In Secret, In Private, & In Quiet

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.”
Matt. 6:5

     Prayer is a vital and constant condition of the truly spiritual life. Christ lets us know three major points of contention when it comes to prayer.  Those three are the choice of an improper place to pray, the use of vain repetition and using long wordy monologue in prayer.    

   

   What would the wrong place? A street corner (Matt. 6:5). Now how many times do we pray on street corners, really? The point of this statement is praying in a location where you will be seen or heard by a multitude.  Yes public prayers are ok, unless they are for vain reasons. Prayer can be offered anywhere. A public prayer is not wrong in certain settings. Praying with a group, congregation, etc. is acceptable (Acts 20:36). Note: these places still allow everyone to be reverent, quiet and unbothered.  However there are some places that don’t fit the purpose of prayer. A place or occasion that would invite public scorn or contempt for religion is not a good idea. To stand up in a place and offer a boisterous prayer to gain favor of men, to draw their attention, and or to just been seen by men is not the proper place. Now can you pray in a large crowd with someone? Yes, so long as you two are praying and not seeking to gain attention. Some situations would lend themselves to be acceptable and others not. It’s not hard to discern whether or not you are in a “street corner” like atmosphere. Even then the question I would pose is, “Would it not be better to offer such prayers in a quiet place like a home or quite park?”   You need to be able to maintain reverence in prayer.

     The place that is for sure acceptable is a secret, private and quiet one (Matt. 6:6). A secret place is a place where you won’t be disturbed.  A place that is yours and secluded, like maybe your bedroom. We are to be in location where we can shut the door, be alone, and not be disturbed. Such a place allows us to focus on our prayer and offer an acceptable prayer. One point to make here is asking for forgiveness. There are many sins that many of us would like to keep between us and God yet we still need to ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9). The only place that would allow us to be open, true and ask forgiveness is a secret, private, and quiet one.

    The third concept to hold on to is from Matt. 6:7- the vain repetition. What a way to misuse prayer. The Greeks were accustomed to this repetitive style.  The uses of water wheels, wind chimes, endless chanting over and over of proscribed words are the old and widely observed characteristics of pagan prayers. They still continue today. Around 1960, Life magazine printed many samples of such prescribed prayers in their article “Far East.” So it’s easy to see what Christ was telling us not to do! I wonder if the Rosary would be something that Christ would want us to do? When you consider this passage it would be hard see how a follower of Christ could partake in such a thing.

    We can rest assured the early church prayed (Acts 2:42). They prayed the same day they were immersed into Christ. Not just one but continued steadfastly in it.  It’s a blessing we have in Christ.  We see the early church pray and once again there is a connection to growth in Acts 1:14 and Acts 2:42. Then again we see Acts 6:4 and Acts 6:7 this praying and growing of the early church.  God hears the prayers of the righteous (Pr. 15:29). 

    Christ commands us to pray in private (Matt. 6:6).  We see in Acts 20:36 Paul make a public prayer with other believers.  We have to do it. If we don’t we are missing a major part of our walk (1 John 2:6). There is a right way and a wrong way to pray. 

  Are you praying regularly?

Are you praying in the right way?

What time can you set aside to pray?

Where do you go to pray?

What do you need to change about your prayer life?

Is the body that you assemble with praying?

Are they praying right?