Matthew 6:5-8
Find a place and time free of distractions for the next 7-10 minutes. Sit comfortably and breathe deeply for a few seconds before you begin. As you breathe in, say the name of Jesus and become aware of his presence with you. As you breathe out, open your mind and heart to receive whatever Jesus has for you today.
Today we continue contemplating Jesus’ teaching on personal motives.
Read Matthew 6:5-8 letting the words of Jesus paint a mental picture of the behaviors he describes.
Before we delve into the improper use of prayer, we need to consider what prayer really is. Prayer is a conversation with God in which God speaks to us and we speak to God. Sometimes prayer doesn’t even involve words as when we are overcome with great joy or extreme grief and find that words cannot express what we want to say to God.
Other times prayer is communal and corporate – a conversation with God and others. We can pray using our own words or we can pray using Scripture, and we can also pray with words that have been written by other people. As long as we are sincerely communicating with God, we are in prayer.
In this passage Jesus calls out those who pretend to talk to God but in fact are using prayer-like words to call attention to themselves.
Stop to think about your experiences of prayer. Have you had times of prayer that felt like a one-way conversation? Have you ever sensed that God was speaking to you in prayer? Talk to Jesus about this.
Read Matthew 6:5-8 again focusing on verse 8.
When Jesus mentions the Gentiles in this passage, he’s referring to non-Jews who follow pagan practices. The prayers such people pray are pointless because the gods to whom they pray are lifeless.
When followers of Jesus talk to God, we are talking to the One who knows all and knows us better than we know ourselves. Our prayers are not new information for God, rather prayer reminds us of our deep and desperate need for the living God.
For the remainder of this meditation, spend time talking and listening to God. If at any point you sense that God is leading you to a new way of communicating in prayer, give it a try.
If you believe that God may be leading you to do something as a result of Jesus’ teaching, be sure to take a first step before you move on with your day.
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