Guest Post: Do Not Be Like the Gentiles

Note: This is a guest post from our dear friend Michael Coughlin.

Matthew 7:1 (and other passages) instructs Christians to judge with righteous judgment and not hypocritically. The essence is this – be careful as you point out sin in another making sure you yourself are not committing the same error.

This is a good admonition to us all and worthy of keeping in mind. Although personal sin doesn’t invalidate a logical argument one may make, it certainly distracts the hearer from your message if you are believed to be a hypocrite. This is why children of adulterers become adulterers even if Daddy told them to be faithful. It’s why parents who use drugs have kids who end up using drugs, even though they warned them not to. It is basic human nature, and God knows this and gave us reason and instruction in scripture to avoid being the hypocrite.

I want you to consider your prayers for a moment, dear Christian brother or sister. I do not know your heart; you may not know your heart either. But prayerfully consider whether you are ‘praying as the Gentiles do.’ Ultimately, as we look at other religions like the Greek Orthodox religion and accuse them of witchcraft, we ought to beware of our own tendency toward sin in our Adamic nature.

First, let’s look at a prooftext from Matthew’s gospel.

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. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

The specific phrase I fear many of us heap up with emptiness is “in Jesus’ name.” I understand we are told to pray in His name. John 16:23 implies we will be asking things in His name. John 14:13 is really clear that we are to beseech the Father in the Son’s name.

The problem is that I think many of us have relegated asking in His name to tacking the phrase – “in Jesus’ name” to the end of our prayers – as if that is all there is to it.

My question for you is this – when you say that phrase, do you really mean it? Or is it the mindless end of the prayer for you? I remember when I was praying for my children one night and I said, “Amen,” without saying “in Jesus’ name,” and they corrected me, as if my prayer was not in Jesus’ name without saying those words. My kids thought that phrase was vital to a proper prayer.

Rather, my friends, what is vital to your prayer is that it is made through faith in the risen Son of God and in accordance with what God has revealed in Scripture. You are praying in Jesus’ name every time you cry out to God the Father through faith in Jesus, whether you repeat that phrase or not.

I am not saying you must not use the phrase “in Jesus’ name!” Do not mistake me. What I am advocating is that when you use it you use it intentionally and that you beg God to give you a heart that truly seeks Him in Jesus’ name. But your prayer is no less acceptable to God if you say “in the name of the precious savior,” or “Amen” at the end – as long as the prayer is offered through faith in the second person of the blessed and holy trinity.

What makes your prayer unacceptable is when you follow the pattern of the gentile and speak words idly or out of habit or tradition. Millions of people recite what is known as the Lord’s prayer every Sunday and God despises their false worship, yet a Christian son of God can say that same prayer by rote meaningfully and acceptably because God looks at the heart, not outward appearances as men do.

So search your own heart and actions and consider if you are praying as the Gentiles do: heaping up empty phrases when you pray. You may not be chanting mantras or babbling yourself into pagan mindlessness, but you may be sinning against your God to a different degree by thoughtlessly offering “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer.

And if you find yourself, (like I have and still do at times), violating God’s standard for your prayer life, repent and trust Holy Spirit to help you to pray as you ought. He always knows better than you or I do anyway. Keep trusting that Christ prayed perfectly on your behalf and enjoy the process of getting to know your savior better through sanctification, even in your prayer life.

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.