PRAYER AND PRETENTIOUSNESS
39 And
the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
40 Which
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall
receive greater damnation.
* * * * *
Today, I want to discuss something that would seem to be obvious and in need of no discussion at all. Though that should be true, there are so many manifestations of this problem in the lives of Christians and whole congregations that a “wake up” call is needed. This problem is pervasive and creeps into the lives of even the most serious and disciplined of disciples from time to time; and that problem is pretentiousness in prayer.
In our opening Scripture, the scribes are drawing attention to themselves to satisfy their own egos. There is no legitimate faith or religion behind what they do. Instead, they use faith or religion as a pretext for behavior designed to draw in the admiration and esteem of their intended audience. In other words, their lives are all about themselves.
Matthew 6:5 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.
Now, it may not be particularly common to find someone, today, praying long-winded prayers in order to capture the awe and admiration of the people. No, there really isn’t much stomach any more for long prayers; because prayer has become such an antiquated form of religion, that even short prayers can be seen as an expression of “sainthood.” Longwinded prayers, today, are more than likely to agitate the listeners; because they are ready to move on to the next item on the agenda; and they are ready for the person to just shut up (demonstrating that both the one praying and the one listening are not really involved in legitimate prayer at all). Nevertheless, the Master’s point is made. The scribes prayed with many words for the same reason that all too many Christians, today, pray publicly. It isn’t to be heard and answered from Elohim above; it is to be heard and respected by man, with their esteem the real answer to the prayer.
Let’s try to put this in some present-day context and broaden our understanding of the pretentiousness of prayer. Below is an example of a typical Sunday Morning church bulletin providing the order of service.
Prelude
Call to
Worship
Prayer of Invocation
Greeting of
Visitors
Hymn of
Adoration
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Offertory
Special
Music
Sermon
Pastoral Prayer
Notice the Order of the service includes the “Prayer of Invocation,” a “Prayer of Thanksgiving,” and a “Pastoral Prayer.” This, or something quite similarly, typically occurs in church after church, week after week, year after year all around the world.
In my lifetime, I have been a member of more than 20 churches in seven States in the USA. This has included denominational churches, independent fundamental churches and independent charismatic churches. Their Sunday morning services all followed something similar to this bulletin’s agenda. The prayers prayed at the indicated times for the indicated purposes were schedule-fillers for the most part. No real entreaty to the Heavenly Father was made. Someone had to say something out loud in the form of a prayer in order for the next thing on the bulletin to be reached. This kind of prayer is utterly pretentious. It is a ruse. It isn’t what it appears to be; and it is an insult to our Father and a disservice to all who hear it; not to mention denigrating to the character of the one praying it.
Any prayer in any setting that is offered for any other reason than a pure desire for the Father to hear and answer is pretentious; and our Master commanded us NOT to be pretentious in prayer.
Another example: In a gathering of friends and family, where one does not want others to think they are not Christians…or in In a restaurant where one specifically wants others to know they are believers, a prayer is offered before eating. We call it “saying grace” (which term doesn’t really make sense). I am not saying that no one ever prays before a meal without genuine expression of thanks to the Father. I know that is probably the rule; but also, quite common is the “pretense” of prayer for the outward show to those watching or listening.
There is one time in Scripture when a prayer was spoken for the benefit of those listening and not specifically for the Father’s ears. That was when Yahushua prayed a brief prayer before commanding Lazarus to rise from the dead; and it was not pretentious. It was purposeful.
John 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place
where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I
thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
In the regular course of one’s life as a Christian, we are often confronted by people who ask us to pray for someone we do not know…like a relative of a friend…or friend of a relative. Either way, we have no emotional or personal connection to them. When we consent to pray, if we ever actually get around to praying, it can often be speaking the right words, directed to the Father; but totally without any genuine compassion or faith or a moment’s expectation that the prayer will be answered. It is more of a discharge of responsibility accepted from the one who asked us to pray. Such prayer is pretentious.
Prayer is serious stuff; and we will be continuing to examine it in weeks to come; but non-serious prayer is also serious stuff; and we need to expunge its existence from our lives and call it out in other believers when we observe it. We are to be known as a “house of prayer.” Such selfish games in prayer must not be once named among us. Do we think our Father does not see? It is imperative that we examine our prayer life and remove all such pretense from our lives.
If we ever raise our voice to
Heaven, it must be filled with faith and expectation. If we cannot fit that
bill, then the prayer must be one of seeking wisdom to know His will so we can
follow it with a prayer of faith.
