What Does the Bible Say About Prayer?

The Attention is Not on You

Matthew 6:5-8, we are told to apply this principle when it comes to prayer.

(Matthew 6:5-8 KJV) “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.”

Again, we are taught in this passage that our prayers should not be done so that it draws attention to ourselves. It should be done in secret so that only God knows when we are doing it. Likewise, many people who profess to be Christians find ways of turning their prayers into shows to impress others. As mentioned before, they will use Old English when they don’t normally speak it or pray some robust prayer that they wrote out or copied from somewhere else instead of speaking from the heart. Often, they will pray something that has the same words over and over again in the same prayer as if there is some sort of special power or acceptability with God when doing so.

Likewise, they do this not because they are motivated out of a desire to communicate with God from the heart, but out of pride, hoping that others hear their prayers and think well of them. Praying in secret shows God that our communication with Him is what is important. This is not to say that a group or congregation cannot pray together, but that it comes from the heart of whomever is praying during the prayer as well as each person who is praying along. If it sounds like a speech, or is presented in the form of one, it probably is.