Catechetical sermons preached in PCC Evening Worship Services, Feb 2013 to Dec 2017
WSC 99b of 107
5 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. 6 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. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him
Matthew 6:5-8
WSC 99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer;1 but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.2
11 Jn 5:14; 2Mt 6:9–13, cf. Lk 11:2–4.
Prayer is, in a sense, the easiest of spiritual exercises for a Christian, yet at the same time, it is, in another sense, the most difficult. It is not surprising, therefore, that it was only after more than three years of following the Lord Jesus that His disciples decided to ask Him to teach them how to pray. We see this event recorded in Luke 11. There, we are told that the Lord was praying in a certain place [near Jerusalem], and when He finished, His disciples came to Him and said: “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples” (Lk 11:1).
If you have a chronological Bible or a Gospel Harmony, you will quickly realise that the event occurred during the fourth year, or more precisely, the last six months of our Lord’s earthly ministry!
Now, if you check the account, you will also see that the Lord, at that time, actually reiterated what He had already taught the disciples in the sermon on the mount, which He preached more than a year ago.
It is in the middle of that sermon recorded in Matthew 5-7 that the Lord first taught them how to pray. It is here that He first gave them the pattern of prayer, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer.
Since then, this prayer has become the world’s most popular and well-known prayer. You can easily verify that by doing a Google search.
In our last sermon on the text underlying the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we saw that “The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer” (WSC 99).
Now, because this prayer is so significant that the Lord reiterated it, it behoves us to study it well. And the Westminster Shorter Catechism provides a succinct and accurate exposition of it. The Lord willing, we must look at the prayer with the help of this exposition in our subsequent studies.
But for now, with the Lord helping us, it behoves us to consider our Lord’s own preface to this pattern of prayer as it is given in the sermon on the mount. Our Lord, after all, did not—at least not at its first giving—plunge straight into the pattern. Instead, He gives us three crucial points on how not to pray before that. Let’s consider these three points.
1. Do Not Try to Impress
The Lord says, verse 5:
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.
Times have changed, but man has not. Is it not true that one of the most common problems with prayer is showmanship?
During the days of the Lord, the problem was blatant. Hypocritical showmanship was rife. Our Lord spoke of how the Scribes and Pharisees made “broad their phylacteries, and enlarge[d] the borders of their garments” (Mt 23:5) so that they would stand out from the people. And they love “the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi” (Mt 23:6-7).
They love it when people flatter them for their religiosity. And what better way to make people think they are pious and religious than to stand in the synagogues and the corners of the streets and pray aloud with high-sounding eloquence? Oh, how that was guaranteed to illicit praises from the undiscerning people? If this man can pray with such eloquence and religious ardour, he is surely a man favoured by God and greatly to be respected!
But our Lord exposes the hypocrisy of these pseudo-religious people. “Verily I say unto you, They have their reward,” He says (v. 5b).
Their prayers serve no other purpose than to elevate themselves in men’s eyes. Well, they achieved what they wanted. So they have already got their reward. They should not expect to receive anything more from the Lord!
This is not how we should pray. Instead, our Lord advises:
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
v. 6
Our Lord, you must understand, is not denouncing public prayers altogether. It is necessary that when we have public worship, we will have public prayers.
Our Lord is urging us to guard against showmanship. Prayer is a pouring out of our hearts unto God. It must never be turned into an ornament of hypocritical religiosity.
How do we apply our Lord’s exhortation?
First, We must apply it by prioritising our private prayers over public ones. Anyone who spends more time praying in public than in private must necessarily be hypocritical in his prayers. Or let me put it this way: If you pray only when you have a hearing from men, then it is symptomatic that you have not understood what it is to pray. Let us, therefore, take heed to maintain our private prayer life.
Man ought always to pray and not faint. We must pray without ceasing. While the Word of God is food to the soul, Prayer is the respiration of the soul. As your body cannot live without breathing, your soul cannot live without prayer.
