When We Pray

The Citizens of the Kingdom and Their Hearts

Before Jesus ever established His spiritual kingdom, He began teaching the kind of people who would be part of it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described not only the outer conduct of kingdom citizens but the inner condition of their hearts. In Matthew chapter 5, He laid the foundation through the Beatitudes, showing how His people must live righteously—not only outwardly, but inwardly. Now in Matthew chapter 6, He moves from actions to intentions, teaching that even good deeds must be done for the right reasons. Whether giving to the poor, fasting, or praying, Jesus calls His people to act not for applause but for the approval of God.

Do Not Pray Like the Hypocrites

In verses 5 through 8, Jesus speaks directly about prayer. He begins in verse 5 with a command: “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.” These were people who prayed not to be heard by God, but to be seen by men. They would stand in synagogues and on street corners, putting on a religious show to win public admiration. Jesus says plainly, “They have their reward.” That reward is not from God—it’s the fleeting approval of men.

Jesus condemned this attitude because it replaced true communion with God with a performance. The Pharisees He rebuked in Matthew 23 loved to display their religious piety in public. They lengthened their garments, took the best seats, and loved to be greeted with titles of honor. Yet their hearts were far from God. In Luke 18, Jesus described a Pharisee who stood and prayed, thanking God that he wasn’t like other men. But God did not hear that prayer. The tax collector who humbled himself and cried out for mercy was the one who went home justified. The lesson is clear: when we pray, we must approach God with humility, not pride; with reverence, not pretense.

Go Into Your Inner Room

In verse 6, Jesus gives an alternative to the hypocrite’s performance. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.” Jesus emphasizes the need for private, undistracted prayer. He’s not speaking against public prayer entirely—Jesus Himself prayed publicly—but He is urging us to develop a personal, intimate habit of prayer with the Father. The “inner room” is a quiet place, free from distractions, where the heart can open fully to God.

For Jesus, the inner chamber was sometimes a mountain, a garden, or a wilderness. He sought solitude because it was in those moments that He could most clearly commune with the Father. He calls us to do the same. When we isolate ourselves from noise and distraction, we are better able to sense the presence of God. In Acts 17:27, Paul preached that God “is not far from each one of us.” But it is often in the stillness that we truly feel how near He is.

Jesus also promises that the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly. That is a promise. Prayer is not empty. It is powerful. It has spiritual rewards. God hears the hidden, honest cries of the heart and responds in His wisdom and grace.

Do Not Use Vain Repetitions

In verses 7 and 8, Jesus turns to another abuse of prayer—vain repetitions. “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus is not condemning long prayers or repeated themes—as He Himself prayed all night on occasion. He is condemning mindless, mechanical chanting. Pagan religions often repeated phrases or used magical incantations in an attempt to manipulate their gods. But our God is not manipulated. He is not impressed by how long or how loudly we pray. He wants sincerity.

Whether it's prayer beads, prayer wheels, or memorized phrases spoken without thought, these kinds of “vain repetitions” are empty. They are not meaningful conversation with the Father. Jesus points out the futility of such practices. Just like the prophets of Baal who chanted all day long on Mount Carmel, those who pray with meaningless repetition are not heard by God. Their words may be many, but they are without heart. Jesus wants our prayers to be simple, sincere, thoughtful, and full of trust.

God Already Knows

Jesus concludes this section with a powerful reminder: “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” God doesn’t need our prayers in order to gain information. He already knows everything. But He desires our hearts. He wants us to come to Him in faith, with humility, with hope. Prayer is not about informing God. It is about acknowledging Him, trusting Him, and aligning our hearts with His will.

This same truth is echoed in 1 Kings 8:38–39, where Solomon prays that God would respond to the prayers of His people according to their hearts, because only God knows the hearts of all men. James 4:3 also warns that prayers offered from selfish motives or worldly desires will not be answered. The condition of our heart matters when we pray.

When Jesus prayed, He was not informing the Father of things He didn’t already know. He was communing with the Father in love and dependence. If Jesus—God in the flesh—needed that relationship, how much more do we?

