Page 23 - The Importance of Prayer Student Textbook

Matthew’s account of the Lord’s prayer gives us two prohibition on what not to do before we pray. And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for, they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But
when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need
of, before ye ask him.

The first prohibition is that of hypocritical prayers. The term hypocrisy in the New Testament is drawn
from the culture of the day, where a hypocrite was one who engaged in drama, in the theater. He was
play acting. What he was doing was not real. Again, the original use of the word was used of actors in a
play who put on mask and pretended to be someone they were not. So what Jesus was saying is do not
go through the motions of prayer, making a great external show of your piety. He was saying you are
praying for show.

The Holman Christian Commentary defines hypocrisy as anything whatever that may deceive the
cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognize it, and is revolted
by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised. Hypocrisy is a malignancy of the soul. Hypocrisy, like the
malignancy it is, eventually destroys everything it touches, including the hypocrite himself. Therefore,
Jesus was so harsh with the false religious leaders of His day. From the beginning Jesus was the author
and friend of truth and authenticity. He is the enemy of falsehood and hypocrisy. He in essence was
saying that Jesus’ followers must live for God’s approval, not the praise of people. Or to put it succinctly,
Jesus followers are to live for an audience of one!

In John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew he elaborates on this passage which says, be not as the
hypocrites are for, they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that
they may be seen of men. The Jewish people celebrated three times of prayer each day. Psalm 55:17
Evening 3:00 pm, Morning 9:00 am, and Noon 12:00 It is interesting that our Lord used the word
(plateia) which means a major street and not the word (rhume) which means narrow street. MacArthur
says that the Jews would intentionally plan their trips so that when the call to prayer was issued, they
would stop on the major streets to be seen of man. This is a major departure from John 14:13 which
teaches us that, if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father’s glory will be
shown through the Son. Our asking is to be motivated by the glory of God. (See also I Corinthians 10:31)
Jesus zeros in on the despicable motivation of the heart of mankind.

Let me again reiterate the point I have already made. The scribes and pharisees thought that law
keeping was the way to righteous. Today, we have the idea that if we check off boxes of disciplines this
is the way to continue in righteous, even though we recognize that salvation is by grace through faith.
Galatians 3:3 says, How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now
trying to become perfect by your own human effort by checking off a list of disciplines you have obeyed.
I am about to write a section on honoring God’s name. One of the greatest ways we can honor God is by
daily acknowledging our total dependence upon the one who began a good work in us and the one who
will complete it. (Philippians 1:6)

Martin Lloyd Jones said, “we tend to think of sin as we see it in rags and in the gutters of life. We look at
a drunkard, poor fellow, and we say, there is sin. But that is not the essence of sin. To have a real picture

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