Title: Do not pray with hypocrites.
Contents
Do not pray with hypocrites.
Matthew 6:5-8
Your prayers are to God. However, the hypocrites Pharisees were praying to show their prayers to people, not to God. If we do not do well, we can pray hypocritically, praying to people instead of praying to God. It is a prayer that is conscious of people rather than God. In other words, trying to pray graciously by using sarcasm while being conscious of people when doing representative prayers is to pray to people.
You are not providing grace through your prayers. Prayer is our prayer to God. Therefore, we must be careful not to pray hypocrisy.
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand in the synagogues and at the entrance of the streets to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have already received their reward.
For Jews, prayer was a compulsory standard of life. Barclay said that Jews had only two daily prayers. Three times a day, at 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm, I had to recite the prayer wherever I was at the appointed time. In the end, Mei's prayer life was brought to life in the form of recitation of prayers, and zealous Pharisees and scribes tried to get people's attention by praying at the entrance of a major road or synagogue that many people pass at that time.
You said that the hypocritical prayers of the Pharisees cannot be answered by God. Because the Pharisees did not pray to God, but to men. Therefore, their prayers were formal prayers.
Gentlemen, we too can pray like the Pharisees. Formal prayer It is possible to pray without being conscious of God. Such prayers cannot be answered. So, how did the Lord teach us to pray?
When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who is in secret will reward you.
Our prayer target is our Heavenly Father. Therefore, we must pray to our Heavenly Father. It is said that God is one who is in secret. Therefore, go into your closet, close the door, and pray. Our Lord also went to a lonely place to pray.
Your prayers are only talking to God and me. Therefore, in order not to be disturbed by outsiders when praying, go into the closet, close the door, and pray. So, focus on prayer. If you want to think only of God and have deep fellowship with God, you need to pray with concentration.
When you pray, do not keep babbling like the Gentiles, for they think that they will hear you when you speak a lot. Therefore, do not imitate them, for God your Father knows what you need before asking.
The word babble refers to many words, that is, repeating the same words over and over without meaning. It is referring to the Gentiles chanting spells. Hendrickson notes that he is referring to the meaningless repetition of prayer.
Prayer is believing that God will hear my prayers and praying in faith. Therefore, I need to pray with confidence that God will answer my prayers. Therefore, I earnestly hope that all your prayers will be answered by praying correctly from now on.