Prayer is not a performance. It is not a ritual. It is not a chant. It is not a formula. It is a relationship—a precious, essential lifeline to our Creator and Redeemer.

Sermon Outline: When We Pray

I. The Danger of Hypocritical Prayer (Matthew 6:5)

• Hypocrites pray to be seen by men, not heard by God.

• Their reward is temporary praise, not divine approval.

• Jesus condemns performance-based religion.

II. The Power of Private Prayer (Matthew 6:6)

• Prayer must be sincere and personal.

• Find your inner chamber—free of distraction, filled with God’s presence.

• God rewards those who pray in secret.

III. Avoiding Empty Repetition (Matthew 6:7)

• Pagan prayers relied on repetition and ritual.

• God is not swayed by word count but by heart condition.

• Don’t recite prayers by rote or trust in formulas.

IV. Our All-Knowing Father (Matthew 6:8)

• God already knows our needs.

• Prayer is not about informing Him but expressing faith and submission.

• The heart of prayer is trust—not ritual or routine.

Call to Action

Tonight, as you reflect on Jesus’ words about prayer, ask yourself: Why do I pray? When do I pray? Where is my heart when I approach God? The Father is not far from you. He knows your needs. He knows your hurts. He sees what no one else can see—and He invites you to speak to Him.

Don’t let pride, distraction, or repetition rob your prayers of their power. Find your quiet place. Speak to your Father. He is listening—and He will reward you.

If your heart is burdened, if you are in need of forgiveness, if you are ready to obey the gospel or ask for the prayers of the church, then respond to Him in sincerity tonight. He already knows—but He still wants you to come. Let your prayer be real, and let your life reflect the faith you place in Him.

As we sing the invitation song, we invite you to come.

YouTube Video Sermon Transcript: 

When We Pray

Sometime before the kingdom—that spiritual kingdom over which Christ would rule—actually came into existence, Jesus delivered a powerful series of lessons describing the kind of citizens He desired for that kingdom. We know this collection of teachings as the Sermon on the Mount.

In that sermon, Jesus described the qualities and characteristics of His disciples—how they were to live, how they were to act, how they were to relate to one another, and how they were to relate to the world. In chapter five of Matthew, we spent several Sunday evenings talking about the Beatitudes, which form the foundation of a disciple’s life. Then we looked at how the righteousness of His people must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and Jesus gave a number of examples to show what that means.

Now, in Matthew chapter six, Jesus begins to deal with the purpose behind what His disciples do and the attitude with which they do it. In other words, not just what you do—but why you do it. Last Sunday evening, we studied what Jesus said about giving alms or doing charitable deeds. He explained not only how to do it, but why it should be done with the right heart—not for show, but for the glory of God.

Tonight, Jesus turns His attention to prayer. Lord willing, we’ll continue this theme next Sunday evening as well. In Matthew 6:5–8, Jesus gives four short verses, but each one teaches a powerful lesson about how He wants His disciples to pray. These verses are focused on our purpose and attitude in prayer.

Let’s begin in verse five: “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 the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”

Jesus is now addressing our conduct toward God. In chapter five, He discussed our conduct toward others—things like lying, hatred, adultery, and divorce. But now He turns the focus to our devotion, and lays down the foundation for prayer that is genuine and acceptable.

He says first of all, don’t be like the hypocrites. That word describes actors—people pretending to be something they are not. They pretend to be spiritual. They appear to be godly. But Jesus says, “Don’t be like them.” Why? Because they love applause. They love to be seen. They do religious things publicly so others will admire them.

Back in Matthew 23:5–7, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, saying: “All their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’” Everything they did was for the praise of people—not for the praise of God.

Jesus gave a concrete example of this attitude in Luke 18, beginning in verse 10: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” But the tax collector stood afar off and would not even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said it was the tax collector—not the Pharisee—who went home justified.

The Pharisee did everything to show how religious he was, but God was not impressed. Jesus says, if that’s why people are doing it—to be seen and praised by others—then the only reward they will ever get is the applause of men. Nothing more. Nothing from God.

