d. More Ostentation on Prayer (6:7 8) (Luke 11:1-4)

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1 d. More Ostentation on Prayer (6:7 8) (Luke 11:1-4) Matthew 6:7 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. We read when you pray, not if you pray. It is assumed that members of Jesus kingdom will pray. In verse 6:5 we read of the hypocrisy of praying to be seen by others. But, Hypocrisy is not the only sin to avoid in prayer; vain repetition or meaningless, mechanical utterance is another. The former is the folly of the Pharisee, the latter of the Gentile or pagan (7). Hypocrisy is a misuse of the purpose of prayer (diverting it from the glory of God to the glory of self); verbosity is a misuse of the very nature of prayer (degrading it from a real and personal approach to God into a mere recitation of words). 1 empty phrases 2 To speak foolishly, babble, chatter. Much talk without content, repeating the same thing over and over again (Matt. 6:7), useless speaking without distinct expression of purpose as contrasted to succinct, knowledgeable speech, thus foolish speaking or indiscrete vowing in prayer. 3 it is likely to be a deprecatory way of speaking about the formulaic repetition of either intelligible (names of gods, petitionary formulas, etc.) or unintelligible ( words of magical power or the language of the gods) elements in order to multiply effectiveness with the gods. 4 These are similar to magical incantation analogous to what we sometimes say with the words abracadabra. Perhaps some help with the meaning can be found in another translation; The Latin phrase deos fatigare ( to wear out the gods ) is used. 5 many words 6 The claim that their gods will hear them through their verbosity is based on the magical understanding of language. Since the words of prayer contain magical power at least this is the assumption repetition and multiplicity increase that power, 1 John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture (The Bible Speaks Today; Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), βατταλογέω Much talk without content, repeating the same thing over and over again (Matt. 6:7), useless speaking without distinct expression of purpose as contrasted to succinct, knowledgeable speech, thus foolish speaking or indiscrete vowing in prayer. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000). 3 Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers. 4 Commentary (284). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press. 5 Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press. 6 πολυλογία speech of tedious length, much speaking, wordiness, long-windedness. William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 847.

2 compelling the gods to pay attention. 7 His point is that his disciples should avoid meaningless, repetitive prayers offered under the misconception that mere length will make prayers efficacious. Essentially it is thoroughly pagan, for pagan gods allegedly thrive on incantation and repetition. 8 Matthew s text is critical of viewing prayer as a means of pressuring God into giving us what we think we need. 9 Yet, long prayers and repetition in prayer are not absolutely forbidden here. Jesus did both. In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12, ESV) And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. (Luke 18:1, ESV) So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. (Matthew 26:44, ESV) Of course, what Jesus is condemning is meaningless chatter, not intelligent communication. Gentiles 10 This method of prayer is common to Gentiles meaning heathen or pagans; however, it has no proper place in Christianity. The Gentile does this because it is necessary in order to be heard. Their God is not omniscient, all-knowing. But the Christian knows that God is omniscient and that he is already heard. Therefore the gyrations common to the world are not necessary to the believer. He can speak simply as to his father. The Greek word translated heard 11 is made up of two parts, one means in or into, the other means to hear. The extra part, the prefix, into, is revealing. The purpose is not simply to be heard, the meaning goes beyond this, what is heard is to be obeyed. The intent is most manipulative. But is it the intent of the believer to be manipulative? Both want their prayers answered. The pagan says and does things to control or influence his God cleverly or unscrupulously. The Christian knows this can t be done and that the gyrations of the pagans have no influence on God. The purpose of his prayer is not to get God to hear, he already hears, or to know, he already knows. But we do petition 7 Hans Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49) (ed. Adela Yarbro Collins; Hermeneia a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995), Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 166). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 9 Commentary (285). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press. 10 ἐθνικός pertaining to one who is not a Jew Gentile, heathen, pagan. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (126). New York: United Bible Societies. 11 εἰσακούω from eis (1519), in, and akoúō (191), to hear. To give heed to, listen to. To give heed to, obey. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

3 God to change circumstances and people. But we do so reminding God that we want his will to be done (6:10); his will must be the overarching priority. Perhaps a key to understanding what this material is found in its structure. A Wrong practice empty phrases (7a) B Wrong theory will be heard (7b) A Correct theory your father knows (8) B Correct practice pray like this (9ff) This style of presentation is known as chiasm. 12 Recognizing this helps us focus on verses 7 and 8 which are often passed over quickly in order to get to the actual prayer beginning in verse 8.. The wrong practice, empty phrases, many words (7a) is driven by wrong theory, they think they will be heard (7b). Correct practice, pray like this (9ff) is driven by correct theory, your father knows (8). This suggest that the reason for the empty phrases and many words is the effort to get God to pay attention, learn and come to know and perhaps even to care. The prophets of Baal are a perfect example of this: And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. (1 Kings 18:26 29, ESV) The prophet Elijah is an example of the brevity of prayer to a God who knows (6:8). And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (1 Kings 18:36 38, ESV) One of the practices that most obviously violates this command is the use of prayer beads as a means to pray the same prayer over and over again generally for the purpose of obtaining merit before God. 12 In rhetoric, chiasmus is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was particularly popular in the literature of the ancient world, including Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, where it was used to articulate the balance of order within the text. As a popular example, many long and complex chiasmi have been found in Shakespeare and the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible.

