of our prayers. That is what Jesus is warning us about.
Apparently, in Jesus day, there were people who took this to the extreme. They would find the places where they could get the most public attention (street corners and in the synagogues), and then impress their audience with their fine prayers.
Don’t be like that. Don’t pray to impress people. You are speaking to God, not to the people around you. Focus on Him and try to forget the people.
I do not believe this is a prohibition against all public prayer, for we see Jesus Himself praying in public in the gospels. This is an example of Jesus using hyperbole to drive home a point. Like we are to gouge out our eyes or cut off our hands if they cause us to sin, so we are to pray in secret if praying in public causes us to sin.
Beware of this tendency to sin, and realize that even in our best deeds, like praying to God, we still regularly sin against God.
Where is Christ in this passage?
If we are ever to be saved from our sin, God must do it. Our good deeds are sinful and merit God’s judgment. How can we save ourselves?
Thanks be to God, He has saved us by sending the Second Person of the Trinity to win our salvation. He did live a sinless life. All His deeds were without sin. Yet He died on the cross to bear the penalty of the sins of all who come to Him in faith. So the penalty for the sinful prayers of all His people has been paid. And He is in heaven interceding for us, praying acceptable prayers to the Father on our behalf.