And so we must ask: what about us? Do we ever find ourselves in situations where we’re tempted to do religious things for attention? Maybe we change how we act when we know others are watching. Maybe we pray differently when someone is listening. Jesus says we must be careful not to perform our acts of worship for applause. The temptation is real. But if we are doing it for others to see, we’ve already received our reward. And that reward is empty.

Jesus is not condemning prayer. He is condemning the attitude behind prayer when it is done for pride, for show, or for approval from men.

In verse six, Jesus says: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

This is a tremendously important lesson. Some translations say, “Go into your inner chamber.” Where is that? For Jesus, it was sometimes a mountaintop. Sometimes it was a garden. Sometimes it was the wilderness. The point is, it’s any place you can be alone—free from distractions, noise, and interruption.

The physical location isn’t important. What matters is the condition of solitude—a quiet place where your focus is on God alone. Jesus is calling us to private prayer. In that quiet time, when the door is shut and no one else is watching, you can truly sense the presence of God. That’s when your prayer becomes the deepest.

In Acts 17:27, Paul said that God is “not far from each one of us.” But in order to sense His presence, we need to be still. We need that time of quiet. When we are surrounded by distraction and noise, it's hard to feel that closeness. That’s why Jesus tells us to go to the secret place—to find the solitude that allows us to speak to our Father without pretense.

And then He says, “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” There is a promise in prayer. God sees it. God hears it. And God rewards it. Have you ever thought about that? Prayer comes with promised reward. Jesus said it—in red and white, right there in your Bible. Prayer has power, and it has reward.

In verse seven, Jesus offers another caution: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jesus is now condemning mindless repetition—what we might call chanting, mantras, or formulaic prayer. In some religious traditions, people recite the same words over and over, thinking the repetition itself has spiritual power. But Jesus says such prayer is worthless.

That kind of chanting—like using a prayer wheel, reciting from beads, or repeating the same phrases—has no meaning unless it comes from the heart. Jesus said such repetition is vain, meaning useless. Think back to 1 Kings 18 and the prophets of Baal. They chanted all day long, but Baal never answered. That’s the example Jesus is pointing to. Pagan prayers are based on repetition and ritual, not relationship.

There is no magic formula in prayer. There’s no abracadabra. If you say the “right” words a certain number of times, it will not guarantee a response from God. That’s not how prayer works. Jesus never gave us a set of words to be repeated over and over. Even what we call the Lord’s Prayer was given as a model, not a script to memorize and repeat mindlessly.

Prayer is not about length either. Jesus Himself sometimes prayed all night. He’s not condemning long prayers. He is condemning the belief that long or repeated words somehow obligate God. That’s not prayer—it’s manipulation. It’s superstition. And Jesus says it is worthless.

Why? Because, verse eight says: “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” You’re not telling God something He doesn’t already know. Prayer is not about information transfer. It’s about trust, dependence, faith, and relationship.

In 1 Kings 8:38–39, Solomon prayed, “Forgive and act and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know—for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men.” That’s the key. God sees the heart. He knows if we’re sincere, or if we’re just saying words. The condition of our heart determines whether God hears our prayer.

So, why do we pray if God already knows everything? Because prayer is not about informing God—it’s about transforming us. It expresses our faith, our hope, and our reliance on Him. It’s about drawing close to our Father in love and confidence.

That’s why Jesus often found His inner chamber and prayed for hours. Not to inform the Father, but to commune with Him. That quiet time was essential to Jesus’ ministry—and it’s essential to ours too.

When we pray, let’s remember the lessons Jesus gave us. Don’t pray for show. Don’t use empty repetition. Don’t pray to give God information. Instead, pray with a sincere heart. Seek solitude when you can. Speak honestly. Trust fully.

Call to Action

Tonight, God already knows what you need. He knows your burden. He knows your heart. But He still wants you to come. Not for show. Not with empty words. But with sincerity, trust, and humility.

If your heart is heavy—if you need to obey the gospel, confess a sin, or ask for the prayers of the church—then come. He is not far from you. Your Father, who sees in secret, is ready to hear you—and He is ready to reward those who seek Him.

As we sing the invitation song, we invite you to respond in faith, in repentance, and in prayer.