ALONE WITH GOD
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6, NLT)
In Jesus’ first teaching to His disciples, He tells them they must all find a secret place where they can go and pray. Every one of us needs a solitary place where we can be alone with our God. Every teacher needs a classroom. Where is that room where Jesus can teach you about prayer? Where is that place that you can go and worship the Father and receive from Holy Spirit?
Jesus has already taught us that God can be worshipped anywhere that we are. Yet He is also saying here that we need a fixed spot where we can meet daily with Him. That spot may be anywhere, and it may change from week to week, but we all need a place where the Master can teach us to pray.
Jesus tells us to pray to the Father “who is in secret.” God is found in the secret place. We can hear His voice best in a quiet place. God is in the storms of our lives. God is in the thunder and the rain that we experience. But like Elijah, we can't hear God's voice in all of that noise. It is only when we get away, to a place where we can listen closely and intently, that we can hear the gentle whisper of God's Spirit. The Father is in secret and if we seek Him in the secret place, there we will hear His gentle whisper and find all the grace, all the beauty, all the joy, all the peace, that we will ever need from day to day.
“Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” We can know that our secret and secluded time of prayer will not be fruitless. Its blessing will show itself in our life. When we come to God in secret and humble ourselves before Him in prayer, He will reward us openly. He will see to it that the answer to our prayer will be made known and bless us.
The Bible says that God is a “rewarder of those who seek Him.” And when you come to Father God in the privacy of your own prayer life, when you go there and stay there and abide with Him, and you trust Him for His promises and depend on Him, He will reward you openly.
What's more, Jesus says in verse 8, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." And this doesn't mean that we no longer need to bother with prayer, because Jesus is encouraging us to pray here. But it means that we can go into prayer, knowing that we have a Heavenly Father who is not disconnected from our lives. He knows everything that you are going through! He knows every dream that is on your heart! He knows the depth of every pain and every burden that you are experiencing! And this encourages us to pray and seek Him. The One who already knows what we need.
The Idea that the Father already knows what we need can give us peace in prayer. We don't have to shout - although you can if you want to. We don't have to declare - although you can if you want to. We don't have to go to great lengths to describe the depth of our need - although you can if you want to. The fact that God knows what we need means that sometimes we can simply just sit there, in His presence, soaking in His Spirit. And when we don't have the right words, we can simply say, "Father, you know what I need. I'm trusting this with You."
What is God saying to me today?
My Prayer List:
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Personal Prayer:
Father God, thank you for the “private place” of prayer. Help me to find that quiet place and seek You in it. Father, strengthen my faith today so I can understand that You are the Rewarder of those who seek You. Help me to know that I can stand in faith today, knowing that as I seek You in private, You will answer openly and plainly. Thank you that You already know what I need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.