Prayer

Matthew 6:5-8

The key words in this passage are: pray, hypocrites, pagans, reward. The idea of the Father knowing what is done in secret is compared to the idea of the Father knowing the "secret" needs of our heart, even before we express them. Hypocrites who pray on street corners are parallel to and almost put in the same categorie as, pagans who babble. However, the contrast is that the hypocrites are praying in a way to earn human praise while the pagans are praying in a way to try to earn the right to be heard by God. Both of them are condemned by Jesus.
This section is tied to the rest of the sermon by the use of the phrases, "don't be like the hypocrites" and "your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The particular "righteous act" that Jesus addresses here is prayer. He teaches that prayer is to be a direct communication between the Father and the person and not a way for a person to score religious points. He also teaches that God already knows what we need before we ask him so the purpose of prayer cannot primarily be to tell God our list of needs and wants. There must be something more. Jesus does not indicate what that is at this point, although he hints at it in the next section when he gives us an example to follow in prayer.
So, here is what I am taking home: too often I am concerned about praying the right words and I am more concerned, when I pray in public, about the people who are hearing my prayer and what they will think of the words that I have chosen than I am about the Person to whom I am actually supposed to be praying to. I need God to remind me that he is my audience and I should just express things that are on my heart. However, I do think that when praying in public on behalf of others, that I need to keep in mind that they are joining me in prayer - I am coming to God with them but speaking on behalf of all of us. This means that I need to remember that God is my primary audience but I must keep in mind the others that are joining with me in prayer. However, I must never use prayer as an opportunity to preach a sermon or impress a crowd! Again, for me, it comes down to motives and since only God to change my motives and my heart, I humbly ask him to do it now.