08/24/2024
God hears our secret prayers, he answers us in the quiet of the moment when our souls are bared to Him alone. When we pray in solitude our faith rises in purity with no need for guarded oration or flowery speech... We speak to God more freely than we would with our closest friends; all pretenses having been dropped. Although we pray the Lord's Prayer most often in public settings, it is interesting that the verses in Matthew 6 which lead up to Jesus teaching us this prayer tell us quite a different story. Listen as He is instructs His disciples to go into a private place and close the door....
“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. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:6-13 ESV
Finding holiness in our secret prayers is the focus of our study this morning. Although praying in public settings is good, our prayers in "secret" or just between ourselves and the Lord are powerful; and since they are not heard by anyone but ourselves and God, they are inclined to be the open and true revelation of our hearts. Secret prayers carry no selfish motive with them... They are not like those of the hypocrite who prays loudly on the corner. Pastor E.M. Bounds links them to holiness when he writes:
"Holy people are praying people. Holiness of heart and life encourage people to pray. Those who are unfamiliar with praying in solitude are not at all interested in consecration and holiness. Holiness thrives in the place of secret prayer.
In solitary prayer, holiness is found. Consecration brings forth holiness of heart, and prayer stands by when this is done." – E. M. Bounds
Do we pray in secret? Do we reveal to God the things we wouldn’t dream of telling anyone else?
So, as we just read, Jesus taught us that what we consider to be one of the most public of our prayers was actually not meant to be offered in public at all, but in our private time with God... In our secret places. Special things spring from our most intimate and private prayers and our personal relationship with the Lord. It is here that our hearts and minds are opened wide, and He can address our lives in ways that we would never fully accept, or confess in a public forum.
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
Psalms 37:5-6 ESV
This is true of our interpersonal relationships with one another as well. Some of the most meaningful and heartfelt times I have had with my children were in private conversation; away from the rest of the family... Often when they were struggling or suffering in some way. In times such as this our hearts are opened and we are more receptive to one another. Secret confessions, personal thoughts, and having the absolute confidence that they will not be revealed or used against us… we have so few people, if any, that we can trust in this way, so quite often we find that it is only God Himself.
In our quiet places we are inclined to seek God more freely and without hesitation or interruption; we come to that place where we can most assuredly bridge the gap between heaven and earth, and find Him waiting for us. In this secret place we can hear the words of Moses:
“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV
Quiet places, secret places, behind closed doors, that is when we realize that God is like the air we breathe. The author, Martha Graybeal Rowlett, wrote this about our secret encounters with God when she described His presence with us in these words: "Present in this moment, both within you and beyond you."
Once we enter our secret prayer closet we can speak openly of those things which are most guarded and true of us. So, this morning, I pray that we each find that quiet place where we can enter into intimate conversations with Jesus and God. I pray that holiness will meet us there, and then, after our prayers are prayed, that the renewed holiness we have received there will accompany us back into the world where we will obey the will of God. I thank the Lord for being a personal God who speaks to us directly... in the quiet of our day... in our most secret places, and in answer to our darkest and most guarded thoughts and desires.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the secret conversations we have. Thank you for allowing us to come to you and privately confess our darkest sins, and our most embarrassing thoughts without reservation. Thank you for hearing the remorse and contrition with which we ask your forgiveness, and for the grace with which you forgive us. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to live, suffer, die, and be resurrected so that through His sacrifice we might be washed clean and made worthy to enter into your presence without fear, and with great expectation of your loving reception. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who alone can forgive us completely, and who chooses not to remember our transgressions. Holy are you who sits with us in secret places of prayer, and hears our confession in absolute confidence. Holy are you who transforms our character, makes us new, and leads us into righteousness, for your name’s sake. You are merciful and full of grace Abba, and we are able to secretly reveal all of our shortcomings to you without hesitation, and knowing fully that you will counsel us as we seek release from the fallen men and women we are. Hear us in secret, heal us without fanfare, and let all the glory belong to you alone. Praised be your name, now and forevermore.
Amen.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:8-12 KJV
Rich Forbes