Secondly, we must apply our Lord’s exhortation against showmanship in prayer by being careful not to parade our souls.
I am not saying we need not be concerned about what words to use when we pray in public. When we are praying in public, we are praying for and with those who are with us. Therefore, we must pray in such a way that others can follow us, and say, ‘Amen’ to our prayers. So we must make sense in our prayer, and we should use the pronoun ‘we’ rather than ‘I,’ etc.
But we must be careful not to allow our public prayers to become sermonettes or, worse, to use them to show others how religious we are. Remember our Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in prayer. How does the Pharisee pray?
“God, I thank thee,” he says, “that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Lk 18:11-12).
Do you realise that the Pharisee is not just praising himself but also giving a sermonette on sinful versus holy behaviour? The Lord condemns his prayer.
Let us strive to put off all pretences in our public prayers. It is far better to be clumsy and crude than to be hypocritical in our prayers. It is better to be plain and ordinary than to use it as a platform to teach others about our opinions. “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards,” says Solomon (Prov 29:11). Do not promote your peculiar theology or beat your hobby horse in prayer. Pray sincerely as a petition unto your heavenly Father, who knows all things.
2. Do Not Be Mechanical
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do,” says the Lord (v. 7).
It is well-known that the heathen use vain repetitions in their prayers. When I was young, I used to go to my aunt’s home. There, she has a massive altar with several idols on display. Every morning, my aunt or her servant would kneel before the altar, and she would have a coconut shell and a drumstick. She would tap on the shell repeatedly as she chanted something I could never make out. Indeed, I wonder if she knew what she was saying.
Sadly, under the pales of Christianity, a similar practice has evolved in liturgical churches. Think of the Roman Catholic church. Think of their use of the rosary. I searched the website to see how they use the rosary. This is what is recommended in the rosary centre:
“1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the Apostles’ Creed.
2. Say the Lord’s Prayer.
3. Say the “Hail Mary” three times. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
4. Say the Gloria Patri: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
5. Announce the First Mystery1; then say the Lord’s Prayer.
6. Say ten Hail Marys, while meditating on the Mystery.
7. Say the Gloria Patri 8. Announce the Second Mystery; then say the Lord’s Prayer. Repeat 6 and 7 and continue with Third, Fourth and Fifth Mysteries in the same manner.”
Well, if this is not vain repetition, I am not sure what is! And amazingly, included in the vain repetition of the rosary is the Lord’s Prayer itself. One wonders how anyone could use the Lord’s Prayer in such a way when our Lord personally condemns vain repetitions before he teaches the Lord’s Prayer.
We can have no doubt that all such mechanically repetitious prayers are distasteful to God in that they are directly contrary to the teachings of Christ. It does not matter what words are used in the prayer. If they are used mechanically with vain repetition, the prayer cannot please the Lord.
But let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves if we have also used vain repetitions in our prayers. Now, none of us would use vain repetitions in the way that the Roman Catholics would. But let’s be careful not to fall into a more subtle form of vain repetition.
What is this more subtle form? This more subtle form involves the use of stock phrases that are repeated over and over again every time we pray. Now, it is inevitable that we will reuse some phrases in our prayers. Very few of us can pray publicly without repeating the phrases we have used before. So, I am not talking about that.
I am talking about how our prayers can become so stereotyped or jejune that everything said is predictable, and nothing new is added. It is almost like a tape playback. Such prayers are impervious to surrounding circumstances. And will not penetrate heaven.
They can be beautiful prayers, but they are so general that they can be used at a funeral and a wedding without many changes.
No, no; let us watch ourselves. And I am reminding myself, too. Let us be careful not to spew out our prayers unthinkingly. Let us consider the situation we are in and pour out our hearts.
Let us listen to the news and respond to the news. Let us listen to the Word of God read and preached, and respond to the Word. Let us listen to the needs of our brethren and petition our Lord on behalf of our brethren.
