02 - LORD'S PRAYER - Jesus Taught Us How to Prayනියැදිය

04 – Pray with Sincerity

In these reflections, we are looking at Jesus’ teaching on prayer. In response to a disciple who asked Him (according Luke 11:1), Jesus not only gave the words of the Lord’s Prayer but also described the attitudes needed for true communication with the Father.

The first of these is sincerity. Jesus said, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.” In other words, don’t put on a false front before God. We can’t fool Him—He knows the deepest places of our souls. Hypocrisy simply doesn’t work in God’s presence.

A hypocrite is someone who wears a mask, pretending to be something they’re not in order to impress others. By contrast, a sincere person comes as they truly are—open, genuine, and without disguise.

Interestingly, the word sincere comes from the Latin phrase sine cera—“without wax.” In ancient times, sculptors who made mistakes would sometimes hide flaws in their work with wax. A statue “without wax” was considered authentic, whole, and therefore of greater worth.

Proverbs gives us the opposite picture of sincerity:

Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent "lips with an evil heart. Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts. (Proverbs 26:23–25 -NVI)

Sincerity of heart, then, is essential when we approach God in prayer. To pray with integrity is to come before Him without masks—just as we are.