In Matthew 6 Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. He did this because one of His disciples requested Him to (Luke 11:1). This prayer, commonly know as the Lord's Prayer, is really the Disciple's Prayer. Jesus did not pray "forgive us our debts" because He had no debts, transgressions or sins. This is the Disciple's Prayer. It's a prayer that only a disciple, a committed follower of Jesus Christ can pray. Before giving His disciples a pattern for prayer Jesus gave three specific instructions on how to pray found in Matthew 6:5-7.

Matthew 6:5-7

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words."

Each of these instructions start with the phrase "When you pray."

1. PRAY GENUINELY Matthew 6:5 begins

Matthew 6:5

"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites."

The word hypocrite comes from the ancient Greek plays. An actor would place a large grinning mask in front of his face and quote his comedy lines as the audience would roar with laughter. He would then slip backstage and grab a frowning, sad, oversized mask and come back quoting tragic lines as the audience would moan and weep. He was called a hupocrites, one who wears a mask. He pretended to be something he really wasn't.

God does not want his children to wear masks, to pretend to be religious, to fake Christianity. During the time of Jesus the Jews prayed every day at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00. No matter where they were at that time the would stop, bow their heads, stretch out their hands with their palms facing up and pray. The hypocrites Jesus talks about here love to be in a busy street corner or in a public square at these times to be seen by many other.

Today many people change the way they pray in order to impress others. Some pray loudly. Some pray eloquently, using hard-to-understand religious words. The important thing is to pray genuinely, from your heart to God.

2. PRAY SECRETLY Matthew 6:6 says,

Matthew 6:6

"When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut you door, pray to your Father."

Prayer is never to be something we do to be seen or to impress others. Do you have a closet of prayer? I don't mean an actual clothes closet (though that could do) but, rather - do you have a habit of shutting yourself in with God? To have a "secret closet" means simply to be shut in with God anywhere, anytime - giving quality, chosen time to seek Him and call on His name. A "prayer closet" is a "prayer habit."

Do you have a daily practice of getting alone with God? It means having a heart that says, "I must get alone with God - I must talk with my Father today!" Sometimes my secret closet is my car, when I'm alone. It is often my study at home. It can be walking with God along a little country road outside of Songtan City, or it can be walking with God on the streets of Seoul.

3. PRAY DEFINITELY Now Look at Matthew 6:17.

Matthew 6:7

"When you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do."

The Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 was not really intended as a prayer to be memorized, recited and repeated. It was a guide or outline on how to pray. It is recorded in Matthew 6 and in Luke 11. Although the content in these two passages are the same, the words and phrases used are not exactly the same. The disciples did not say "teach us a prayer" but "Teach us to pray." This prayer was never repeated by anyone in all of the New Testament. And here Jesus says "When you pray, do not use vain repetitions."

The Greek word here for "vain repetitions" is battalogesete. Batta is actually not a word but a sound; and logeo means "to speak." Gerhard Kittle in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says that this word has the idea of "to babble, or to speak without thinking" and refers to "the repetition of meaningless sounds." Jesus actually told His followers to avoid meaningless batta, batta, batta when they prayed. Paul too says that praying without understanding is unfruitful (1 Corinthians 14:13-15).

When we pray we should not say the same thing over and over again. We are to pray genuinely from our heart, not trying to impress others but praying about real things that really matter to us. That is why David is called "a man after God's own heart"(1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). Because he communicated from his heart to God. We can see this when we read the Psalms. Let's be like that, (1) pray genuinely, (2) pray secretly and (3) pray definitely.

by Steve Nicholes
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