Matthew 6:5-6
[5] “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [6] But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
As you read the passage, what blessed you, challenged you, or raised questions?
Head: Why do you pray?
Heart: What are some temptations that get in the way of prayer?
Hands: How can you make your prayer times more consistent and focused?
When you pray, there are three important things to remember. (1) Who are you praying to? (2) What do you want out of it? (3) What enables you to pray?
Jesus reminds us that we are to pray to God alone, warning people that if they are putting on a show for others, their words are empty. Jesus also reminds us that the blessing of prayer that we are to look for is the intimacy with God, so he encourages us to pray often in private, where you can be alone with God. He warns against people who pray in public because they want people to praise them for being so religious. If so, that's basically the only "benefit" to that kind of so-called prayer.
Finally, Jesus reminds us God is our Father and that He "sees in secret", which means that God sees the depths of our hearts and He is pleased. Why is God our Father? Why is God pleased with my heart, even though I have a lot of sin and imperfection in my heart? Because of what Jesus did for us! He made God our Father and He covers our hearts to make it clean before God!
So pray to God, seek greater intimacy with God, and do it all in praise of Jesus!
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Devotional Guide:
1) Pray for understanding in your mind, for trust in your heart, and for powerful obedience in your daily living.
2) Read the passage and mark anything that blesses you, challenges you, or raises a question.
3) Reflect on the passage. What's God saying about Himself? What's God saying about you?
4) Pray in response to what God puts on your heart through the Word.