“If the praying of Pharisees was hypocritical and that of pagans mechanical, then the praying of Christian must be real – sincere as opposed to hypocritical, thoughtful as opposed to mechanical. Jesus intends our minds and hearts to be involved in what we are saying. Then prayer is seen in its true light – not as a meaningless repetition of words, nor as a means to our own glorification, but as a true communion with our heavenly Father.”
– John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott
I preached through the Sermon on the Mount two summers ago. I used Carson’s, Doriani’s, and Stott’s books as my main secondary sources. I flipped back through my notes on this section, and I wrote down the exact same quote from Stott’s book. It’s a gem, for sure.