Jesus continues on with the hypocrisy by talking about prayer. He says that you shouldn’t pray in public so that everyone can be impressed with your prayer. Instead, when you pray, you should do so in your closed room where you’re alone. Also, you shouldn’t babble to impress others with your eloquent words because God already knows what you need.
Jesus then gives an example prayer:
“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Matthew 6:9-13
Then Jesus wraps up this section by explaining that if we want forgiven by God…we must be willing to forgive others. This to me is one of the scariest verses in scripture.
So what does all of this mean? Jesus is saying we should pray to speak to God…not to be seen by others. Also, we should lift up His name, ask for what we need, and seek protection from the evil one. But then Jesus throws something is that goes hand in hand with what He has been teaching on leading up to this.We must be willing to forgive because we love. If we can’t forgive, we will not be forgiven. Let that sink in a moment…God will not forgive you if you’re not willing to forgive another…NO EXCEPTIONS. Take your prayer time seriously…pray with purpose. And go into your time of prayer having loved…so that you can experience forgiveness.
A Journey With Jesus 