New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 6:5

Treasures and Worry

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. Matthew 6:5 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Matthew 6:5, in plain English

When you pray, don't be like the people who love to pray publicly just to be seen. They're not really talking to God. They're performing for an audience.

Why it's here

Prayer is supposed to be a conversation with God. When it becomes a performance, it loses its power and its point.

Who's speaking

Jesus teaches about authentic prayer.

Where it sits in the story

Just like with giving, Jesus is exposing the gap between looking spiritual and actually being spiritual.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Jesus applies the same principle to prayer: the hypocrites (hypokritai) love (philousin, delight in) praying in synagogues and street corners for maximum visibility. Their prayer is performance, not communion.

Language and setting

Standing prayer (stasis) was the standard Jewish posture. The issue is not the posture but the location, deliberately chosen for public visibility rather than divine encounter.

Voice

Jesus, beginning the teaching on prayer.

Significance

Jesus exposes how even the most intimate spiritual act, prayer, can be corrupted by the desire for human admiration.

In context

Matthew 6:3–7

3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

6But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

7And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard.

Read all of Matthew 6 — Jesus redefines wealth, prayer, and anxiety in a single breath. The lilies and the birds become his unlikely teachers.

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