In the extensive Biblical treasury of prayers to take as examples, the crown jewel is the prayer offered by Jesus in response to His disciples’ request to teach them to pray. Of all the men who have commented on the Lord’s Prayer, hardly any have seen it so clearly and expounded it so affectionately as William Perkins, the 16th century so-called Father of the Puritans. Perkins gained from Christ’s preceding words in Matthew 6:5-6 that preceding any prayer must be a sincere heart. “We must learn this one thing,” Perkins comments, “which Christ principally intends… in all holy duties to avoid hypocrisy, endeavoring to do them with all simplicity and sincerity of heart, whereby we truly desire to have God and not man the seer and approver of them.” Prayers, even if doctrinally correct and theologically impressive, that are not sincere are empty and hypocritical. They would be better off completely left unsaid.
Friend, it might be time to reassess your prayer life, and ask yourself this question: “Are my prayers sincere?” Whether they are or aren’t, I think we’ll all have something to learn from our Savior’s example which we will cover in the posts to follow.
