When Jesus began to speak in chapter 6, He began by discussing acts of charity (6:1-4). He said people who do charity just so others would see them have NO REWARD from God. He went on to teach about prayer after that and continued in a similar vein. He said:
“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.” Matthew 6:6 (KJV)
When I examined Matthew 6:6 in the context of the Greek text, the Holy Spirit gave me an awesome revelation.
Jesus was telling us that our attitude in prayer determines the results we receive when we pray. He said hypocrites pray so that they may be seen and they have their reward, that is, the fruit that comes naturally from toils and endeavors, for these types of prayers.
However, He said when we pray to God we are to find a very private place like a storeroom, an inner chamber or a secret room. We are to go into it and shut up the door so that the room is inaccessible, then pray to God our Father who is hidden or concealed.
Jesus also said when we pray in this manner our Heavenly Father sees our prayer, which is also hidden and concealed, and gives us plainly recognizable things originating from Himself. He rewards us like this simply because He said He would.
Even though Jesus did not need to verify the truth of His teaching, He did so when He said:
"...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." Matthew 6:8b (KJV)
Our heavenly Father knows everything about us, knows all our needs and wants, and knows what we intend to ask for, long before we even think about asking. He simply wants our attitude of prayer to be according to His Word in Matthew 6:6 and He will give us of Himself and let everyone know. How awesome is that?
Praise Him now! HalleluJah!
This post is linked to: PRAYER IS LIKE BREATHING.
4 comments:
. What a blessed word, my brother!
I believe that prayer is the same as repsirar. If I do not pray as if it had not alive. I need to be in the secret of my being there always and I am always in prayer. It's like living examtamente, me and God, God and me, without being separated. We are connected as repsiração is connected to my phone repsiratório. You can not shut down what God is intimately ligado.Glória!
Glad to hear the voice of God this morning and he used this post to tell me about it.
God bless his heart filling his word always.
His sister Brazil.!
Peace!
God bless you sister Denise. God knows our needs and reaches out to us deep into our souls when we need Him the most. We all need God all the time. Thank you for your comment. Continue to trust Him always. Peace!
I've always had strong views about the loud shouts and prayers in some churches and I find solace in your words Sheldon. Does this mean that God does not hear amongst the noise in these congregations though?
Catherine,
Thank you for your comment and your question. I don't believe it means that God does not hear through the noise. :) God is Almighty, all powerful, and has no limitations except that he cannot sin. God listens to everything.
The vital thing in prayer is that it must be sincere, without pretense, and not done for show.
I don't know the shouter's heart so I cannot say if the shouter is sincere. Only God knows. If the shouter is sincere, and is not shouting so that man can see him and hear his many words, then I believe God will hear the shouter.
There are many different types of prayers. This one is standard secret prayer. I have posted on Holy Spirit secret prayer, the ceaseless prayer, and prayer is like breathing. Please look for upcoming posts like public prayer, sober praying and watching, all-inclusive prayers, the midnight prayer, intercessory prayer and praying in the spirit. This list is not exhaustive.
We have examples of public prayers in scripture such as the prayer of King Solomon to God before the people of Israel (1 Kings 8:22-23). The scripture also says that Solomon blessed the people with a loud voice (v. 55).
It may be that the 'noise' in some churches today is different from the 'noise' in Biblical times. There is a prayer in Acts 4:24 where the disciples all prayed with raised voice in one accord. This Greek word translated 'voice' is also translated sound (1 Cor. 14:8) and noise (Rev. 6:1). You can see the correlation by the context.
I hope your question was answered. Feel free to ask any other biblical question you want either by sending me an email or by commenting on a post about the same subject as the question.
God bless you.
SM
Post a Comment