Matthew 6:5
Progressive Relationship Requesting Desires Matthew 6:5-14 2| Love Praying | Matthew 6:5 “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” (Matthew 6:5). The sovereignty of God is one of the great theological concepts presented in the Scriptures. When persecution confronted the early Church, they broke into a session of praise and prayer, addressing the Trinity God as a “Tyrant” (Acts 4:24), a negative term for us but was positive for them. It was an expression of their belief in the sovereignty of God. They learned this principle from King David and his writings in the Book of Psalms. They quoted his Psalm that questioned the rage of the nations and their plotting of vain things (Acts 4:25-26). For what good do all their expressions do when God is sovereign? The crucifixion of Jesus was explained and understood in the context of God’s sovereignty. God herded kings and rulers of the world together, along with the nation of Israel and all the Gentiles. When He got them together, He allowed them to do what they wanted to do. When the world accomplished their desires and crucified Jesus, they had done what God intended and willed them to do (Acts 4:27-28). How does prayer fit into this truth? How could a feeble man have any influence on a sovereign God? Of what advantage is there to say anything to God? An opposite view proposed that while God may be sovereign, His actions are determined mainly based on our prayers. We can sway God’s action causing Him to do what He would not otherwise do. In the Gospel of Luke, immediately after he presented the “Lord’s Prayer,” Jesus gave an illustration (Luke 11:5-8). A friend comes to you at midnight and asks for three loaves of bread. Unexpected guests have arrived at his house, and he has nothing to serve them. You arise from your bed and give him the three loaves, not because he is your friend, but because of his persistence. Is Jesus proposing prayer as a means to get from God what I want? Is prayer simply one of the tools in my tool kit that I can use when I have personal needs? Is prayer a means to solve my problems? The disciples understood prayer as a religious activity. It was another aspect of the law that required certain religious deeds to maintain proper righteousness in the sight of God. No religion has ever had a higher standard and priority for prayer than Judaism. God spoke directly to Abraham and many of his descendants, and they spoke personally to Him. As a race or a nation, no other people found such favor with God to talk now to Him! But this direct communication had become ritualized. The wording and forms of prayers were set and were often simply read or repeated from memory. We can pray with almost no attention paid to what is said. They were routine, semiconscious religious exercises. A faithful Jew related the “Shema” early in the morning and again at night. This prayer began with, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Is prayer merely a religious activity to appease God? These various views create confusion because we do not see prayer as Jesus did. In the Sermon on the Mount, He presented prayer as seen in the New Covenant. You and I are helpless (Matthew 5:3). God created us to be dependent and not independent! God is not our counselor with whom we establish regular appointments to pray for advice. He is not the problem-solver we seek in prayer when situations arise that we cannot handle. He is not our palm-reader who, through prayer, helps us determine correct decisions for the future. Jesus proposed a new relationship with God. The embracing of our helplessness is the platform upon which Jesus can fill us with Himself. It is the premise of the Sermon on the Mount. A merger between His Person and our person is welded and intertwined into a “new creature.” God and I no longer operate separately but as a unit. Jesus portrayed this with a variety of images. He is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:1-8). While the branch never becomes the vine, it is so connected to the vine that it shares the vine’s bark, bears the vine’s fruit, and shares its life. The communication happening between them is called “prayer.” We are the bride of Christ. John wrote that one of the seven angels came and spoke with him, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). What is communication like in the “one flesh” marriage of God and man? Prayer is the intimate sharing of pillow-talk in the night hours. Is God sovereign? No one can or would want to argue against this truth! We are helpless, which only bespeaks our desperate need for a sovereign God. We willingly submit to His sovereign plan and the destiny He chooses for our lives. We find the words of Jesus secure and true. