Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
- KJV Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
- NKJV “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
- NASB So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
- NLT Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Don't pray like the pagans, because your Father already knows your needs before you ask. We pray to trust and commune with God, not to inform him.
Overview
Jesus grounds confident prayer in the Father's perfect knowledge and care: he knows our needs before we voice them. This does not make prayer pointless but reframes it as the expression of dependence and relationship rather than a means of overcoming God's ignorance or reluctance. The fatherly love revealed here is the foundation for the model prayer Jesus is about to give.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Matt 6:32For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
- Luke 12:30For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
- Phil 4:6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- John 16:23–27In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
- Ps 38:9O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You.
- Ps 69:17–19Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me quickly!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 6:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.