How to Pray (and How Not to)
“Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1)
Matthew 5–7 contains Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount spoken on the Mount of Beatitudes on the Sea of Galilee shore. Chapter six recounts His teaching about two ways to pray — the wrong way and the correct way.
He begins in verse five by urging the crowd to refrain from praying like the “hypocrites (the religious leaders),” who were widely known to pray openly in the streets near the synagogues. They assumed that such boisterous praying surely pleased God and set an example for others. Yet Jesus tells us that is the wrong way to pray.
“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” (Mt 6:5)
Jesus uses an older Greek translation of “hypocrites” here in verse five. It indicates one who wears a mask. Today, we might substitute the term “two-faced.” In the New Testament, it more commonly means to deceive oneself.
Jesus indicates the religious leaders are stubborn, untrustworthy, and self-centered. He goes on to say such men already have their reward, that is, the reward of being publicly seen by others. They are not concerned about what God thinks but only what men think. God cannot reward such…