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). In oneness with Him, we find no desire to dictate, manipulate, or determine His plan and will. Our heart’s cry is for the fulfillment of His heart’s dreams for us. Prayer is His heart and my heart sharing the destiny of the “new creature.” Let us fully know, our prayers do not determine the sovereign God’s plans and actions. We are helpless and dependent! But we live in the confidence of His embrace, knowing that “we are His plan!” The Scriptures give no record of any act of God that was not for our benefit. Our infirmities and helplessness move him. In the fusion of our helplessness and His sovereignty, do we come to Him with our needs? What else can we do because we are helpless? Does He not care about our situations? The author of Hebrews shared a quotation from David, who, in viewing the stars at night, found himself moved with the personal attention of God, “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him” (Hebrews 2:6)? Peter wrote the truth, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). We must not fall into the trap of routine phrases before a meal or at other selected times. Is not prayer the description of the loving embrace between God and man? Did the Trinity God not open the nature and heart of His being to us? Has God not invited us to live in His heart? Is not prayer the atmosphere of this dwelling place, the constant flow of love expressed between Him and us, or the reality of His destiny for our lives and our embrace of it? Is not prayer our life found in Him? Prayer is our helplessness and His sovereignty, sharing in an intimate relationship and portraying His invisible image to our world! The Consistency of Prayer “when” The words Jesus used to begin His presentation on prayer are essential. The first word in the Greek text is “kai,” translated as “and” declares a link between the discourse on “charitable deeds” and “prayer.” What Jesus proposed about “charitable deeds” He now presents about “prayer.” He does not give statements with new information, but He applies the same truth. The second Greek word in our text is “hotan,” translated as “when.” Jesus used “hotan” to introduce each of the three religious activities (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). Equally significant is that He used “hotan” in the first three statements about prayer (Matthew 6:5, 6, 7). The impact of “hotan” is not “if” but “when.” It is used each time with the subjunctive verb translated “pray.” It produces uncertainty not about the activity occurring but the actual timing of the action. Thus, Jesus referred to every time that you and I pray, with no exceptions to this truth. He spoke concerning all prayers, whether they are in the synagogues or on the corners of the streets. Therefore, we accept prayer as a regular pattern of any relationship with God. That is the Sermon on the Mount’s premise. We are helpless, poor in spirit! We need to see this as an extreme condition. We are not helpless in some areas but adequate in others. We are helpless in every area. We do not need God only for the religious areas of life; we are not competent in the secular arena. We see God as necessary to handle the universes and keep creation operating, but we think we can govern our personal lives. That is not true! We are helpless in every area of our existence. Recognizing our helplessness creates a dependence that is extreme and complete. Jesus proposed a new approach and pattern to prayer. In the Old Testament, Jewe had set times for prayer. Daniel was removed from Palestine, taken into Babylonian captivity, and he prayed three times a day as he looked toward Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10). Thus, there were morning, afternoon, and evening prayers for the Jews (Psalms 55:17; Acts 3:1). According to Josephus (Antiquities XV.65), sacrifices, including prayers, were offered in the temple “twice a day, in the early morning and at the ninth hour,” along with a sunset service. Naturally, the devout Israelite living or staying in or near Jerusalem, who could get to the temple in time, believed that was the best place to pray (Luke 18:9, 10; Acts 3:1). Otherwise, if not able to get to the synagogue, the streets would do. But what is the new intensity of communication with God for any person helpless and filled with the person of God? Although there may be set times of concentrated prayer, would not a helpless person find himself in constant awareness and communication with God? Would he do any activity, secular or religious, without divine intervention? Would he not live in a consistent God-awareness? The established pattern of old was prayer several times a day carried out in the temple, the dwelling place of God. We are now the temple of God in whom He dwells (1 Corinthians 3:17)! Would consistent fellowship, dependence, and communication be the norm for such a relationship? As you and I constantly communicate with ourselves, are we not in constant communication with Him? The Constraint of Prayer “they love” Jesus added a vital thought in applying the premise of the Sermon on the Mount to prayer. Perhaps He increased the intensity of the truth. In doing “charitable deeds,” Jesus began with a negative as He does in “prayer.” We are not to do “charitable deeds” like the hypocrites, who appear to be “giving” while they intend to “get.” They want