Guard Against Hypocrisy in Prayer

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.
–Matthew 6:5

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shared common errors we need to guard against when we pray. First of all, guard against hypocrisy when you pray.

In Matthew 6:5, Jesus said, “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites.” We usually think of a hypocrite as somebody who says one thing and does another. But the Greek word referred to an actor who wore a mask to play a particular part. That’s what a hypocrite is–somebody who is playing a part, pretending to be someone he is not.

Jesus was saying, “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who are just playing a role.” In this passage, Jesus was talking about the Pharisees. How did they pray? Jesus continued, “They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners” (v. 5). Now, there’s nothing wrong with standing when you pray. Throughout the Bible, people assumed various postures in prayer–sometimes they knelt, sometimes they lay prostrate on the ground, and sometimes they stood. And there’s also nothing wrong with praying “in the synagogues and on the street corners.” The synagogue was the local place of worship, and “street corners” referred to a wide boulevard where there were lots of people. The Jews prayed at 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. every day, and they might find themselves in a busy intersection at those times. Was Jesus saying they shouldn’t pray wherever they happened to be? No.

The problem wasn’t the Pharisees’ location but their motivation. Why did they pray? “So that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (v. 5). The Pharisees prayed to impress other people by how spiritual they seemed.

Jesus said this is how we are to pray instead: “When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you” (v. 6). Jesus wasn’t saying we should never pray in public. There are many times the Bible commands and commends public praying. But when we do pray in public, we need to be very careful about our motives. It’s easy to start praying for the ears of other people rather than for God.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Prayers That Really Work” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.