But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:6
There is a wrong way to pray. But it might not be what you think.
He probably used a lot of fancy words. He said what he said, so loudly and publicly, that it was recorded for us to read centuries later. The prayer of a highly educated, religious expert is exactly what Jesus used to point out the wrong way to pray. In his prayer, this extremely religious man proudly thanked God that he “was not like other people—cheaters, sinners and adulterers” and even said, “I’m certainly not like that tax collector,” referring to a man who had just come into the Temple at the same time he did (Luke 18:9-15).
In contrast, the tax collector kept to himself, away from the fancy people in the Temple. Scripture tells that he wouldn’t even dare to “lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner” (Luke 9:13).
Jesus taught this story to people who had “great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else” (Luke 18:9). He showed that God is looking for people who will cry out to Him in honesty, even desperation, from whatever condition they find themselves in. Writer C.S. Lewis admitted, “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping.”[1]
You don’t need to impress God, or anyone else, when you pray. Your prayers can be secret, simple cries. Jesus taught, “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).
[1] Lewis, C.S. Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. Harvest Books, 1964.
