“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites;” Matthew 6:5a
As you read through these 3 Chapters, you can’t help but be struck by their Weight and their Seriousness. Remember, Jesus is directing this Message to His Disciples. We’re told in Chapter 5, “after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.” This is Key to understanding the entire Sermon, including Today’s Verse. Here are 3 Pertinent Thoughts:
First, Jesus says “When you pray”. He “assumes” we pray, so He uses the word “When”, not “If”. He amplifies this by using the same phrase several times, even saying “But you, when you pray,” to reinforce that fact. He tells them “how” to pray, “go into your inner room”, “how not” to pray, “do not use meaningless repetition”, and then gives them a Model or Template for their prayers, “Pray, then, in this way:” with the “Lord’s Prayer”.
Second, He warns us against Hypocrisy and Insincerity! We are to be God focused and not concerned with what Man thinks; “so that they may be seen by men”. We are to be Sincere, and not as the Hypocrites who, “love to stand and pray”, and “use meaningless repetition”.
Last, we absolutely must be Forgiven and Forgiving. We MUST be Forgiven of our Sins. We cannot come before God with a Sinful Heart. We need to confess, forsake, and be cleansed of Sin! Also, we MUST Forgive others. We cannot come before God with any Bitterness, Enmity, or Known Sins against anyone. Practically, we are “Unforgiven” until we do so.