Matthew 6:6 – “and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
In this scripture, we learn how to pray and conduct ourselves to store up treasures in Heaven, where moths, rust, or burglars don’t exist to appropriate them, than on earth. When we live as we are meant to: helping others, praying, or fasting we shouldn’t make a spectacle of our lives; rather do this quietly and inconspicuously. If we want to be like our role model know this, God, who conceived us in love and who works behind the scenes, helps us out this way. If we pray discreetly, it is not gone unnoticed but still seen and pleasing to someone – God our Father.
If we opt to pray in a loud, brash manner, the reward we get is not in Heaven, but right here in the appreciation or sympathy shown by our fellowmen. In Jesus’ days, the Jews prayed a lot this way. They would pray in two main places in a hypocritical manner: at the synagogue at the time of public prayer, or on the street at the appointed times of prayer (9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m.).
Jesus definitely prayed frequently. There are 94 instances of ‘praying’ in the Bible out of which 65 instances are of Jesus praying. Jesus also removed Himself from the others to pray. Jesus showed us that prayer is very important for us to draw strength from our Father, to reconnect with Him, and to seek advice from Him. Don’t follow the common fault in public prayer today; people pray to impress or teach others, instead of genuinely pouring out their hearts before God. Such prayers are an insult to God. When possible, we must find a quiet place to be alone with Him, to talk to God in secret. In Greek, the word “room” means a storeroom where treasures were kept; this reminds us that there are treasures waiting for us in our prayer closet. Our prayers must be directed to God and not man. Our sincere prayers please God greatly and He will certainly answer our genuine prayers.
