The Lord’s Prayer *** – Religion Detox Network …

THE CONTEXT OF JESUS’ TEACHING ON PRAYER
Almost everyone knows the so-called “Lord’s Prayer”. It is a common liturgical fixture in most Christian churches. It is the “go-to” prayer that religious leaders call on people to pray when they don’t know what else to pray. There is a sense within Christendom, therefore, that it always appropriate to pray the Lord’s Prayer no matter what the occasion is because Jesus told his disciples that this is how to pray.

It is a very curious feature of the Lord’s prayer that it is always prayed out of context. In order to understand it and pray it effectively, therefore, it must be prayed in the right context. Here are the verses that precede it in Matthew 6:1-8 with explanatory commentaries:

Verse	Commentary
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.	See Public Prayer. See this link for scriptures about practicing righteousness before men. See this link about pride for being noticed while doing religious activities. This verse makes the point that people who pray publicly earn rewards from coreligionists who observe their religious behaviors, but earn no rewards from Father God who can see the condition of the hearts of men because his home is in their hearts (i.e. heaven).
2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.	At first, this appears a caution about giving material gifts to poor people in a public setting. Actually, it is a clear exhortation against all kinds of public displays of religiosity. Sounding of a trumpet is a symbolic, poetic way of identifying that a religious activity is about to happen or has already occurred. Since most religious activity is either forecast in advance or reported after the fact, religious activity violates this command. See this link about pride for being noticed while doing religious activities. See this link for scriptures about practicing righteousness before men. See this link about making a name for yourself as a religious person. See this link about pride that is the reward for religious behavior.
3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.	At first, this appears to be a caution about giving material gifts to the materially poor. Even at that simple level of analysis, however, religious people fail because such giving usually has the potential for someone else to know that such giving has been accomplished. Religious people have been trained to think of giving in terms of money, physical objects and physical help. Biblical references to giving never refer to material wealth or objects. In the Bible, what is given always symbolically refers to God’s voice. In spiritual terms, God’s words written on the heart are treasures that we possess. But God wants his people to share this wealth with others and not keep it for ourselves. Thus when we give to the poor, we give God’s words from the heart. And the way we give God’s words is by speaking God’s words out of the overflow of our hearts. New Covenant disciples are rich because they have God’s words stored up in their hearts. Old/First Covenant religionists are spiritually poor because they do not have God’s words in their hearts. Giving to the poor is the equivalent of speaking God’s words. See this link for commentary on the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Religious people mostly think of giving in terms of money. They do not understand about God’s words in the heart because they don’t have God’s words in their hearts. They also do not obey this teaching with respect to secrecy. Whether it is the offering collection at church, or singing, or writing a book, o mission work, or evangelism, they always do their giving publicly because then they can receive praise from men for their giving. It is impossible to share God’s words secretly because there is always someone listening or reading what is said. Verse 4, therefore, is a command about giving for the wrong reasons. People who preach, teach, write and sing religious messages for public consumption must violate this command because public presentations are the only way they can make names for themselves and they must be public if people are to support them financially. Therefore, the command is against any and all public religious activity. People who share God’s words must do it publicly or no one would be listening. The command to give in secret is satisfied when giving is done as a spiritual act of the heart. It is not satisfied when giving is done for prideful reasons or for financial gain.
5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.	Christians disregard these verses because they seem to refer to hypocritical Jews only. This is wrong thinking that ignores that all scripture is useful for training in righteousness. The only way to learn from these verses is to apply them to yourself. Christians, like Jews and Muslims, love to pray in public (symbolically on street corners). They also love to pray in public view in their places of worship (e.g. synagogues, churches, mosques, conferences, prayer meetings, etc.) Jesus says here that everyone who prays in public is a hypocrite. This includes Jews, Muslims and Christians. He also says that religious people love to do this so that they will be observed practicing their religion (i.e. praying). What they love is that they earn reputations as religious people when they practice their religion in public. Their reward is a boost in pride.
6 “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.	The inner room is a symbolic reference to the heart. People practice their religion in public places where they can be seen, but God only cares about the heart. The heart, therefore, is the place where prayer that God accepts occurs. The heart is the only truly secret place that there is and only God knows what people pray because only God knows the heart. See THE HEART IS THE PLACE for understanding of what happens in the heart.
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.	Religious people tend to pray the same prayers over and over again thinking that somehow God is impressed with their passion and sincerity as represented in their habit of repetition. In God’s eyes, all these verbal prayers are, fleshly religious activity that mean nothing to him because he already knows what people need. Nevertheless, contrary to Jesus’ teaching, religious people insist on praying for all their needs. See these links for more about prayers that God does and does not heart: When God Does Not Hear Prayer Praying in Tongues Public Prayer When God Does Hear Prayer General Conditions for Prayer

When we consider these verses that precede the Lord’s prayer, we see that all religious prayers violate all of Jesus’ teachings. In particular, because the Lord’s Prayer is often included in public worship events, it is prayed at times and places that are inconsistent with Jesus’ teachings about when and how to pray.

STUDY TIP: See Public Prayer for more about Jesus’ teachings on prayer.

Click on page 2 below for understanding of how to interpret the Lord’s prayer.

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