07/15/2018
Do you pray in secret? If you do pray secretly, and God answers your prayer, do you still keep it secret? This is an especially hard thing to do for a couple of reasons; first you want to tell the world what your God has done, but secondly, and most destructively, you want the world to know that God has heard, and answered, YOU!
“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.”
Matthew 6:6 ESV
So where is your reward? Our scripture today tells us that what we pray secretly will be rewarded secretly. But my oh my, that is a hard bargain to keep.
A woman at church was having a very rough time financially, and then to make matters worse, she became ill. This bothered me a great deal, and I began by asking the Lord in prayer why she was going through this. Then, I began to pray for her needs secretly... she wasn’t aware of it, and neither was anyone else. This became a conversation between God and myself, and after several mornings of this He said “alright, I hear you”. The woman’s finances and health were restored, and she praised God before the church. I was thrilled, but wanted so much to shout out “God answered my prayer!” The hardest thing for me to do was to keep the silent confidence that the Lord had asked me for. I wanted desperately to claim MY part in the blessing that had been granted her.
Have you ever wanted to share in God’s glory? Have you ever had a secret prayer answered and wanted to tell the world about it? As a Pastor that can be very difficult... I know a Pastor that had been openly praying with a family for the healing of their child. The child was in the hospital and was at death’s door. Then one day as he drove alone to the hospital to visit the family, he had a time of fervent prayer in his car. It was heart wrenching, and as he prayed, God answered, and gave him a specific instruction regarding the child... “If you do this, I will heal this child.” When he arrived at the bedside of the dying child he did as he had been told, and the child was healed. The Pastor was thrilled, and prayed thanks, but then he carried it further... he told the story of his prayer, and God’s answer from the pulpit. Sometimes God performs miracles so that they can be used for instruction, but the line between using an answer to prayer as instruction and encouragement, as opposed to self gratification, is a fine one. At what point do you become a hypocrite, and receive an earthly reward?
“"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.”
Matthew 6:5 ESV
There are examples of great prayers in the Bible that began in secret, but were revealed later for instruction; prayers like this revelation of prayer by Moses...
“"So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. And I prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”
Deuteronomy 9:25-26 ESV
And this example given us by Jesus...
“And he charged him to tell no one, but "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them." But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”
Luke 5:14-16 ESV
Secret prayer serves a much different purpose from corporate, or public prayer. The open prayers are meant to instruct, edify, encourage, and to bolster the faith of all those who hear them, but secret prayer is a prayer of private relationship... a prayer of individual faith offered up to God, which builds the trust and loyalty needed between a person and their God, and demonstrates their very personal love for one another. Revealing secret prayers is a betrayal of trust, and most usually self-serving.
So I ask again the two questions I began with this morning... do you pray in secret, and, do you keep a secret? Think and pray on these questions this week, and I believe you will find a new relationship with God will begin to surface... not one based on the need to tell others your secret conversations, but one based on an incredibly deep and satisfying trust.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our prayers, and especially our secret prayers. Thank you for these conversations, held in confidence, that have not an inkling of self-gratification in them. Thank you for the silent satisfaction of seeing your answer to my prayers, and knowing, despite what others claim openly, that the answer came as a result of what transpired between us in our secret place. Help me Holy Father to resist the temptation to claim my reward now, in this world, and to betray the confidence you have in me. Hear my prayers Merciful Father, and answer them. Hear me Lord as I intercede for others without regard to myself, and from the secret places where we meet. Instruct me, and guide me, that I remain in your will, and know those things that are meant for instruction and edification, from those secret ones that define our relationship. Let my reward be in heaven Father, and your trust in me be secure. You are a great God that never breaks trust, and I praise your name for your quiet love for me. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God of secret trust and provision.
“And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,”
Luke 22:41 ESV
Rich Forbes