Day 3: January 8
Make room for Private Prayer
READ
Matthew 6:6-8: 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.
8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.
EXAMINE
In Jesus’ day it was common practice for the religious leaders to make a show of praying. They would stand in the synagogues or in the streets and pray in public merely to be seen by people. Jesus refers to these people as hypocrites. The word ‘hypocrite’ comes from the Greek word which means ‘actor’. These people were merely acting – putting on a show. Instead, Jesus tells his disciples to pray in private where they cannot be seen. Why? Because the Father sees in secret. He is omnipresent – present everywhere always! But even more than that, Jesus says that the Father will reward the private prayer of his people.
APPLY
Private prayer is difficult because it often seems meaningless. You’ve experienced this before… you finally set aside some time to pray, but after a few minutes you wonder if your prayers are really accomplishing anything. In those moments, you must believe in faith that God sees and hears you in your private prayers. You don’t need to put on a show for Him to hear you. Not only that, God actually rewards private prayer! This doesn’t mean that He answers all private prayers exactly how we want. It means that the Father is pleased with you when you pray to be heard by only Him. This doesn’t mean that it is always wrong to pray out loud, nor is it wrong to pray publicly. What it means is that Jesus’ primary concern is with your heart. Are you praying to be heard by people, or are you praying to be heard by your Heavenly Father?
PRAY
Spend some time reflecting on your own experience in prayer. Why is it that you don’t pray as often as you wish you did? Is it because deep down you don’t think you’re being heard? Ask God to increase your faith in believing that God sees and rewards you when you pray.
