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Prayer is essential to the Christian Life

The first thing we need to notice in this passage is that prayer is essential to the Christian life Look at the first 4 words of verse 5

Jesus says: 5 "And when you pray"

So prayer is expected, and prayer, in its broad form, can be described as calling out to God in worship and dependence.

This includes prayers of thanksgiving and praise, as well as prayers of asking for things like help and wisdom.

And there are a few observations that we can make about the essential practice of prayer

First, we know that prayer is commanded by God In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul calls us to "pray without ceasing" - to pray at all timesAnd in 1 Timothy Chapter 2, we are instructed to pray for all people.

Second, we know that God uses prayer to accomplish his plansIn 2 Corinthians Paul writes to the church in Corinth - "you must help us by prayer" And in the book of Philippians, Paul expresses confidence that he will be helped by the prayers of others.

And, the third brief observation we can make is this: prayer is one of the primary ways that God conforms his people to the image of Christ. Our hearts are softened, our minds are renewed, and we grow in humility and love toward God and each other through prayer.

Brothers and sisters, prayer matters. It is essential. And in the mind of Christ, it is expected…so, he says, when you pray.

But, as the rest of verse 5 shows us, there are those who use prayer for the wrong reason, and we are to reject the example that they set.

Look at verse 5 again:

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5 When you pray - you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Prayer is not for human praise

In this warning, we see that prayer is not to be used to gain human praise or approval.

and Jesus begins with the same phrase that we saw in verse 2 last week, "you must not be like the hypocrites"

These hypocrites aren't who they appear to be/their actions are not aligned with their motive, as Jesus explains:

"They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, (SO) THAT they may be seen by others"

To be clear, this isn't about the fact that they are standing/And this isn't really about where they are praying

This is about motive: The hypocrites, most likely the Pharisees, love to pray in public places because they love being seen by others

They find satisfaction, comfort, and pleasure in receiving the praise and approval of others

Maybe we can relate to this a bit - maybe we are familiar with the feelings of satisfaction, or comfort, or pleasure that come from receiving human praise and approval

Maybe when someone congratulates us on a job well done, or maybe when someone hits that like button on social media

I'm not here to say that encouraging each other is necessarily wrong, but when it becomes our motive, or when we become the focus rather than God, we are walking in steps very similar to the hypocrites in view here

They have just transferred the pursuit of human praise and approval into the religious realm

They look like they love God, but in reality they have taken the good things of God - things like giving, prayer, and fasting - and they have twisted these good things of God into tools for their own glory.

These people are consumed with the appearance of own personal self-righteousness, and they have built their lives around the idea of using the good things of God for their own personal glory, as they attempt to work their way into God's favor.

They don't see it as wrong, in fact, this is who they are - and they stand condemned before God - they are void of the Holy Spirit, they have no saving faith in Jesus Christ and no true relationship with the Father.

In Luke Chapter 20, starting in verse 46, Jesus issues this warning "Beware the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and love the greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feastswho devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.

These hypocrites are wicked enemies of God - they openly seek the earthly, temporary praise of man, and their example is one to be rejected.

And, about them, Jesus says; "Truly I say to you, they have received their reward"

These people have robbed God of his glory, they have used the good things of God as tools for self-righteousness and personal glory, and they have done this at the expense of others, of those around them

In pursuit of their own glory, they have lead other people astray, by drawing the attention of those that follow Jesus says "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allows those who would enter to go in."

Truly, Jesus says, these people have received their reward, with all of its limitations.

Their reward is temporary - they have no reward waiting for them after death

Listen, the loudest praise and commendation of man has no impact beyond the grave

On the other side of the grave, those who have relied on their own self-righteousness as they sought their own glory will find themselves under the wrath of the very God whose glory they have wickedly stolen

That's a massive tragedy in itself, on the other side of the grave, the most celebrated people in human history will find no comfort in the temporary praise of earthly man.

But, even worse, so often pursuing the praise of man can quickly become a burden in itself.

Isn't it true, once we become consumed with the pursuit of human praise and approval, we are immediately met with the constant planning on how to get itThe world around us is no stranger to the burden of this pursuit, constantly trying to maintain some kind of relevance among the billions of people on this earth with no real answer, and no real satisfaction ever being accomplished.

And, in addition, even when it is found, there is no guarantee that it is genuine, human praise, human approval can be so easily fakedThere is no real guarantee of peace, even when human praise and approval is abundant

But, for the Christian, things are different…

we used to be in the same camp as these hypocrites in this verse

our aim in everything we did was our own personal glory, and we looked for it wherever we could.

But, now, as we read in Ephesians 2,

because of the great mercy and love of God,

we have been saved by grace through faith, into an entirely different reality,

and Jesus - as the one who has delivered us into this new reality, has a new promise for us:

we are free to pray a different way

and our reward is altogether different than it was when we were consumed with our own glory

Look now at verse 6

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6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Prayer is enjoying our Father's presence

Here is the great promise, and the great relief - rather than a tool to be used in pursuit of human praise, prayer for the Christian is enjoying our Father's presence.

It's important to note that there is a clear emphasis here on YOU - "but when YOU pray"

when YOU pray, go into your room, and shut the door. Jesus is saying here, go into the innermost room in the house, maybe imagine a storage closet, or a room rarely visited,

Go there, Jesus says, and close the door behind you.

