ACC ~ Matthew 6 v5 - 8

OVERVIEW:

When you pray, set aside all turmoil, as if you were being joined by choirs of angels and singing with the seraphim (CHRYSOSTOM). As soon as sincere prayer issues from the mouth, the angels take it up in their hands and bring it before God (ANONYMOUS). One who is earnestly offering a supplication looks exclusively to the One who has the power to grant the request, letting all other claims recede (CHRYSOSTOM). The hypocrites’ reward comes from those from whom they most desire to receive it (CHRYSOSTOM).They sell an empty form of religion, and they buy an empty word of praise (ANONYMOUS). It is not to human beings that they are praying but to God, who is present everywhere, who hears even before they speak and who knows already the secrets of the heart (CHRYSOSTOM). Anna, Daniel, Cornelius and Jonah are biblical prototypes of those who fulfilled the precepts of this Gospel teaching, who prayed in secret and were heard by the Lord (CHROMATIUS). The soul enters the interior center of the self when it prays. It thinks of nothing except for what it prays and to whom it prays, closing the doorway of its bodily senses, so that it may shut outside all external thoughts and cares (ANONYMOUS). We pray not to inform God or instruct God but to ask earnestly, to become intimate with God, to be humbled and reminded of our sins (CHRYSOSTOM). Pagan priests spend a long time summoning something that has no ears to hear (ANONYMOUS). We are called and invited to be honest before God about our actual, urgent needs (CHRYSOSTOM). The contrite publican, asking forgiveness for his sins, came away more justified than the wordy, self-elevating Pharisee (CHROMATIUS). We do not pray to demand from God what we want but that it may please him to bestow what we need (ANONYMOUS).

6:5 | When You Pray

PRAY WITH THE ANGELS

CHRYSOSTOM: When you pray, it is as if you were entering into a palace—not a palace on earth, but far more awesome, a palace in heaven. When you enter there, you do so with complete attentiveness and fitting respect. For in the houses of kings all turmoil is set aside, and silence reigns. Yet here you are being joined by choirs of angels. You are in communion with archangels and singing with the seraphim, who sing with great awe their spiritual hymns and sacred songs to God, the Lord of all. So when you are praying, mingle with these voices, patterning yourself according to their mystical order. It is not to human beings that you are praying but to God, who is present everywhere, who hears even before you speak and who knows already the secrets of the heart. If you pray to this One, you shall receive a great reward. “For your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.” He did not merely say he would give it to you but reward you, as if he himself had made a pledge to you and so honored you with a great honor. Because God himself is hidden, your prayer should be hidden. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 19.3. [1]

[1] PG 57:277; NPNF 1 10:133**. The fitting approach to prayer is awe in the presence of God.

DEPARTING WITH EMPTY HANDS

CHRYSOSTOM: While pretending to pray to God, the hypocrites are looking around for human praise. The elaborate garb they wear is laughable, and hardly that of a sincere supplicant. One who is earnestly offering a supplication looks exclusively to the One who has the power to grant the request and lets all other claims recede. But if you leave behind the one you are petitioning and immediately go wandering about looking everywhere for others’ approval, you will depart with empty hands. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 19.2. [1]

[1] PG 57:276; NPNF 1 10:132**. The reward of hypocrites comes from those from whom they most want to receive it: not God but human auditors.

OPEN THE STOREHOUSE OF PRAYER

ANONYMOUS: Our talk is about prayer, which alone the soul offers to God from its depths. It is a kind of spiritual wealth. All acts of justice which a person does, that person does according to his capability and brings them forth from the store of his capacity. Prayer alone he speaks according to his faith and brings forth from the store of his faith. Do you want to know how precious prayer is? No act of outward justice is compared with incense: only prayer is. As is shown in the Revelation of John, the great angel proceeds before the visage of the altar, holding in his hand a censer of the fragrances of incense, and it is said to him, “These are the prayers of the holy ones.” [1] Just as well-blended incense delights the worshipful person, so the prayer of the just person is sweet before God. Do you wish to know its dignity? As soon as it issues from the mouth, the angels take it up in their hands and bring it before God, just as the archangel said to Tobias: “I am he who has brought your prayer before God.” [2] INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13. [3]

[1] Rev 8:3; 5:8.

[2] Tob 12:12.

[3] PG 56:708-9.

THE HYPOCRITES HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARD

CHRYSOSTOM: Your inner will cannot be hid. This is why Jesus did not say, “They shall not receive a reward” but “They have received their reward”—already! Their reward comes from those from whom they themselves most desire to get it. God does not desire this. For God preferred to bestow upon humanity the grace that comes only from himself. Those who seek their reward from people cannot receive another reward from the One for whom they have sought nothing. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 19.2. [1]

[1] PG 57:276; NPNF 1 10:132**.

SELLING AND BUYING

ANONYMOUS: Wherever each one sows his seed, there he reaps; and what he sows, that too he reaps. The hypocrites pray on account of others, not on account of God. Thus they are praised by others, not God. Deceitfully they pray, and even then they are not really praying. Deceitfully they are praised, though they are not really praiseworthy. They sell an empty form of religion, and they buy an empty word of praise. Just as the prayer of these people does not please God, neither does the praise of others adorn them. For what is placed in a word lasts as long as the word is spoken; when the word has ended, the benefit that was placed in the word also has ended. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13. [1]

[1] PG 56:709.

6:6 | Where You Pray

THE BEDROOM OF OUR HEARTS

HILARY: We are asked to pray with the bedroom door closed, as it were, and we are taught to pour out our prayer in every place. The saints’ prayers were undertaken in the presence of wild animals, in prisons, in flames, from the depths of the sea and the belly of the beast. Hence we are admonished not to enter the recesses of our homes but the bedroom of our hearts. With the office of our minds closed, we pray to God not with many words but with our conscience, for every act is superior to the words of speakers. ON MATTHEW 5.1. [1]

[1] SC 254:150.

ENTERING THE INNER CHAMBER

AUGUSTINE: Enter into your inner chamber. Do not let the door stand open to the boisterous, through whom the things that are outside profanely rush in and assail the inner self. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.3.11. [1]

[1] PL 34:1274; NPNF 1 6:37**; ACW 5:101. The door to external temporal and physical attractions must be shut so that full attentiveness can be given to God, by cleansing the inmost heart.

CLEANSING THE HEART

AUGUSTINE: Outside the inner chamber are all things in time and space, which knock on the door. Through our bodily senses they clamor to interrupt our prayer, so that prayer is invaded with a crowd of vain phantoms. This is why you must shut the door. The senses of the body are resisted, that the spirit of prayer may be directed to the Father. This occurs in the inmost heart, where prayer is offered to the Father in secret. There “your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” This is a fitting conclusion to good counsel, not merely calling us to pray but also showing us how, not merely calling us to give alms but also showing the right spirit for doing so. The instruction is to cleanse the heart. Nothing cleanses the heart but the undivided and single-minded striving after eternal life from the pure love of wisdom alone. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.3.11. [1]

[1] PL 34:1274; NPNF 1 6:37**; ACW 5:101.

SHUTTING OUT ALL EXTERNAL CARES

ANONYMOUS: These things are better understood in a spiritual sense, as spoken about the soul. “Room” is the heart, or the inner, that is, spiritual intellect. It has been written, “That which you say in your hearts, also grieve for in private.” [1] The doorway is the exterior, bodily sense through which all things, good and bad, enter upon the soul. So also in the Canticle, Wisdom speaks in the person of the church: “Lo, my beloved knocks at the door, ‘Open to me, my sister, my dearest.’” [2] Christ too knocks at the door of the Christian, entering the heart either through the divine Scriptures or good thoughts. The one who receives them opens oneself to Christ. The one who sends them away shuts the door. For this reason Jesus orders that the soul enter the inward understanding when it prays, so that it thinks of nothing except for what it prays and to whom it prays. Thus it closes the doorway of its bodily sense, so that it may shut outside all external thoughts and cares. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13. [3]

[1] Ps 4:4 .

[2] Song 5:2.

[3] PG 56:709-10.

EXAMPLES OF PRAYING IN SECRET

CHROMATIUS: We find in the books of Kings that very holy woman Hannah fulfilling the precepts of this Gospel teaching. For while praying without uttering a sound, in her heart and in the sight of God, she poured out her desire in her prayers. She was immediately found worthy to be heard by the Lord. [1] In the same way the Lord granted to Daniel, who always prayed in secret with three servants, to understand the interpretations of his dream and the secrets of revelation. [2] Cornelius too, not yet instructed in the precepts of the gospel, prayed secretly and faithfully in his room and was found worthy to hear the voice of the angel speaking. [3] What should we say of Jonah, who, not only in his room but trapped in the stomach of the whale, deserved so greatly to be heard through his prayers that from the depths of the sea and from the belly of so great a beast he escaped unharmed and alive? [4] TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 27.1.4-5. [5]

[1] 1 Sam 1:13-17.

[2] Dan 1:17.

[3] Acts 10:1-4.

[4] Jon 2:1-11.

[5] CCL 9a:325-26.

6:7 | No Empty Phrases

AVOID AN ABUNDANCE OF WORDS

CHROMATIUS: Nonbelievers think that they can more easily obtain from the Lord what they require by using many words, but the Lord does not expect this from us. Rather, he wants us to send up our prayers not with wordy speech but with faith that comes from the heart. By doing so we command the merits of justice to him. He surely knows better all the things of which we have need and before we speak is aware of everything that we are going to request. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 27.2.1-2. [1]

[1] CCL 9a:326.

PAGAN PRIESTS SUMMON IDOLS THAT CANNOT HEAR

ANONYMOUS: Let us note carefully the gods to whom the pagans pray, that we may understand how not to pray. They pray to demons, who may hear but are not able to heed. They are not even able to supply evil things, unless God permits it. They pray to dead kings, Jove, Mercury, and others, whose crimes are more manifest than their names. They were not able to help, even while they lived. They pray to insensate idols, who are not able to hear nor to give responses. Understandably then their priests spend a long time summoning where there is no one to hear. When the priests of Baal called on their gods through immolated sacrifices, Elijah said in mockery, “Shout, shout strongly: perhaps your gods are sleeping.” [1] In the same way the person who prolongs his prayer with a lot of talk rails at God, as if he were sleeping. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13. [2]

[1] 1 Kings 18:27.

[2] PG 56:710.

HOW TO PRAY

CHRYSOSTOM: By the example of the importunate widow who prevailed with the pitiless and cruel ruler by persevering in her requests, [1] we are shown how to pray. We hear the insistent voice of the friend who came late at night and roused the sleeper from his bed, [2] not for friendship’s sake but out of his urgent need. By these examples Jesus called us continually to make earnest supplication to the Father. He did not ask us to compose a prayer of ten thousand phrases and so come to him and merely repeat it. He warned against those who “think that they shall be heard for their loquacity.” “For your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” But if he already knows what we need, why do we pray? Not to inform God or instruct him but to beseech him closely, to be made intimate with him, by continuance in supplication; to be humbled; to be reminded of our sins. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 19.4. [3]

[1] Lk 18:1-8.

[2] Lk 11:5.

[3] PG 57:278; NPNF 1 10:133**. We are called and invited to be honest before God about our actual, urgent needs, so as to bring us into intimate communion with God.

THE WORDY AND THE SIMPLE PRAYER

CHROMATIUS: We have an example of just how great a distance there is between the wordy and the humble and simple prayer in the story of the Pharisee and the publican. The prayer of the Pharisee vaunting himself in his abundance of words was rejected. The humble and contrite publican, on the other hand, asking forgiveness for his sins, came away more justified than the self-boasting Pharisee. In this we find fulfilled what was written: “The prayer of the humble penetrates the clouds,” [1] reaching God who is ready to hear the request of the one who prays. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 27.2.3. [2]

[1] Sir 35:21.

[2] CCL 9a:326-27.

6:8 | Your Father Knows Your Needs

BEFORE YOU ASK

ANONYMOUS: Your Father knows what is necessary for you before you ask him. If he knows what we want ahead of time, then we do not pray to demand from God what we want but that it may please him to bestow what we need. God is to be conciliated, not taught; a long prayer is not needful for him but a genuine spirit. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 13. [1]

[1] PG 56:710-11.