“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.“ (Matthew 6:5, ESV)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught some vital principles about effective prayer. He began by presenting this example of what misses the mark in prayer. Jesus indicated that praying for show misses the mark. From this we will consider two principles.
First, we ought to spend much time in prayer. Jesus says, “And when you pray.” This phrase presupposes that true citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven will be in conversation with their heavenly Father. They will pray. In this era, I believe that prayerlessness plagues the parish. Recent statistics indicate that only about 52% of people pray every day and that those that pray on the average pray only about 5 minutes (Barna). Perhaps the scant attendance at corporate prayer meetings across churches today reflects the priorities of the parishioners. We need to realize that we are engaged in a battle with spiritual forces and that God has designed prayer as a principle means for us in this battle (Ephesians 6:10-18). Thus, we ought to pray and pray more.
Second, our motivation for prayer must be correct. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees would stand in front of people and make carefully crafted prayers designed to impress the “rank-and-file.” Their prayers were not the expression of humble hearts toward God the Father, but rather the proud display designed to gain prestige and recognition from the earthly observers. We must remember that effective prayer comes from the heart spoken to God. This is one of the great dangers of corporate prayer.
Often in prayer meetings we worry about what others will think of our words, we try to make sure our words impress others, or we are afraid to pray because we might say the wrong thing. Yet the powerful prayer is not a matter of the eloquence of our words. It is a matter of the heart. God seeks for us to pour out our hearts towards Him. When we pray, we need to focus our words to the Father and not others.
Therefore, let us consider our prayer life. How often do we pray and how fervent is our prayer? Perhaps we need to readjust our priorities. We need to commit more time to prayer, and we need to quit trying to impress others with the words we pray. Effective prayer is not a function of flowery words. For prayer to be effective it must be directed to the heavenly Father. Prayer directed to the audience of other people in order to impress them will miss the prayer connection.
Renewing the Heart 