to give to the needy but for applause and glory from men (Matthew 6:2). In like manner, we are not to pray like hypocrites. How are the hypocrites? They appear as communicating with God, but they are speaking to men to be seen by them. The hypocrite’s daily schedule included arriving on the street corner at the time of prayer. The Greek word “gonia,” translated as “corners,” refers to an angle where the streets come together. The Greek word “plateia,” translated as “streets,” refers to a wide “plat” or “place” such as an open square. This location was not just any street corner but was one where a large crowd passed. The hypocrite’s plan for the hour of prayer was to arrive at the busiest square where he could be seen by the most people, revealing his desire and motive. Jesus not only described the actions of the hypocrite but also speaks directly to his motive. Jesus said, “For they love to prayer standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men” (Matthew 6:5). The Greek word translated “they love” is “phileo,” a word used for the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. An infinitive stating the focus of their love follows the verb. Their attention was not on prayer, communication with God; instead, they focused on themselves. They were motivated by self-love! Their self-love changed the best activity in which man could participate into the worst thing he could do. The hypocrite replaces a genuine passion for God with a passion for self. That is the heart of all sin. We never define sin in terms of the action of the deed, and we must understand sin in terms of motive. Any deed, place, or time driven by love for self is a sin that destroys the relationship with God. That is why Jesus put this in the category of hypocrisy. While we appear to be passionate about God, we are passionate about ourselves. An expression of this is the desire to impress others with our prayers. A revelation of hypocrisy is when we fill our prayers with selfish desires motived by self-love. The prayer requests we hear at church are often filled with the physical from sickness to job needs, revealing we are focused on ourselves. The answer is not to eliminate prayer on the street corners or change our prayer requests, but to radically embrace our helplessness and love Jesus more than we love ourselves. The Consequence of Prayer “reward” Prayer’s purpose is a response. I text my wife. If she does not respond, I wonder if she is safe and well, did she get the text, or does she not care? Communication demands response. Communication is not the sharing of information but demands a response of understanding. If I share information, but it is not understood or heard, have I communicated? Jesus said this about the praying hypocrite. “Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:5). He began this statement with the Greek word “amen,” translated “assuredly,” transliterated from the Hebrew word “amen.” The Hebrew word “amen” was brought into the Greek language and means the same, “to be firm, steady, trustworthy.” Jesus affirmed this statement as the absolute truth! Following the word “assuredly,” Jesus gave another affirmation, “I say to you” (Matthew 6:5). The character and certainty of Jesus are the basis of trustworthiness, not based on the fact He is God, although He is! We can trust Jesus because He is s a Man filled with God who knows the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He is a helpless individual reliant on God and communicates moment by moment with Him. Jesus knows that any deviation from that dependence, such as seeking praise from man, destroys the essence of genuine prayer. Jesus used the same concept regarding “charitable deeds.” When the motive is self-centered pride, there is a reward. These hypocrites were paid in full when they received what they loved, men seeing them. The Greek word for “reward” is “misthos.” Their prayers appeased their pride, but there was no contact with God in their prayers. It amazes me the number of people who use prayer like magic words. They are not interested in loving God, only in loving themselves. They willingly use God for their ends, get from Him what they want, and manipulate His power for self-benefit. They do not realize that their motive is to make themselves God. The hypocrite praying to be seen by men makes himself the center of all things. He is his own god. In like manner, we demand from God and put ourselves in charge. The prayer communication to which Jesus refers flows from an embrace of our helplessness. It is the recognition that He is our breath, and without the vitality of His presence, we have no life. We can never accomplish an act of righteousness without His moment-by-moment-supplied resource. Therefore, authentic prayer is the constant connection and interaction between a helpless person and a resourceful God. When those two merge, God creates a new creature, and they live in the atmosphere of prayer. Prayer is not a religious act; it is the welding of two hearts into one. What an opportunity we have – “Pray.”