Lord, teach us to pray (VI)
Posted By admin1 on February 3, 2009
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (St. Matthew 6:6).
Jesus here teaches about the right place and the right way to pray. Our secret closet means we are physically and mentally separating ourselves from the world and its commotions. We are in position to give all our attention to God and to hear from him. If we linger in the secret closet, we will “behold the beauty of the Lord and will inquire in his temple” (Psalms 27:4).
Public prayer sometimes may tempt us to be hypocrites in several ways. In his desire to appear holy and righteous before the Publican, the Pharisee was boastful and proud, and looked down on the Publican. His public display and self righteous attitude hindered the Pharisee to look at himself and at his sins (St. Luke 18:10-14).
The secret closet, gives us the opportunity to behold ourselves in the mirror (James 1:23), and to “look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). The public may tempt us to compare ourselves with others like us or those in our judgment who are worse than us, and thus lead us to conclude incorrectly that we are better.
The secret closet also is a safe place where we can run therein for refuge and find safety (Proverbs 18:10). It is a safe place to confess our sins without being judged, it is a safe place to make known our petitions to God and entreat him for our desires.
In the secret place we will know that the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm23) and will recognize his voice (St. John 10:27). Once we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, we shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalms 91:1).
Don’t have time to pray? Create quality time before retiring to bed or first thing in the morning. Dedicate a special place in your house where you still away and spend time in prayer. Did you notice that Jesus prayed the longest whilst alone than in public? (St. Matthew 26:36-44). Let us go to the secret closet with the faith that our Father which seeth in secret shall reward us openly” (St. Matthew 6:6).
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