Matthew 6: Praying with Sincerity, Trust, and Consistency

Introduction

When someone says "prayer," what comes to mind? Religion, a form of meditation, someone on their knees with hands folded? This is how Nathan opens the second message in the series "Enter Through the Narrow Gate" at Église Comme à la Maison, a series on Jesus' teaching in the Gospel of Matthew and on what it means to become a disciple.

The month before, Romain had launched the series by reminding everyone that living by the values of Jesus is not easy. Nathan picks up from there: this path is demanding, but it leads to a fully fulfilled life. And this narrow gate "is not made for a spiritual elite." It is made for each of us personally.

Today's subject is a practice that seems very simple: prayer. Starting from Matthew 6:5-15, Nathan draws out three criteria for praying the way Jesus teaches: sincerity, trust, and consistency. Then he shows how the Lord's Prayer brings them together.

Outline of the message

1. Prayer is more than a branch you grab onto

Nathan cites a 2025 international study by the Pew Research Center on prayer and nonbelievers: worldwide, one in four people who say they do not believe in God have already prayed at least once.
For more than half of those surveyed, the trigger is a personal crisis, despair, or a tragedy, that moment when you are no longer in control and the situation is bigger than you.
Even when we believe, we can turn to God only when everything goes wrong, as a last resort, "like a branch you grab onto" while falling from a tree.
Nathan states the problem: even if praying is part of our habits, we can pray without really understanding what prayer is. Hence the question: what does Jesus want to teach us?

2. Praying with sincerity: the inner room, a place of truth

Jesus starts strong: "When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men" (Matthew 6:5). He is aiming at those who consider themselves spiritual, those who could boast of knowing how to pray well.
Prayer is first personal, "in our room," before it becomes communal. It is a place to meet God and a place of truth, because you cannot fool God: he sees hearts. You can pretend at work, at church, sometimes even in your family, and you can fool yourself, but not him.
Why a room? When you wake up alone in your bedroom, you are not trying to be seen or to impress anyone. It is the place where you take off the masks and the facades built to look good in front of others.
Nathan quotes Blaise Pascal: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." He applies it to prayer: our unhappiness often comes from not knowing how to be fully sincere before God.
This secret place is not only a locked room. It can be your family around the table, a café, the metro, your car, your house group, your growth group, or this morning's service, as long as that place leads you to a sincere prayer.

3. A prayer that does not seek performance

Nathan asks himself an honest question: when you pray out loud with others, do you prepare your prayer in your head to impress, to avoid slipping up, so that people will think "Ah, Nathan prays well"? Do you congratulate yourself inwardly after finding the right words?
"Prayer is a place of sincerity, not a place of performance." The gaze of others sometimes ends up counting more than God's gaze, to the point of becoming hypocritical. Nathan admits that this hurts, but that this tendency to want to be appreciated is almost universal.
What matters to Jesus is not your charisma, your loud voice, your eloquence, or the strength of your conviction. It is the humility of your heart and the authenticity of your inner room.
An important nuance: if it is fear of judgment or shyness that keeps you from praying out loud, take this passage as encouragement. If you find your words too weak or poorly chosen, that is exactly what Jesus loves to see in the secret place.
And if you have never prayed, you can already lift that weight off your shoulders: your prayer does not need to be perfect. What pleases God is not the beauty of the form, it is the depth of your heart.

4. Praying with trust: the Father knows what you need

Jesus continues: "In praying, don't use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Therefore don't be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:7-8).
Nathan thinks of children at the store checkout who repeat endlessly: "Mom, Dad, can I have this pack of candy? I'm so hungry!" until the parents give in. He admits he recognizes himself in this, with candy as well as in his prayers.
We sometimes repeat our requests because we do not really trust God. Like the man in an illustration who arrives loaded with worries, lays them at the foot of the cross, prays "Lord, take my worries, thank you," and then walks away with his backpack still full.
God does not grow weary and does not refuse out of spite. Sometimes it is not good for us, sometimes it is not yet the time, and sometimes it is a chance to work on our character and learn to trust him more.
Nathan tells how, around the time of his exams, he hoped to stay in Lyon but did not dare ask for it: he thought that if he only said "your will be done," God would think he was a good disciple and give him what he wanted. He admits it: he thought he could fool God, and you cannot fool God. A friend answered him: "God loves you, and he loves it when you ask him for what you want. He loves trust and truth." That freed him to dare to ask, with the assurance that God knows what is best for him, even if he does not get what he asks for.
Praying means gradually bringing our needs and desires into the light and laying them before God, trusting that he hears us, that he loves us, and that he wants our good.

5. Praying with consistency: the link between forgiveness and prayer

Jesus ends his section on prayer with forgiveness: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).
Nathan sets aside a first reading: "If I am not kind, God will not be kind to me." God is not waiting to catch our first mistake. "God's forgiveness does not depend on my forgiveness." The whole Bible says so, and the cross is its summit.
The passage still stings. Forgiving someone who bumped into you on the street is easy. Forgiving someone who hurt, humiliated, or persecuted you is sometimes nearly impossible for a human heart. The decision to forgive is essential, but it is not enough: it must be accompanied by prayer, asking God for the strength to forgive.
Picture yourself in your secret place, humble and sincere: "Lord, forgive me my faults." But you do not forgive your family, your colleague, or your spouse. Isn't there a dissonance between your words, your actions, and your thoughts?
Jesus wants to free us from the alternatives to forgiveness: resentment, bitterness, revenge. Nathan cites an illustration from the South African bishop who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize: three former American soldiers in front of the Vietnam War memorial. One asks the others whether they have forgiven those who held them prisoner. "No, never." He answers: "Then you are still prisoners."
Consistency goes beyond forgiveness: praying for your own needs but not for those of others, praying to succeed while hoping others fail, being secretly relieved that someone else is suffering too, being unable to rejoice in the joy of others. "An inconsistent prayer is self-centered," and it loses its reality. A consistent prayer is rooted and embodied, and it leads to trust.

6. I can't do it alone: the Lord's Prayer as a model

Nathan admits: "I don't know how to pray like you, Jesus." Praying without hypocrisy, without worry, without contradiction or ego is something he cannot do alone. Good news: if you are not perfect, you are exactly the kind of person Jesus calls to be his disciple.
Jesus knew we could not pray on our own. That is why, in the middle of the passage, he says: "Pray like this" (Matthew 6:9), and he gives the Lord's Prayer.
This model is balanced: three requests turned toward God, to put him at the center ("may your name be kept holy," "Let your Kingdom come," "Let your will be done"), then three requests for our needs and those of others.
These requests echo the three criteria of the message: sincerity when we acknowledge our temptations ("Bring us not into temptation"), trust when we ask for the bread of today, one day at a time ("Give us today our daily bread"), and consistency when we ask for forgiveness "as we also have forgiven our debtors."
Nathan cites the philosopher Simone Weil: this prayer contains every possible request, and no prayer can be imagined that is not already contained in it.
It is not about reciting it word for word: God loves it when you speak from your heart, with words that are sometimes poorly chosen. But when your prayer is dry, goes in circles, or centers on yourself, read the Lord's Prayer every day, one request after another, and notice what touches you. Nathan assures us that your prayer life will diversify and grow.

Key takeaways

Prayer is not a last resort: it is a place to meet God and a place of truth, where you cannot fool the one who sees hearts.
What pleases God is not the beauty of your prayer but the sincerity of your heart. Prayer is a place of sincerity, not of performance.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him: you can entrust your requests to him with trust rather than repeating them with worry.
God's forgiveness does not depend on yours, but prayer and forgiveness go together: you need to pray in order to succeed in forgiving.
The Lord's Prayer brings together sincerity, trust, and consistency. It can feed your prayer when it runs dry.

Personal application

Where is your secret place today, the place where you can be fully sincere before God, without a mask?
When you pray in front of others, are you seeking to meet God or to look good?
What request do you keep repeating with worry, and what could you entrust to your Father with trust this week?
What wound do you bring before God? Is there a person for whom you need to ask God for the strength to forgive?
Can you take up Nathan's challenge: read the Lord's Prayer every day, one request after another, and note what touches you?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does Jesus mean by "enter into your inner room" in Matthew 6:6?

For Nathan, the inner room is first of all a place of truth, where you take off your masks before God. This secret place can be your bedroom with the door closed, but also your family table, your car, the metro, your house group, or the worship service, as long as your prayer stays sincere there.

Do you have to repeat your requests to God to be heard?

Jesus says the Gentiles think they will be heard for their much speaking, while the Father knows what you need before you ask him. Nathan does not invite us to stop asking: God loves it when you entrust your needs to him, but with trust rather than worry.

Why does Jesus talk about forgiveness right after prayer?

According to Nathan, forgiveness and prayer go together. Asking God to forgive your faults while holding bitterness against someone creates an inconsistency. God's forgiveness does not depend on yours, but you need prayer to find the strength to forgive.