Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.
Parallel translations
- KJV Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
- BSB Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you 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 seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
- Luke 12:30For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things.
- Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- John 16:23–27“In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
- Ps 38:9Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
- Ps 69:17–19Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.