Chapter III.
10. “And when ye pray,” says He, “ye shall not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing258
in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men.” And here also it is not the being seen of men that is wrong, but doing these things for the purpose of being seen of men; and it is superfluous to make the same remark so often, since there is just one rule to be kept, from which we
learn that what we should dread and
avoid is not that men know these things, but that they be done with this intent, that the fruit of pleasing men should be
sought after in them. Our
Lord Himself, too,
preserves the same words, when He adds similarly, “Verily I say unto you, They have received their
reward;” hereby showing that He forbids this,—the striving after that
reward in which
fools delight when they are
praised by men.
11. “But when ye259
| 259 Vos; Vulgate, tu (Revised Version).
|
pray,” says He, “enter into your
bed-
chambers.” What are those
bed-
chambers but just our
hearts themselves, as is meant also in the Psalm, when it is said, “What ye say in your
hearts, have remorse for even in your
beds”?
260
“And when ye have shut
261
| 261 Claudentes ostia; Vulgate, clauso ostio.
|
the
doors,” says He, “
pray to your
Father who is in
secret.”
262
It is a
small matter to enter into our
bed-
chambers if the
door stand open to the unmannerly, through which the things that are outside profanely
rush in and assail our inner man. Now we have said that outside are all temporal and visible things, which make their way through the
door,
i.e. through the fleshly sense into our thoughts, and clamorously interrupt those who are praying by a
crowd of
vain phantoms. Hence the
door is to be shut,
i.e. the fleshly sense
is to be
resisted, so that
spiritual prayer may be directed to the
Father, which is done in the inmost
heart, where prayer is offered to the
Father which is in
secret. “And your
Father,” says He, “who seeth in
secret, shall
reward you.” And this had to be
wound up with a closing statement of such a
kind; for here at the present stage the admonition is not that we should
pray, but as to how we should
pray. Nor is what goes before an admonition that we should give
alms, but as to the
spirit in which we should do so, inasmuch as He is giving
instructions with regard to the cleansing of the
heart, which nothing cleanses but the undivided and single-
minded striving after
eternal life from the pure
love of
wisdom alone.
12. “But when ye pray,” says He, “do not speak much,263
| 263 Greek, βατταλογεω “Use not vain repetitions,” Revised Version (or stammer). Some derive the word from Battus, king of Cyrene, who stuttered, or from Battus, author of wordy poems. The word is probably only an imitation of the sound of the stammerer (Thayer, Lexicon, who spells βαττολογεω). The Jews were only doing as well as the Gentiles when they placed virtue in the
length of the prayer, and no better. “Who makes his prayer long, shall not return home empty” (Rabbi Chasima, quoted by Hausrath, 73). The Rabbins took up at great length the question how many and what kind of petitions should be offered up at the table spread on different occasions with different viands, whether salutations should be acknowledged in the course of prayer, etc. (see Schürer, pp. 498, 499). Examples of repetitious prayer in Scripture: 1 Kings xviii. 26; Acts xix.
34. The warning is not against frequent prayer (Luke xviii. 1).
|
as the
heathen do; for they think
264
| 264 Arbitrantur; Vulgate, putant.
|
that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” As it is characteristic of the
hypocrites to exhibit themselves to be gazed at when praying, and their fruit is to please men, so it is characteristic of the
heathen,
i.e. of the Gentiles, to think they are heard for their much speaking. And in reality, every
kind of much speaking comes from the Gentiles, who make it their endeavour to
exercise the
tongue rather than to cleanse the
heart. And this
kind of useless
exertion they endeavour to transfer even to the influencing of
God by prayer, supposing that the
Judge, just like man, is brought over by words to a certain way of thinking. “Be not ye, therefore, like unto them,” says the only true Master. “For your
Father knoweth what things are necessary
265
| 265 Vobis necessarium; Vulgate, opus.
|
for you, before ye ask Him.” For if many words are made use of with the intent that one who is ignorant may be
instructed and taught, what need is there of them for Him who knows all things, to whom all things which exist, by the very fact of their existence, speak, and show themselves as having been brought into existence; and those things which are future do not remain concealed from His
knowledge and
wisdom, in which both those things which are past, and those things
which will yet come to pass, are all present and cannot pass away?
13. But since, however few they may be, yet there are words which He Himself also is about to speak, by which He would teach us to pray; it may be asked why even these few words are necessary for Him who knows all things before they take place, and is acquainted, as has been said, with what is necessary for us before we ask Him? Here, in the first place, the answer is, that we ought to urge our case with God, in order to obtain what we wish, not by words, but by the
ideas which we cherish in our mind, and by the direction of our thought, with pure love and sincere desire; but that our Lord has taught us the very ideas in words, that by committing them to memory we may recollect those ideas at the time we pray.
14. But again, it may be asked (whether we are to pray in ideas or in words) what need there is for prayer itself, if God already knows what is necessary for us; unless it be that the very effort involved in prayer calms and purifies our heart, and makes it more capacious for receiving the divine gifts, which are poured into us spiritually.266
| 266 The illustration is frequently used (M. Henry; after him F. W. Robertson), to represent the position of some, that prayer only has an influence on the petitioner, of a boatman in his boat, taking hold of the wharf with his grappling hook. While prayer does not “inform or persuade God,” it is the condition of receiving. The sanctifying influence is secondary and incidental.
|
For it is not on account of the urgency of our prayers that
God hears us, who is always ready to give us His
light, not of a material
kind, but that which is intellectual and
spiritual: but we are not always ready to receive, since we are inclined towards other things, and are involved in
darkness through our desire for temporal things. Hence there is brought about in prayer a turning of the
heart to Him, who is ever ready to give, if we will but take what He has given; and
in the very act of turning there is effected a purging of the inner
eye, inasmuch as those things of a temporal
kind which were desired are excluded, so that the vision of the pure
heart may be able to bear the pure light, divinely shining, without any setting or change: and not only to bear it, but also to remain in it; not merely without annoyance, but also with ineffable joy, in which a life truly and sincerely blessed is perfected.
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