As I sat here this morning, continuing on in Matthew, I was struck with something that I didn’t see coming. But isn’t that just like our God to take a familiar text and teach us something new? Love Him so much.
So today I was focusing on Matthew 6:5-8. Give it a read and meet me back here. Did you read it? (Read God’s words before you read mine).
I know I’ve shared this before, but lately God has me taking note of the “little words” as I read the Scripture. This morning was no different. In verses 5, 6, and 7, Jesus begins the verse “when you pray”. Did you notice the word “when”? It was “when you pray”, not “if you pray”. This was convicting to me because I do struggle keeping faithful to a set time to pray. Now don’t get me wrong, I pray throughout the day as the Spirit brings things to my mind, but to set aside a time to pray, that’s an ongoing struggle for me.
As I sat in that for a while, I considered what my relationship with Mike would be if we just had short little conversations during the day without really sitting down together and sharing our hearts. How loved would I feel? How loved would he feel? How closely would we continue to grow in our relationship? How deeply would I know his heart about things? How would he know what concerned me and visa-versa? If it takes effort and time to grow in my human relationships, how much more should my relationship and communication with God require effort and time? Just wow…and ouch.
Close relationships require effort and time.
Another thing that struck me in verse 5 was found in the phrase “that they may be seen”. The Greek word for that phrase (phainō) is in the (passive/subjunctive). Why is that important? Because the passive represents that the subject is the recipient of the action; and the subjunctive Is the mood of possibility and potentiality. The action described may or may not occur. (Phainō) means to lighten or to shine; to show by meeting the eyes of another.
As I thought about that, I considered how people are willing to trade the sure-thing (doing things God’s way with the right motive and receiving reward in heaven) for a temporal, “maybe”. Doing things to be seen by others doesn’t guarantee that they will even see or acknowledge how “good” you are. How quickly our sinful flesh is to run after the instant gratification of being acknowledged by people, which causes us to forfeit the future reward God promises us in heaven.
Don’t trade the sure thing for something that will soon go up in smoke.
In verse 6, Jesus said when you pray, “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father”. “Go” is an imperative; it’s a command, not a suggestion. Jesus knows the struggles we have with wanting affirmation from people, so He gave us a command that will help us in that regard. “Inner room” (tameion) describes a storage chamber; a chamber on the ground-floor or interior of a house, generally used for storage or privacy.
Pray in the “pantry”.
Another facet of praying in the “pantry” is that, if I’m talking privately to someone I love, I can speak from the heart, minus fancy words and eloquence. My conversation with the one I love is relational.
Prayer is relational.
Moving on to verses 7 and 8. Jesus mentioned “heaping up empty phrases”. The Greek word (battalogeō) was used for that phrase, and it means to talk long and idly, to chatter, to babble. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who went all the way around the barn to get in the door, instead of just saying what they mean? Did they impress you with their many words and explanations?
When you pray, get to the point.
After Jesus said this, He said gave the disciples a frame of reference – “as the Gentiles do”. Gentiles were a national ethnicity, known for their pagan worship. They were heathenish and often repeated phrases over and over thinking they would be heard because of their many words.
What comes to mind is the contrast between the prophets of Baal and Elijah in 1 Kings 18:25-40. The prophets of Baal talked loooonnnnggggg, from morning to noon, saying “O Baal, answer us”; while Elijah, prayed a direct and short prayer and fire fell from heaven. There’s so much in that recount that I won’t go into right now, but give it a read sometime and look at the motive of Elijah’s short prayer.
As I moved on to the next verse 8, I noticed how Jesus followed His frame of reference (“as the Gentiles do”) with the words “do not be like them“. I was struck with the parsing information for the words “be like” – passive (subject is the recipient of the action) and subjunctive (the mood of possibility and potentiality).
“Do not be like them” is something that can happen TO you.
What came to mind was 1 Corinthians 15:33, (“Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good character”). We have to be careful about who we allow in our inner circle, who we spend a lot of time with, because it is natural for us to pick up their habits. There’s a reason that in the Old Testament God warned His people against living among and intermarrying with heathen people. You will become like them.
Bad company corrupts good character.
The last thing that I looked at in this passage was found in verse 8, and honestly, it made me go “hmmmmmm….???” “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” So if your Father in heaven knows what you need before you say a word, why pray? Did that cross your mind? It sure did mine.
I’m gonna refer back to something I hit on earlier – prayer is relational. Talking to God about what matters to us welcomes Him into our situation (not that He’s not already there), but it opens the door for Him to speak into it for us. It’s been said that sometimes God changes our situation, sometimes He changes us, and other times He changes both.
I think that another answer to “why pray if God already knows?” is that it places us in the position of dependency on God. It acknowledges that we have no control over things. If things are gonna change, HE has to change them.
Prayer is taking a humble heart-stance before our God and Father.
How’s that for God having a lot to say concerning a familiar passage?! Oh how I love my Father in heaven!!!!