- It would be very sad if we came for a prayer meeting and all the prayers uttered were only generalisations. It is regrettable when prayer requests are not prayed for. It will not do when there are crises in the world, and the church does not mention them in prayer.
But having said that, let us learn a third lesson from our Lord, namely that we must not be too wordy.
3. Do Not Be Too Long-Winded
Isn’t this what the Lord is saying in verses 7b-8:
For they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Going hand in hand with vain repetitions is “long prayers.” Now, I find it hard to talk about this because I have been told that my prayers are too long.
But let God be true and every man a liar. If I am guilty of what the Lord condemns, I must not defend myself but confess and repent.
Amazingly, our Lord does not think we should pray long prayers. “They think that they shall be heard for their much speaking,” He charges. And not only here, but in Matthew 23, He explicitly condemns the Scribes and Pharisees for their long prayers:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation
Mt 23:14
I trust that none of us are praying hypocritically. But are we guilty of wearing down our brethren and wearing God with long and repetitious prayers?
You know how it is. When we are called to pray publicly, somehow, many of us are uncomfortable with making a concise, to-the-point prayer. So, we pad our prayers with additional and incidental details to make up the length. Or we add so many details that one wonders whether we are trying to instruct God or show off our knowledge.
Well, this must be consciously avoided not only for sincerity sake, but for the sake of those praying with us. Of course, I am not suggesting that it is wrong to praise God or confess our sins in every of our prayers. But I am suggesting that we should not add these things just so that our prayer will sound complete.
Remember that prayer is intended to be an outpouring of our hearts and desires unto God. It is not to inform God of what is happening. It is not to instruct the church on what she should do or, worse, to teach some theology through the backdoor.
So, brethren, let us learn to pray concise prayers. And when praying with others, do leave time for others to pray too. Do not try to be exhaustive. Bear in mind those who are following us in prayer. It can be very tiring for our sisters and children who cannot come forward to pray to follow one long prayer after another.
Conclusion
What did we learn this evening? We learn how not to pray as a preface to the Lord’s instruction on what we should pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.
We learn three principles.
First of all, prayer must not be for show. Remember that your primary audience is God, who knows your heart better than you do. Your primary audience is not those who are joining you in prayer. Do not try to impress anyone.
Secondly, prayer must not be mechanical and repetitive. Try to vary your words. Consider what has happened or what you have just heard and incorporate it into your prayer.
Thirdly, prayer should not be too long. You can pray longer in private if you do not fall asleep, but in public, especially when praying with others, avoid praying for longer than five minutes.
Let us take heed to our Lord’s exhortation. Let us seek to make our prayer meetings a joyful experience that honours our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord knew that we could not simply imitate Him in the way He prays, such as in John 17. Why? Because He stands in a different position from us at the throne of God. This is why He has given us clear instructions on how we ought to pray.
But His instruction, we have no doubt, is to enable us to enjoy fellowship with the Father and in the way He enjoys it. He is, after all, the firstborn in the family of God. He is the only begotten son, whereas we are the adopted sons and daughters. Do we not read in Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29)?
And did he not also say, “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” (Rom 8:15 -17).
Again, in verse 26, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Rom 8:26).
The point is that the Spirit and the Son are working in tandem to enable us to enjoy fellowship within the family of God. For “truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” says John (1 Jn 1:3). In other words, the Spirit’s instruction and the Lord’s instruction is to enable us not only to glorify God, but to enjoy God in union with Christ, our elder brother.
Oh, how will our spiritual life be lifted, and our relationship with God will be deepened if only we remember His instruction and put it to practice daily? Amen.
—JJ Lim
- Monday & Saturday: #1 The Annunciation of the Lord to Mary; #2 The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth; #3 The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ; IV: The Presentation of our Lord; V: Finding Jesus in the temple at age 12; Tuesday & Friday: #1 The Agony of Jesus in the Garden; #2 The Scourging at the Pillar, etc (see www.catholic.org/prayers/mystery.php). ↩︎