My First Bible #14: Matthew 6:7-8

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  (Matthew 6:7-8)


Following on from my last post, I find I have a whole cluster of verses in the Sermon on the Mount.  As I mentioned before, I think I was captivated by this refreshing call to radical discipleship, rather than the empty and self-righteous ritual that had previously been my religious life.   The previous passage was on anger.  This one's on prayer, and comes directly before the Lord's Prayer itself.

I think there can be a lot of misconceptions about Jesus' words here - some which I've probably held myself at various times.  First, there is the idea that any long and waffling prayers are automatically out.  And secondly, there can be the idea that any beautifully pre-written prayers are also out.  However, making judgements about how a prayer appears on the outside often misses the point.   Whatever our traditions surrounding praying out loud, these verses, and the ones preceding (about the 'hypocrites'), warn against one thing: prayer is not a performance.

In the preceding verses, Jesus warns against making prayer a performance for other people.  Jesus makes it clear that the motivations of this particular bunch of 'hypocrites' (probably the religious leaders of the time) is 'so that everyone will see them'.  It's not that prayer always has to be private - there are plenty of good reasons for public prayer - but nature of this public prayer was a display of piety to everyone else. 

In the verses following - the ones which I noted down - Jesus is making a different example using a different group of people - the 'pagans'.  The overall point about prayer not being a performance still stands, but in this case, it's about making a performance in front of God.  The motivations of the pagans is this: 'they think they will be heard because of their many words'.  It's not the number of words being used, but again the motivation.  We don't need to perform to God.  He already knows what we need.

What follows is, of course, the Lord's Prayer.  I've lost count of the number of times I've taught around the Lord's prayer, listened to sermons and lectures, or generally pondered it, and yet it still continues to give.  Here, it is the balance to the verses we have just examined - "don't do this, do this".  And this template for prayer gives us many good reasons why prayer doesn't need to be a performance: not least, in the first two words: Our Father.   In those two words we recall to mind the entire gospel.  We pray to God as Father because through Jesus saving death and resurrection, we have become children of God - sharing in his inheritance and coming to God as Father, like Jesus does.

Our prayers have potency because of the one we pray to.  And we can come to one we pray to not because of the quality of our prayers, but because Jesus continues in his work as one mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) by interceding for us before the Father (Hebrews 7:25).  We cannot earn or create for ourselves a more direct access to God - Jesus has paved the way for us, and to think we will be heard all the more for our skilled performance is to deny the all-sufficiency of the cross.

So, does the 'form' of our prayers matter?  Only if we think it will either impress God or others.   But one persons 'performative' prayer will look very different to another's.  In some traditions I've found myself in, being able to real off a long and passionate extempore prayer is seen as superior.  There can be the idea that otherwise your prayers are not 'genuine'.  There is sometimes a distain for pre-written prayers, assuming that they are not 'genuine', but impressive ad lib-ing in this context is far more of a performance.  Others feel that their own words are not sufficient, and that they need the creativity and skill of other - whoever had penned the pre-written prayers they are using - in order to produce a prayer that is acceptable to God in its performance.  And yet at the same time, pouring our hearts out to God in  a long-winded waffle can be a great way to express ourselves before him.  Whereas sometimes, using the words of others to help us express what we need to say, when we can't find the words ourselves, or when others' words help to remind us of God's love and orient our hearts, can be incredibly helpful.  Jesus has done the work in opening the way to the Father - the form of prayer is simply whatever helps us to remember that.

Finally, the one area of prayer in which we do need to consider the way others view our 'performance' is in the leading of others in prayer.  This should always be done clearly and understandably - so strictly speaking there is an element of performance there.  If we write our own intercessions, we should do so carefully with thought to those listening.  If using liturgy, we should use it properly and effectively.  The reason: we are not just praying ourselves, but leading others in prayer.  We need to consider their needs - to hear, and be reminded of God's love and providence, and to come to him confidently adding their 'amen'.  And yet, even here, our performance should be only for the edification of others to help them pray.  Not for our glory, and not because we think God will hear our prayers.  It is still better to stumble over our words unintentionally, or not give the most polished delivery, than to see to look impressive to anyone else.  When we lead others in prayer, God has the glory.

The summer I was 17 years old I read my Bible cover to cover for the first time.  I was captivated and completed the whole thing in 4 months.  Although I clearly read it at quite a pace, I still jotted down passages that sprang out to me in my still relatively new faith.  I still have that Bible, and the scraps of paper are still there, bookmarking each verse.  So I decided to go through, 18 years later, and visit each of them.  They are from the Good News Bible.