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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be
seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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.”
Matthew 6:5-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
For the past two devotions, we have found Jesus turning
His attention to the matter of self glorification, particularly as it regards
to giving to those in need. In both devotions, our Savior both suggested and
commanded us to not give in a way that draws attention to ourselves and seeks
the applause and approval of others. Rather, Jesus leads us to a place where
the only One receiving gratitude is the One who not only makes opportunities to
give possible but grants us what we have to give in the first place, whether it
be our time, talent, or treasure. The Lord and the Lord alone is to be the
focus of our attention and affection, and we are to redirect others to Him as
well through the things He calls us to do.
As we look at today’s scripture passage and our
continuing study of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus
turning His attention to the matter of prayer. Following the final devotion
tomorrow of this short series, I will begin one specifically on how we should
pray but for today, let’s look at what our Savior says in regard to prayer and
self glorification:
“And when you
pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they
have received their reward in full. 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.” Matthew 6:5-6
It seems that back in the days of Jesus, it was common
practices for some people to stand and pray openly in the synagogues and street
corners. Jesus called these people hypocrites, perhaps because they espoused
others to praise and honor God but instead prayed in ways that sought attention
for themselves. Jesus tells us that their motivation for praying as they did
was so that they could be “seen by others”. In other words, prayer was a show
for these hypocrites and they were merely entertaining their listeners in
exchange for their adoration and esteem. They sought to reach a place of pious high
regard within their synagogue and community, esteemed for their religiosity and
apparent righteousness.
Maybe you know of people who do the same today. Believe
me, they still exist.
So how does Jesus counter this matter, keeping believers
from being tempted and enticed to glorify themselves instead of the Lord, the
only One worthy of honor and glory and praise?
He unplugs us from the public eye. Look again at His
words here:
“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.
Here we find Jesus telling His followers that prayer doesn’t
have to be a public spectacle. Rather, He encourages His disciples to come
before their Father in heaven privately, to go into a room, close the door, and
pray there in secret. You see, we need to keep in mind what prayer is…the
one-on-one communication between a person and the Lord God Almighty, the Maker
and Master of everyone. Your communication is between you and Him so why would
it be necessary to make it a big public event, drawing the awareness of others?
That’s Jesus’ point.
Think about what Jesus would do when He needed to pray to
His Father. Here’s what we find in the scriptures:
Very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to
a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35
Jesus often
withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16
Even when at the Garden of Gethsemane just before His
betrayal and arrest, Jesus didn’t pray in the company of the disciples who were
with Him. Instead He:
“…withdrew about a
stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed.” Luke 22:41
In other words, Jesus practiced what He preached and in
doing so, showed us the way we should pray. For even the Son of God Himself did
not glorify Himself above His Father.
As Christians, why would we do otherwise?
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be
blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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