Closet Prayer Matthew 6:6

Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples, “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”, and he continued, “take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.” Jesus added, “And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward”, and in chapter six and verse six of his book, Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples, “when you pray, enter into your closet” where we read:

But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.

The verse reads, “But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret;” Matthew began with the words, “but you” which means “moreover disciples” “when” or “at the time and moment” “you pray” which means “the disciples supplicate, worship and make prayers”, “enter” or “arise and go” “into your closet” or “in the disciples' storage chamber, storeroom, inner chamber or secret room”, “and when” which means “and at the time and moment” “you have shut your door” or “the disciples have closed and obstructed the door of the closet” “pray” which means “supplicate, worship and make prayers” “to your Father” which refers to “toward the disciples' generator and originator who is God” “which is in secret” or “who is hidden, concealed and private”. Jesus instructed His disciples to go in a “hidden way” to their “inner chamber and close the door”. From there they were to “supplicate, worship and make prayers” to God.

The verse continues, “and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” Matthew added the words, “and your Father” which means “and the disciples' generator and originator who is God” “which sees” or “who discerns, perceives and discovers with the eyes” “in secret” which means “within the hidden, concealed and private place” “shall reward you” or “will hold, receive and give the disciples their own wages, tribute and recompense” “openly” which means “in an apparent, manifest, evident and known way”. Jesus shared how God who would “see” the disciples' “prayers in secret” would “recompense” them in an “apparent and evident” way.

When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we understand Jesus' instruction for the way His followers are to “pray”. Rather than making a public show of “praying”, Jesus' disciples were to go into their “prayer closets” and make their “supplications, worship and prayers” to God. God desires an intimate relationship with every person who will yield their lives unto His Son Jesus, and when they do, the “secret” time of “devotion and prayer” shall be “openly rewarded” by Him.

Next time Jesus tells His disciples, “when you pray, use not vain repetitions”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.