Hypocrisy in the Offering of Our Prayers

["Click here for Matthew's account"]

Notice, as it was in the last scripture concerning the giving of our offerings, Christ assumes that they and we know that we should be charitable as well as pray, for He begins with, "And when you pray," not if you pray.

Christ tells us that he has two faults with our prayers:

1. Vain glory.
   1. Trying to make a big show of our prayers to impress man rather than God.
   2. Standing, to be seen, rather than kneeling in reverence.
   3. Praying in public rather than in private.
2. Vain repetitions.
   1. Condemned here are structured prayers repeated word for word, time and time again, without feeling. Condemned also are "long winded" prayers made by people who love to hear themselves talk.

Prayer is suppose to be "conversation" Suppose someone said the same thing every time they talked to you, word for word, until you knew what they were going to say before they said it? You might be inclined to stay away from that person. Not condemned, however, are repeated requests. To pray repeatedly for someone or some cause or to thank Him repeatedly for His blessings, is not considered "vain repetitions.

Christ prayed all night, but there was a difference. It is not "much praying" that is condemned, it is much repeated and structured praying that is condemned. The danger is when we "say our prayers". The heathen here called the gentile, engaged in much speaking, much repeating, which Jesus called "lip labor", even when it is ever so well done, if that be all it is, is lost forever.

A good rule to follow is :

1. Open your case.
2. Pour out your heart.
3. Then leave it with Him.

God knows our needs before we ask. He many times meets those needs before we ask. Paul, in Romans 8:26 says that the most powerful prayers are those which cannot be uttered.

To help us, Christ offered a "guide" for a prayer. It is probably the most repeated of all prayers. It has become know as "The Lord's Prayer". I like the King James version of Christ's instruction, "After this manner, therefore, pray ye." That seems somehow better than the way it is rendered in most of the later versions, "Pray then like this." Let us look at this prayer and make some assumptions, remembering that they are just that.

1. "Our Father who art in Heaven." This instructs us to whom we should pray.
2. "Hallowed be thy name." This instructs us to "glorify" His name.
3. "Thy Kingdom come." Two events are spoken of here. One which has taken place, His first coming, and two, His second coming, when His kingdom will be established.
4. "Thy will be done." God's Will, will be done. Nothing nor anyone can change this fact. We need to seek after His will and pray for strength to do it as He reveals it to us.
5. "Give us this day, our daily bread." Much is inferred here:
   1. We should ask only for necessities. bread not cake.
   2. Spiritual food should also be asked for.
   3. "Daily bread" means take no thought for tomorrow.
   4. Acknowledge it to be a gift from God.
   5. Ask not only for ourselves, but for others (us).
   6. Ask daily, not that God forgets that we need it daily, but we need to commune with Him daily.
6. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."
   1. Daily forgiveness is required for the best of us.
   2. Daily forgiveness for others is required from us.
   3. Ask only from God what we are willing to give to others.
7. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." We need to ask for strength to overcome the temptations of Satan, this we have in the resurrection of Christ, but we are here reminded to ask for it.
8. "For thine is the Kingdom." We are here acknowledging His prerogative in our life and our dependance upon Him.
9. "The power." We are here acknowledging our faith in His ability to do all that He has promised.
10. "The glory." We here acknowledge Him as the one to whom we give all glory, phrase and obedience.
11. "For ever more." Eternally, without end.
12. "Amen." Notice what is inferred in this one word:
    1. So be it, it shall be done, let it be so.
    2. We are acknowledging our faith in the fact that we believe that He had heard, that He is able to do what we have asked and that He will answer.

Notice should be taken as we read this prayer that there is nothing new that wasn't used by the Jews for thousands of years accept the sixth point, when we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. Reconciliation of God to man had been asked for and dealt with for thousands of years, but man's reconciliation to man was something that was new.

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