4 The Hindus are one of the earliest groups to use prayer beads. The Buddhists picked up the practice from them. During Islam s invasion of India, the Muslims adopted the practice. They in turn introduced it to the Roman Catholic church. It is pagan in its origin and practice. How are we to apply our Lord s prohibition today? It is certainly applicable to the prayer wheel, and even more to prayer flags by which the wind conveniently does the praying.. Turning from non-christian to Christian practices of prayer, it seems that our Lord s condemnation would certainly include a mindless use of the rosary in which nothing happens but the fingering of beads and reciting of words, in which (that is) the rosary distracts instead of concentrating the mind. Does it also apply to liturgical forms of worship? Are Anglicans guilty of battalogia? Yes, no doubt some are, for the use of set forms does permit an approach to God with the lips while the heart is far from him. But then it is equally possible to use empty phrases in extempore prayer and to lapse into religious jargon while the mind wanders. To sum up, what Jesus forbids his people is any kind of prayer with the mouth when the mind is not engaged. 13 Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. The word for 14 gives us the reason we are not to be like them. knows 15 This is not a knowledge that comes by experience but form observation. Its root comes from the word see. The Gentiles used many words in order to make sure their Gods knew the nature of their problem and understood their sincerity. The reason Christians don t need to do this is that God already knows [sees]. In near section on the topic of anxiety in 6:32, the words know and need are found again. For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows [sees] that you need them all. (Matthew 6:32, ESV) These verses mark off the material between them, 6:8 and 6:32, as a common subject which is most of chapter 6. The material in this section involves prayer, fasting, treasure and anxiety. Possibly, if not probably, that common thread is in 5:48 perfection. Addressing these issues in this way is how a person is perfect holy and blameless before God. 13 John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture (The Bible Speaks Today; Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), γάρ a causative particle standing always after one or more words in a clause and expressing the reason for what has been before, affirmed or implied. For, in the sense of because, and so forth. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000). 15 οἶδα expresses the knowledge which comes from one s state of being, intuitive knowledge. Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

5 need 16 This refers to what we lack. What God already knows is our needs and does so even better than we do. While a hungry person certainly knows the need for food, other people, especially the wealthy and the powerful, asking for ever more and better things, fail to understand what their real needs are. People s real needs may be entirely different from momentary urgencies or misdirected desires and ambitions. Only God, through his omniscience, knows our real needs. 17 I think the result of God already knowing our needs is that we don t have to say much about them some of course, we are taught to pray give us this day our daily bread, but not a lot. There are in fact other things that are of more importance to pray about. Of course, our needs are real. The positive affirmation here of the significance to God of human need is quite important. It stands over against the asceticism, dualism, and narrowly spiritual orientation that would devalue the pressing sense of basic needs that it is normal to feel from time to time. 18 The use of the word need reflects the fallen world in which we live. Adam and Eve in the Garden before the fall had no needs. Their communion with God would have reflected their adoration, love of God and gratitude, but would not have addressed needs, these were fully met in the Garden. We live in a different world. Our world does not readily supply all that we need. Now we battle with the thorns and thistles to fulfill our needs (Genesis 3:17-19). Jesus is not telling them not to pray for needs for he soon thereafter teaches them to say Give us this day our daily bread. No, he is instead making the point that we don t need to twist God s arm about these issues. The phrase before you ask him makes it clear that we indeed are to ask him, even though he knows what you need before you do get around to asking. Sometimes even before you ask, he is answering. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24, ESV) He knows we need bread before we ask, yet he does teach us to ask. But if God knows what things we have need of, before we ask him, where lies the advantage of prayer? If he is ready, of his own free will, to assist us, what purpose does it serve to employ our prayers, which interrupt the spontaneous course of his providence? The very design of prayer furnishes an easy answer. Believers do not pray, with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to do his duty, or of urging him as though he were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray, in order that they may arouse themselves to seek him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on his promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by 16 χρεία (derivative of χρῄζω to lack, ) that which is lacking and particularly needed need, lack, what is needed. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (562). New York: United Bible Societies. 17 Hans Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49) (ed. Adela Yarbro Collins; Hermeneia a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995), Commentary (285). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

6 pouring them into his bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things. 19 It would seem that the interruption of the spontaneous course of his providence is in fact a part of his providence. To pray is on our part an act of faith. 19 John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (vol. 1; Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 314.