When You Pray

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:5-6)

Jesus did not say “if” you pray. He assumed that believers in a relationship with God would pray. He took it as a given that anyone who listened to Him had a daily, consistent prayer life. Why? Because that is exactly how Jesus lived. He assumed that if people called themselves His followers, they would do what He did.

Jesus didn’t command His followers to pray every day because He assumed this is how someone who believes in God would live, just as someone would assume that a person who is breathing would take their next breath. Prayer has never been an obligation to be fulfilled. It is always meant to be a natural expression of a person whose life is directly connected to the Father. Jesus’ teaching here is not about whether you should or shouldn’t pray; He starts with your motive.

The hypocrites always pray to be seen. They want an audience to cheer them on and to parade about how great they are. They want people to hear them sound spiritual and wise and to celebrate their spiritual display. Jesus explained that if that is really what they want, they can have that as their reward. Whatever recognition they get from men is it. Don’t expect to get anything from the Father when you get a pride-puffing reception from your public performance.

Practical Application

Choose to pray to the Father in your secret place, with no audience and no performance, and watch what happens. Your Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will purpose to use your life as a pedestal of His goodness by rewarding you openly. The reward God gives is not for you to be applauded and celebrated before men, because you aren’t trying to be seen by men. Instead, God uses your rewards to let others know who He is. He is a good Father who gives good gifts to His children.

Jeremiah 29:13; Psalm 91:1