Praying For Praise

Matthew 6:5–14 The Lord’s Prayer “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

There is a second way the self-righteous practice their righteousness wrongly. They pray so that they can be seen by others as a praying person. They do not pray out of an overflowing heart of love and thankfulness to the Lord who has saved them. The hypocrite looks around to see who is near and decides to pray a long repetitive prayer so they appear godly and good in the people’s sight. This type of prayer may give the self-righteous a certain level of personal praise and reward. Yet Jesus teaches it is the only reward the person will ever receive. They forsake an eternal reward which comes from the Father, for a temporary sparkle of praise.

What follows is what we call The Lord’s Prayer. It is a simple, but profound pattern for our daily, personal prayers. It begins with God’s glory, and ends with our good. Like the Israelites of old who had to daily go out and gather manna for the day; we are to go before our loving heavenly Father as adopted children seeking to bring him glory, and desiring him to provide for all our daily needs.

Blessings upon you this day! Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Yet, it is the will of the Lord that you indeed ask!