Jesus says that when we pray, we should not be like the hypocrites, referring primarily to the Pharisee sect. Their prayers were nothing more than a show to win the admiration of people.
Jesus is not condemning public prayer, but He is condemning prayer in public for the purpose of putting on a show trying to win the respect of others.
God is our Divine Parent and, as such, knows what we need before we ask. We don’t need to try and placate Him by our many words. God wants to answer our requests. John says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us...like a good Father He listens to the desires of His children...and if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we've asked of Him (I John 5:14, 15).” We can pray with a great deal of confidence that God is listening ever so closely.
Certainly, there are many times when we pray that we just feel like giving up because it seems that God doesn’t hear or for some reason does not want to respond. But Jesus says that God does listen, and God loves to reward us by answering our prayers, prayers that we can make with the utmost confidence that He is indeed listening.
We live in a world confused about how to relate to one another and even more confused about how to relate to a personal God. Often, we are like the Pharisees, who attempted to use God for their own ends, and we are equally as guilty of treating God as the pagans do—as Someone who is unknown. But Jesus says when it comes to prayer we need to pray sincerely and with confidence, and our Divine Parent will reward us openly.
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