In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us this insight about prayer.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think 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 6:7-8 (NIV)

In some versions, instead of “babbling like pagans,” we have “vain repetitions,” but what did Jesus mean? Did he mean we should keep our prayers short and sweet? In verses 9-13, Jesus tells us how to pray. Should we always pray, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:9-13?

To understand what Jesus meant, we should first examine the context of Matthew 6 so far. Indeed, Matthew 6:1 frames the context up to verse 19, when Jesus starts talking about our treasures.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 6:1 (NIV)

Most of what Jesus talks about from Matthew 6:2-18 centers around the concept of doing things to be seen by others. In those days, the religious rulers ensured everyone saw them serving God to demonstrate their righteousness. Therefore, when Jesus says not to do something in these verses, the root behind whatever that thing is is exalting oneself.

Therefore, when we get to prayer, Matthew 6:1 is also the foundation for understanding this verse. Don’t pray to be seen (verse 5), and don’t pray empty rote mechanical prayers (verses 7-8). In 1 Kings 18, we see an example of the type of prayers Jesus might refer to.

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

1 Kings 18:25-29 (NIV)

Because God knows what we need before we need it, we don’t need to keep going on about it. This doesn’t mean we cannot pray for the same things. After all, Jesus tells us to be diligent in prayer (Luke 18:1). Instead, our prayers should come from the heart. Consider Isaiah 29:13.

The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)

Therefore, when we pray, we shouldn’t believe we need to follow some particular formula to get our way and that God will only hear us if we pray a certain way. Instead, we should keep prayer as God intended: it is a means for us to converse with our heavenly Father.