Quick Devotional from Matthew 6:7 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading some time ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation of Matthew 6:7  Here is my translation:

“Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ
But while praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles, because in

πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται. ”
their many words they suppose that they will be heard

Here are some observations:

1. In the context this is Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon of the Mount.
2. Jesus in this verse assumes believers (His listeners) will pray.  The participle “while praying” indicates not “if” but “when.”
3. Concerning prayers Jesus gives a prohibition here: “do not use meaningless repetitions“
   1. The verb for “use meaningless repetitions” is clearly a prohibition since it is a subjunctive mood verb that is in the second person with a negative particle.  Thus it is telling us not to do something.
   2. The verb appears only once in the New Testament: Here in this verse.
   3. The verb “use meaningless repetitions” is a compound word: It has the word that sounds like babbling plus “word.”  In other words its words which babbles.
4. A comparison is being made that is also a negative example of what not to be like: “as the Gentiles”
   1. The Greek adverb ὥσπερ is indicating a comparison.
   2. Keep in mind Jesus’ original audience were Jews.  In saying “Gentiles” Jesus’ point is that Gentiles who didn’t know God in a saved relationship would not know how to pray.  But the Jews should know, having God’s revelation.
   3. Yet sometimes we too as Christians can be like the Jews here, we pray like the way nonbelievers do.
5. The reason for the prohibition is given: “because in their many words they suppose that they will be heard”
   1. The Greek word γὰρ indicates reason.
   2. They suppose that “many words” is whey are heard by God.
   3. But this is not the case.
   4. God hears us because of His attributes: God’s omnipresence, omniscience, grace, mercy, love, etc.
6. Knowing God’s attributes should be a motivation for us to pray!

Application:

• Do you pray?
• Do you think praying is optional or do you instead assume bibilcally you should pray?
• Do you babble a lot and feel your prayer is meaningless? Think about the words you say.
• What is your prayer life like compared to the people of this world who does not know God; do you pray the same or different than them?
• Do you feel sometimes you don’t have all the right words?  Know that God knows what we mean and desire in our prayer!  Be comforted.
• Ultimately do you pray trusting in God or yourself?  That will dictate how you pray.
• Study God’s attributes to motivate you to pray!  Go read the Bible and also sound books on the attributes of God!