[Jesus said:] “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." [Matthew 6:5-8]
This might seem strange to say, but Christians are not generically just "pro-prayer." At least not if we take Jesus seriously. We're called to be people who pray, to be sure--and Jesus assumes as much here in these words from the Sermon on the Mount. But Jesus calls us to a particular way of praying, which itself is a part of the particular way of life Jesus into which leads us. In fact, to hear Jesus tell it, prayer that is just a big public show is emptied of its power.
Let me say that again: as Jesus puts it here, when our practice of prayer is conducted like a public spectacle, with a "Lookie here, world! We're praying! Don't you notice? Haven't we caught your attention?" sense of performance to it, we have missed the point of prayer, and we've turned it into a show. And God does not need a religious show--never has, never will.
As Jesus understands it (and I think Jesus gets to be the teacher on this one, and we get to be his apprentices), praying is about connecting with the living God, who already knows what we need, and who, like a good and generous parent, is already committed to attending to our needs. God doesn't need to be persuaded, cajoled, bargained with, or even informed, according to Jesus! And God certainly cannot be impressed or bedazzled by the eloquence or proper formulas in our prayers--that suggests either that God is some pedantic teacher of etiquette berating us for not saying "Please" appropriately, or that praying is something of a magic spell that requires proper incantations (like Hermione in the Harry Potter books, correcting her classmates, "It's Wingardium levi-OH-sa, not Wingardium levi-oh-SA!"). And in Jesus' way of praying, it's not about getting the words right, or having enough feeling in the delivery, or in the poetry of our phrasing. It's much more like the conversation you have with a good soul-friend where you vent your frustrations and share your hopes, or the urgent cry of a child who has just skinned a knee and needs help from a parent who already is on the way with band-aids and hugs. And none of those kinds of communication are for show; they are utterly honest and authentic.
What Jesus invites us into is a way of relating to God that is free of pretense, free of play-acting (which is what the word "hypocrite" originally meant), and free of self-consciousness. That kind of prayer doesn't need an audience--in fact, it would feel bizarre and inappropriate to have other people watching or overhearing with that kind of prayer. So then let me ask--how much energy or time do you think Jesus would have us spend (or waste?) on arranging big demonstrations of prayer in public places to get headlines or draw attention to ourselves? How interested do you think Jesus is in arranging student gatherings around flagpoles or "prayer breakfasts" for politicians to pander to churchgoers who watch the news coverage? Or for that matter, how much do you think Jesus worries about prayer being "taken out of the public schools" as an official teacher-led part of the school day? Because the more I actually listen to Jesus, the more I think these are not real concerns for him--rather, he would warn us that any of those can very easily become a mere publicity stunt meant to get other people's attention or to impress a God who does not need to be impressed. And as we've seen in this passage from Matthew, Jesus wants our prayer lives to be centered in genuine connection to God, not a performance for an audience, whether we think that audience is other people or God.
My point in all of this is to say that Jesus isn't merely interested in just having his disciples pray "more." He certainly presumes we will and should pray, but he isn't looking for us to orchestrate a rally in the name of prayer or to times of prayer in school. He would rather have us find a moment when nobody else is looking ("in secret," as he says) and to pour out whatever is on our heart and mind without worrying about getting attention for it. Like Emilie Griffin put it, "The goal of prayer is simply to give oneself away." That doesn't happen if I'm using prayer as a photo op or turning public demonstrations of piety into a fight in someone's culture war.
Today, then, as we continue exploring and stepping further along into the way of Jesus, let's take up Jesus way of praying--which turns out to be less about getting anybody's attention, and more about practicing the presence of God wherever we happen to be at the moment. We have all learned from pop culture that now cliche line about "dancing like no one is watching." Maybe that's the invitation from Jesus, too--to pray unabashedly, authentically, and unpretentiously, like we are in a conversation with God and without any need at all for anybody else to watch or overhear.
Lord God, help us to let go of our need for attention and simply find ourselves in communion with you--in this day, in this moment, in this breath.
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