Praying in Secret

Chuckle: "Two times a week, my wife and I go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food and companionship. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays." --Red Skelton

Quote: "Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?" --Corrie Ten Boom

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen of men. . . . But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father. . . Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6 NIV).

Here, in His "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus makes a basic assumption that His followers would pray. Notice, He said "when" you pray, not "if" you pray. Jesus was telling us that prayer should be a natural part of being a Christian.

Jesus gives us some basic instructions on how we should pray to make our prayers acceptable to the Father. He warns us of the danger of being a hypocrite when it comes to prayer. Hypocrites appear to be something they aren't. They are play acting. They are wearing a mask. Perhaps they appear to be something on Sunday that differs from what they are during the week. Jesus says they are more interested in men hearing their prayers than God -- thus drawing attention to themselves instead of the Father.

Jesus' teaching here, reminds me of an ice berg analogy. Approximately 10 percent of an iceberg is visible above the water, and 90 percent cannot be seen because it's below the water line. This is how our spiritual lives should be. We should spend 90 percent of our prayer time out of the sight of others, never drawing attention to ourselves. The 10 percent of our spiritual lives that people see should be the result of the 90 percent that only God sees as we fellowship with Him.

We can glean some basic truths from being genuine in our prayers and Christian living: (1) It gives credibility to our witness -- we are believable because we're real and genuine. (2) Praying in secret results in the rewards of having God hear and answer our prayers. This is because we will pray in the will of God -- not for our will to be done.

Secret Bible study and prayer will help us experience the joy of God's presence in our lives because our relationship and fellowship with Him is our primary goal -- not to impress those around us with our piety. This passage does not prohibit public prayers, but deals with the attitude of the heart when we pray. Upon whose ears do we want our prayers to fall?

"Little of the Word with little prayer is death to the spiritual life. Much of the Word with little prayer gives a sickly life. Much prayer with little of the Word gives emotional life. But a full measure of both the Word and prayer each day gives a healthy and powerful life." --Andrew Murray

Love, Jerry & Dotse