This is about as far away as you can get from anyone No one can see you here, you are alone, away from the eyes of any other human being

Now the hypocrites described earlier would here this, and the logical response would be - what is the point of praying there, in that closet, with the door shut?

And that is exactly the point, that is exactly the problem.

What should we do there, in the closet, away from everyone? "pray to YOUR FATHER who is in secret, and YOUR FATHER who sees in secret will reward you"

Note that Jesus emphasizes, we are praying to our Father

I said earlier that prayer is a command, it is how God accomplishes his plan, and it is one of the primary ways that God grows us spiritually I is all of those things for sure, but it is more than that…it is a blessed privilege reserved for, and given to, only those who have been reconciled to God, who have been adopted into God's family, who have been transferred into God's kingdom, who are now called sons of God, children of God, (fellowship with our heavenly father)

This is the beauty of the Gospel that Jesus has been drawing us to: Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, by his sacrifice and by his righteousness given to uswe have been granted access into the very presence of God himself, and we are his adopted and loved children in Christ, and he is our loving Father, who accomplished this great redemption precisely so that we would be able to enjoy is presence no matter where we are.

This is what the religious elite were missing - their outward actions were a cover - they didn't actually know God as their loving Father

Now, I want to be clear - Jesus isn't saying that we are only to pray alone in rooms with the door shut - Jesus is giving us the great promise that our Father, who is in heaven, is everywhere, and sees what happens in secret

As our loving Father, he receives the prayers of those purchased by the blood of Christ, no matter where we pray, no matter when we pray it is the privilege and comfort, that we have entered into the presence of God Almighty, and that we are able to fellowship with him as our heavenly Father - it is this great privilege and comfort - that we take from the inner room, to the kitchen table to the public square.

And, this is our great reward Participation in God's kingdom and fellowship with God himself the privilege to call upon him as our loving Father we taste it now in partwe will enter into its fullness on the other side of the grave.

Knowing God as our Father - what a blessing it is, isn't it brothers and sisters

in his presence, we don't have to seek the approval of othersin his presence, we don't have to earn his approval in Christ, he receives our prayers, the prayers of his beloved saints - and as we fellowship with him now, we look forward to that day when we will enter into the eternal reward that Christ has won for us - into the glorious, perfect, and very real presence of our God!

And it is our blessed privilege to fellowship with him here and now, to call out to him in worship and dependence, to pour out our hearts to him - knowing that he hears us

And, in these final two verses, Jesus emphasizes the blessing and the privilege that we have to call upon the living God as our FatherLook at verse 7

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Notice the familiar phrase: And when you pray - again the reminder that prayer is essential

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Prayer is not for persuading God

And here the warning is directed at the Gentiles, the non-Jews of the day,

Who themselves attempted to grab the attention of their gods through empty phrases and long prayers

Trying with all their might to be heard and answered by gods who are unable to hear, unable to speak, and unable to think.And by pointing to their practices, Jesus is teaching us, prayer is not to be seen as a tool that we can use to pressure God or to persuade God to do what we want

It's also possible, that as Jesus is pointing to the Gentiles, is giving a side glance to the Jewish religious leaders here, who themselves had their repetitious prayer formulas

And the point that Jesus is making is clear: Do not be like them Now, again, to be clear, Jesus isn't saying that long prayers, or that repetition in prayer are bad things in themselvesbut he is freeing us from the chains of trying to use the length or the style of our prayers as a way to get God's attention.

We don't need to pray long prayers thinking that somehow God will pay attention if they are long enough

We don't need to pray with empty phrases or elegant words thinking that maybe we can convince God to hear us

We don't need to follow the example of the Gentiles praying and bowing to the empty gods of the world

Because our God is altogether different than any other God

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Prayer is enjoying God's loving care

We belong to him, he is our Father - and for us, prayer isn't about convincing God, or pressuring God, or persuading God…for us, prayer is about enjoying our Father's loving care.

See what Jesus says in verse 8: Our Father, he knows what we need before we even ask him

He knows what we need, and this implies that he is, as one commentator put it, deeply committed to caring for us in respect to our needs.

We will see this in more detail when we come to verses 25-35 of this chapter, where we are reminded not to be anxious, because God knows our every need, and he cares about them.

We see this in 1 Peter 5, when Peter calls us to cast all of our anxieties on God, because he cares for us

As God's children, we can say with David in the Psalm 34 - Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

For those who have been reconciled to God through faith in Christ - this is where we find ourselves, reconciled not only to God, but to a God who loves to be our heavenly Father, who loves for us to enter into his presence

you are free from seeking the praise and approval of otherswe are free from worrying about what other people think you are free from the burden of trying to convince God to pay attention to you

we have been reconciled to God, and we have entered into his kingdom

and here, we have been given the blessed privilege of prayer as our avenue of comfort and assurance that comforts and calms our soul in the midst of a world that no real answers for the never-ending onslaught of very real problems.

We are free to call upon God as Father (we are free), and our Father is fully aware of us he loves ushe cares about ushe desires us to fellowship with him in prayer he hears all of your prayersand he knows exactly what you need -

This is why he commands us to pray, this is why prayer is essential

Our heavenly Father beckons us to come fellowship with him, as his children, in his presence, through faith in Jesus Christ

This is the setting that Jesus wants us to have in mind as he teaches us how to pray in the next verses: God's people calling out to our loving Father in heaven, trusting him, depending on him, and worshiping him as our Father.

As the old hymn says: What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer!