When You Pray: Matthew 6:5-15

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

The hypocrites—literally "actors"—loved visible prayer. Street corners at prayer time, synagogue platforms, anywhere with an audience. They got what they wanted: human admiration. But that was all they got.

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

The closet. The inner room. Privacy, not performance. The Father who sees in secret is the audience that matters.