Matthew 6:5 - Meaning and Application

In prayer, we deal more directly with God than we do in giving alms, so sincerity matters even more. When you pray, says Matthew 6:5, it is assumed that all Christ’s disciples pray. As soon as Paul was converted, he was praying, and you could sooner find a living person who does not breathe than a living Christian who does not pray.

“For this shall every one that is godly pray.” If a person never prays, that is a serious sign of no grace. Jesus says, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.” Those who do not want to copy hypocrites in their actions must also avoid their proud spirit. He does not name them here, but Matthew 23:13 makes clear he is especially speaking of the scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish teachers who were often outwardly religious but inwardly false.

These hypocrites had two major faults in prayer, and Jesus warns us against both. The first is vain glory, meaning prayer done to impress people rather than honor God (Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:6). The second is empty repetition, meaning repeated words without real heart or meaning (Matthew 6:7, Matthew 6:8).

The hypocrites wanted praise from people. In every act of worship, their main goal was to be admired and to gain an advantage for themselves. Even when they seemed to be rising up toward God in prayer, their eye was really fixed on human approval. They prayed in synagogues, which were proper places for public prayer, but not for private prayer. They also prayed at the corners of broad streets, busy places where many people would notice them. They acted as if they were moved by sudden devotion, but their real aim was to be seen.

They also liked to pray standing. That posture is lawful and proper, as Mark 11:25 shows, but kneeling is often more humble and reverent, as seen in Luke 22:41, Acts 7:60, and Ephesians 3:14. Their standing could give the impression of pride and self-confidence, like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, who “stood and prayed” in a proud way.

Their choice of public places showed their pride in two ways. First, they loved to pray there. They did not love prayer for God’s sake, but for the chance to draw attention. Sometimes good deeds must be done openly and may be seen by others, but it is sinful when we enjoy that attention because it feeds our pride. Second, they did it to be seen by men, not so that God might accept them, but so that people would admire them. This also helped them gain trust and influence, and even take widows’ and orphans’ property into their hands, as Matthew 23:14 says, while hiding their greed behind religious behavior.

Jesus says they “have their reward.” That means they have already received all the reward they will ever get from God, and it is a poor one. What use is human praise if our Master does not say, “Well done”? If we can make something as serious as prayer serve so small a goal as the praise of men, then it is right that this should be all we receive. They did it to be seen, and they were seen, and that was the end of it.

If we want to be approved by God in religion, we must not care about human praise. We do not pray to people, and we do not expect our answer from them. They are not our judges. They are dust and ashes like us. So what happens between God and our own souls should be kept free from display. In public worship, we must avoid anything that makes personal devotion stand out for the wrong reasons, like those who “made their voice heard on high” (Isaiah 58:4). Public places are not the right place for private, solemn prayer.

Jesus teaches the opposite: humility and sincerity. “When you pray,” he says, “go into your closet” (Matthew 6:6), meaning some private place of retirement. Isaac went into the field (Genesis 24:63), Christ went to a mountain, and Peter went to a housetop. Any place is suitable if it serves the purpose. Secret prayer should be done in retirement so we are not watched, distracted, or overheard, and so we may speak more freely. Yet if circumstances make it impossible to avoid being noticed, we must not skip prayer, since leaving it undone could cause more scandal than doing it openly.

Instead of praying to be seen by men, Jesus says to pray to your Father who is in secret. The Pharisees prayed more to people than to God. Whatever their words were, their aim was praise and favor from others. We are to pray to God and be content with that. We pray to him as a Father, one who is ready to hear, answer, pity, help, and support us. He is in secret, yet he is truly there. In secret prayer, we honor God’s presence everywhere (Acts 17:24), and we also find comfort in it.

There are also strong encouragements to secret prayer. Your Father sees in secret. His eye is on you when no human eye is. He saw Nathaniel under the fig tree, as Jesus said (John 1:48). He saw Paul praying in a certain house in a certain street (Acts 9:11). There is no hidden, sudden turning of the heart toward God that he does not notice. And he will reward you openly. Those who pray to be seen by others get their reward there, but those who pray in secret will not lose their reward.

It is called a reward, but it is given by grace, not as something God owes us. What real merit can there be in begging? The reward will be open. They will not only receive it, but receive it with honor. Open reward is what hypocrites love, yet they have no patience to wait for it. Sincere believers care little for such praise, and they will receive far more than they seek. Sometimes secret prayers are openly rewarded in this world by clear answers, which show God’s people to their enemies’ consciences. Even so, at the great day there will be an open reward, when all who pray will appear in glory with the great Intercessor, Jesus. The Pharisees, the self-righteous religious leaders, had their reward before the whole town, but it was only a flash and a shadow. True Christians will have theirs before all the world, angels and people, and it will be a weight of glory.

