Smoodock's Blog

I suppose one could read the phrase: “After this manner, therefore, pray…” to point to what Jesus tells his disciples to do in the following verses, namely, pray what we call The Lord’s Prayer. Thus, the phrase should follow the example we find in Luke: “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father…’” (Luke 11:2). However, after some consideration, and without doubting that The Lord’s Prayer is, indeed, a model prayer, I believe the phrase: “After this manner, therefore, pray…”  should point to what Jesus said to his disciples immediately prior to mentioning the phrase, namely, what the Lord taught his disciples in Matthew 6:1-8!

The Greek word translated: “After this manner…” is houtos (G3779), and is translated elsewhere simply as “so” (174 times), “thus” (17 times) among other English words,[1] but it is translated after this (or that) manner only four times (Matthew 6:9; 1Corinthians 7:7 [twice] and 1Peter 3:5). Therefore, if the translators rendered G3779 to “so” in the English at Matthew 6:9, it would read: “So, therefore pray…”

“So” what? To find out what “so” means, one would have to read what came before Jesus said “So…” Isn’t that correct? Even the word: “therefore” points to what was said prior to its use in a sentence. What’s the point in all this? Am I merely interested in semantics? Actually, what I believe Jesus is doing is emphasizing that what follows works only in the wake of what comes before. In other words, Jesus is emphasizing the fact that for prayer to be prayer at all, one needs to be in the Presence of God, and to do that one needs to be desirous of God’s will, not our own. The Model Prayer, vis-à-vis the Lord’s Prayer, is effective only, if one has entered the Presence of the one with whom he appears to be in a discussion.

Therefore, in order for Jesus’ model prayer to be effective, when his disciples prayed, he warned them to beware of doing good for the sake of pleasing men. They were not to consider their own reputations or to dwell on what other men thought of them. To put any value upon the opinions of a fool is to dishonor God, and one cannot dwell in the Presence of God, if one kowtows to the desires of a fool. Jesus was often tempted to submit to the desires of the scribes and Pharisees who sought a sign from him. He showed them many signs, which was the voice of God in the works of Jesus. To bow to their demand for a sign, according to their specifications, would be to deny God had worked miracles through Jesus already. The signs/miracles Jesus had already done was enough for folks to believe. The fact that the scribes and Pharisees (fools) demanded more, and according to their specifications, vis-à-vis according to Matthew 4:3, 5-6, 8-9, showed they simply refused to believe the words (acts) of God. Therefore, they couldn’t come into his Presence, because they didn’t believe him. So, if Jesus’ disciples placed any value on the Pharisees’ opinions or the opinions of folks like them, how could they enter the Presence of God (Genesis 3:22-24), for in doing so, they would value disbelief? To not believe God is embracing one’s own truth (Genesis 3:1-6) over the real truth, which only God knows in its entirety (Genesis 2:17; cp. 1Corinthians 13:9).

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[1] Houtos (G3779) is often used with respect to what had already occurred. For example: the birth of Jesus occurred with a view of what went on prior to his birth, namely that when Mary was engaged to Joseph, and prior to having sexual intercourse, she was found to be pregnant, and her pregnancy was due to the work or power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). Another would be: the only sign Jesus would give to prove he was the Messiah would be the sign of the prophet, Jonah, for just as he was in the belly of a huge fish, “so” (G3779) Jesus would be in the grave for three days and three nights. More could be added, but these two examples should suffice.