Following on from last week's blog entry under this heading - and giving me another excuse to use the pic of one of my childhood heroes from the Hanna-Barbera animation studio, Secret Squirrel - here's more from this passage from The Sermon On The Mount about the activities that we are encouraged to carry out in secret.
Matthew 6:6 (NIV)
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Alongside those acts of charity that we are encouraged to perform in secret - there's also those times each day where we simply need to get down to prayer, to recharge our spiritual batteries, sharing quality time with your Lord. This is also something that we are encouraged to do in secret...
This is not saying public prayer is wrong - there's a place for public prayer as well as private prayer. Jesus practised both types during His earthly ministry. However, there's something particularly special about the intimacy of your private devotions - for instance, this allows for less distractions. Like our acts of generosity, prayer shouldn't be made public just for show - if you're doing it just because people are looking, you've got the wrong end of the stick.
Also, take note - the verse starts with 'when', not 'if' - it's taken as read this activity is essential.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air, his watchword at the gates of death; he enters heaven with prayer. - James Montgomery
Matthew 6:6 (NIV)
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Alongside those acts of charity that we are encouraged to perform in secret - there's also those times each day where we simply need to get down to prayer, to recharge our spiritual batteries, sharing quality time with your Lord. This is also something that we are encouraged to do in secret...
This is not saying public prayer is wrong - there's a place for public prayer as well as private prayer. Jesus practised both types during His earthly ministry. However, there's something particularly special about the intimacy of your private devotions - for instance, this allows for less distractions. Like our acts of generosity, prayer shouldn't be made public just for show - if you're doing it just because people are looking, you've got the wrong end of the stick.
Also, take note - the verse starts with 'when', not 'if' - it's taken as read this activity is essential.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air, his watchword at the gates of death; he enters heaven with prayer. - James Montgomery
No comments:
Post a Comment