We must also not use vain repetitions in prayer (Matthew 6:7, Matthew 6:8). Prayer is mainly the lifting up of the soul and the pouring out of the heart, yet words do matter in prayer, especially in prayer with others. In that setting, words are necessary, and Jesus seems to be speaking especially of public or shared prayer here. He says, “when you pray,” and then, “when you pray,” and the Lord’s Prayer that follows is a joint prayer. The one who speaks for others is most tempted to show off through language and style, and that is what Jesus warns against. Do not use vain repetitions, whether alone or with others. The Pharisees, the self-righteous religious leaders, loved this. They made long prayers (Matthew 23:14), and all their care was to make them long.

Now notice what fault is being condemned. It is making prayer a mere lip service, the work of the tongue when it is not the work of the soul. This is described with two terms, battologia and polulogia, both pointing to empty, wordy speech. Vain repetitions are tautology, idle babbling, saying the same words again and again without purpose. That kind of speech is crude and tiresome in any conversation, and much worse when spoken to God. Still, Jesus is not condemning every repeated phrase in prayer. He himself prayed the same words more than once (Matthew 26:44), in great earnestness and zeal (Luke 22:44). Daniel also repeated himself in prayer (Daniel 9:18, Daniel 9:19), and Psalm 136 repeats the same words in a beautiful way. Repetition can help express our feelings and stir the feelings of others. But superstitious reciting of words, with no care for their meaning, is another matter. So is the dry, empty going over the same requests again and again just to make the prayer longer or to pretend to feel more than we do.

When we want to say much but cannot say much that matters, that displeases God and all wise people. The other fault is much speaking, a habit of making prayers long out of pride, superstition, or the belief that God must be informed or persuaded by our many words. Sometimes it comes from plain foolishness, because people enjoy hearing themselves talk. This does not mean all long prayers are wrong. Christ prayed all night (Luke 6:12), and Solomon offered a long prayer. There are times when long prayers are right, when our needs and our feelings are unusually deep. But to lengthen prayer merely to make it seem more pleasing or more powerful with God is what Jesus condemns. It is not much praying that is rebuked here, for we are told to pray always. It is much speaking that is rebuked. The danger is when we only say our prayers, instead of truly praying them. Solomon’s warning fits here, “Let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). Hosea says, “Take words with you” (Hosea 14:2), and Job says, “Choose out words” (Job 9:14). We should not say everything that comes into our heads.

Jesus gives two reasons against this practice. First, this is the way of the heathen, the nations who do not know the true God. It does not fit Christians to worship their Father as the Gentiles worship their gods. Even by natural light, the heathen knew they should worship God, but they became foolish in their thoughts about him. So they also became foolish in the way they worshiped. Since they thought God was like themselves, they imagined he needed many words to understand what they said, or to be pressured into giving what they wanted. They treated him as if he were weak, ignorant, and hard to move. Baal’s prophets did this, crying from morning almost until night, “O Baal, hear us,” over and over again. But their repeated cries were empty. Elijah, by contrast, prayed in a calm and serious way, with a very short prayer, and God answered with fire from heaven and then with rain (1 Kings 18:26, 1 Kings 18:36). If prayer is only lip labor, even the best-sounding lip labor, it is still lost labor.

Second, this need not be your way, because your Father in heaven knows what you need before you ask him. Therefore, there is no need for such a flood of words. This does not mean you should not pray at all. God commands prayer so that you will own your need of him, show your dependence on him, and claim his promises. But you should open your case before him, pour out your heart, and then leave it with him. Think about the God we pray to. He is our Father by creation and by covenant, so our approach to him should be easy, natural, and sincere. Children do not usually make long speeches to their parents when they need something. It may be enough to say, “My head, my head.” Let us come to God with the heart of children, with love, respect, and trust. Then those taught by the Spirit of adoption can say one word rightly, “Abba, Father.”

He is also a Father who knows our situation and our needs better than we know them ourselves. He knows what we need. His eyes move through the whole earth to notice the needs of his people (2 Chronicles 16:9). He often gives before we call (Isaiah 65:24), and more than we ask for (Ephesians 3:20). If he does not give what his people ask, it is because he knows they do not need it, or that it would not be good for them. He is better fitted than we are to judge that. So we do not need to be long, or use many words, when we bring our case to him. God knows it better than we can explain it. Still, he wants to hear it from us, as when Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” After we tell him, we must leave ourselves with him: “Lord, all my desire is before you” (Psalm 38:9). God is not moved by the length or style of our prayers. The strongest prayers are often those offered with groans too deep for words (Romans 8:26). We are not to set the terms for God, but to submit ourselves to him.