Daily Devotional For Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Yes, Terrific Tuesday is back again. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. Currently, we are in Matthew 6:5-8:
“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (6) But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (7) “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. (8) So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (NASB).
In no way is Jesus condemning public prayer. He is condemning how we pray in public. Just a few verses later Jesus prayed publicly in teaching us what we call The Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus was about to do the miracle of what is called “the feeding of the 5,000,” He prayed publicly over the fish and the bread in Matthew 14:19, “Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (NASB).
In 2 Chronicles 6:1-42, Solomon and the Jewish religious leaders pray publicly in the dedication of the Temple. During the exile, a group of 8 Jewish leaders offered heartfelt prayers for the exiles to renew their faith in God in Nehemiah 9:5-38. After Peter and John were arrested and finally freed by the Sanhedrin, Christians prayed publicly for them in Acts 4:24. Notice Jesus says in verse 6, “When you pray . . .” That is open ended. No prescribed times or places or occasions. Jesus said go into your “inner room.”
This is the Greek New Testament word [ταμεῖον, tameion]. In Jesus’ day this referred to any small room, even a closet, but typically the room that was a secret room where Jews stored their most treasured valuables. The idea is to go into the most private place possible to pray. So, why is Jesus making such a deal of this?
He wants to contrast with the way the religious leaders prayed as we discussed yesterday – all for show and praise. Jesus never condemns public prayer (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4). It is not about the area where you pray, but the attitude you pray with to God. If necessary, Jesus says, go to the most secluded, private place you can find so you will not be tempted to show off. Go there and shut the door. Shut out everything else so that you can concentrate on God and pray to your Father. Do whatever you have to do to get your attention away from yourself, away from your environment, and others so that you can focus on Him and Him alone.
This means that most if almost not all of our prayers should be done in secret, even from our family and friends. They may know we pray, but our prayers are not for them, but directed to God and for God. New Testament scholar John Broadus writes about reading about a 4th century Christian named Chrysostom who wrote that in his day many Christians prayed so loudly in their rooms that everyone down the hall heard what they said. If people sometimes happen to overhear our private prayers, it should not be by our intention” (Source: John A. Broadus, Matthew, p. 140).
God who sees us praying in secret – privately – will respond to our prayers. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:
“The most important secret He sees is not the words we say in the privacy of our room, but the thoughts we have in the privacy of our heart. Those are the secrets about which He is supremely concerned, and about which only He can know with certainty (cf. 1 Cor. 4:3–5). Those secrets sometimes are hidden even from ourselves, because it is so easy to be deceived about our own motives.
When God is genuinely the audience of our prayer, we will have the reward only He can give. Jesus gives no idea in this passage as to what God’s reward, or repayment, will be. The important truth is that God will faithfully and unfailingly bless those who come to Him in sincerity. Without question, the Lord will repay. Those who pray insincerely and hypocritically will receive the world’s reward, and those who pray sincerely and humbly will receive God’s” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 367).
The second thing Jesus condemns about prayer is found in verse 7, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words” (NASB). The phrase “meaningless repetition” is one Greek New Testament word – [βατταλογέω, battalogeo]. This word refers to idle, thoughtless chatter. It was probably onomatopoetic, mimicking the sounds of meaningless jabber.
So, what are some lessons for us here?
- First, when our devotion to Jesus Christ becomes all about who we can impress in how we pray, then Jesus says we are a hypocrite. Any of us can fall into this trap. We can lose our awe of God when we pray and be more concerned about the awe of people in how we pray. When we do this, we lose our audience with God and we have our reward – only the audience of people. We lose nurturing our personal relationship to Christ for the sole purpose of praise from others.
- Second, when our prayers become more about how we pray rather than to who we pray to as we pray, we lose intimacy with God. Prayer is God’s way of having intimacy with Him. Our concern with performance will not create intimacy with God. When we become more concerned about our personal performance as we pray rather than our personal relationship to God as we pray, we have the only reward we sought – pride that we performed well and not humility that we grew closer to the Father.
- Third, when our prayers become ritualistic and predictable, we show we have no intimacy with God. We might as well be praying to a lamp post. I share with you the words of Leonard Ravenhill:
“The self-sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray. No man is greater than his prayer life” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, The Life Application Bible Study Commentary, p. 113).
Chuck Swindoll tells this story about when as a Marine, he was stationed on the Island of Okinawa:
“One night, long ago, I caught my mentor, Bob Newkirk, in the act. He never knew it, and I never told him. But that moment, I accidentally witnessed him doing something that has had a profound impact on me for the rest of my life. I was in the Marines, stationed on the island of Okinawa, at a pretty low point emotionally and spiritually. On a rainy night, I went to see Bob, the Navigator representative on the island. When I knocked on the door to his home, his wife, Norma, answered. “Is Bob here?” I said. “No, I’m sorry you missed him. I think he might be at his office, but”—“Well, I don’t … I don’t want to bother him,” I said. (His office was a bus ride away. “You know, he said he had a lot of things on his mind and needed to be down there for a while, so …”
I said goodbye and thought about it for a bit. I decided I really needed to see Bob, even if only for a few minutes. So I picked up the local jitney bus and took a ride over to his part of town. I splashed through a few mud puddles and came to his little office. It was made of bamboo, with tiny spaces between the stalks. As I approached, I saw candlelight seeping through the cracks and heard Bob singing inside: Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise’ The rain was dripping off my nose and dropping in pools around me, but still I heard him: ‘Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love …’
Then I realized he was weeping in his time of personal, private fellowship with the Lord. It was a most sacred moment in that man’s life, and I had the privilege of catching him in the act of praise and prayer. It changed my whole concept of the man. There was a depth and intimacy that I’d never seen. There was a heart that he never displayed, never showed off. And I realized then the kind of man I wanted to be when I grew up in the faith” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 111).
Questions To Consider
- When you pray, are you more concerned about how you pray – your performance or are you pouring your heart out to God with no reservation? Why or why not?
- When we pray, God sees the intent, attitude and motivation of our heart. When you pray, what intent, attitude and motivation does God see and why?
- When you pray, do you ever use “idle and repetitious words?” Why or why not? What do you think of Leonard Ravenhill’s words above and why?
- Jesus never condemns public prayer. What He suggests is that most of our prayers should be in private or secret. Why? From the 3 lessons mentioned above, which one needs and should apply to you the most right now and why?
- Having read the story by Chuck Swindoll about his mentor and Navigator friend Bob Newkirk, what lessons can you learn from this story about prayer in your own life?
Scripture To Meditate On: Isaiah 55:6-7, Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. (7) Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, maybe one reason I am reluctant to pray in public is that I do not really consistently pray in private or in secret. Lord, my prayer life stinks and that is why You feel so distant. I cannot have intimacy with You if I do not consistently pray to You. Please convict me to consistently pray to You as You instruct in Matthew 6:5-8. I love You, Jesus. In Your name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly