Secret Service (Prt 2)
- Jun 27, 2024
- 5 min read
The overarching text – “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them" (Matt 6:1).
These were Jesus’ strong words to the Pharisees who loved parading their own good works and self-righteousness for others to see. It’s wonderful to know that God's grace, forgiveness and unconditional love is extended to the Pharisee in me.
One day I found within my heart,
someone who been there from the start.
A prudish person –self-appointed, self-sufficient, self-anointed.
Though a true disciple be,
I’ve found the Pharisee in me.
(The Pharisee in Me by Jill Briscoe)
Matthew 6:5: “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… When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”
Jews, in Jesus’s day, stopped three times a day to pray. This scheduled prayer was part of their lives. In the morning, mid-afternoon, and before bed, these times of prayer were supposed to be a natural part of their lives!!
The problem? Matthew 6:5: “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.”
Hypocrites is again the word used to describe the Pharisees (see last week’s blog). They pretend to be someone they’re not, even in prayer. They engage in showy public-prayers at the street corners.It’s been said, there’s nothing worse than faking your way through grace!
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Oh, Lord, I pray hard on my way
I try to do it every day
A publican to be I try, and beat my breast and sigh
and cry I’m hoping others round will see—
oops there’s the Pharisee in me!
(The Pharisee in Me by Jill Briscoe)
Rather than stopping and praying wherever the Pharisees found themselves, they would instead plan their day so at the right time they’d be walking in the most public places so they would look pious and religious when the call to prayer was heard. It was all a big show!
Jesus’ way - prayer, real prayer is best done in SECRET!
Prayer must be our secret life with God.
Ryken said, “Prayer does not simply maintain the Christian life; it is the Christian life.”
Jesus’s audience, just like us, struggle with prayer.
I don’t know where you are about prayer, but I can assume most of us, struggle! You’d love to make it a natural part of life, but it’s tough!
Prayer, according to Jesus, wasn’t merely a function: it was to become a lifestyle, and for the Jew, a continual expression of their life in God.
He tells me oh you know enough,
Just keep on with the same old stuff
You’ve books galore tapes to lend,
You’ve Christian Magazines to send
No need to read theology.
I’ve met the Pharisee in me.
(The Pharisee in Me by Jill Briscoe)
The room Jesus spoke about in this verse was thought to be the storage room. This was the only room in the house that actually had a door. Now praying in a private place with the door closed is great for privacy and to cut down distractions, but Jesus also has another reason in mind. He wants to remove the temptation of praying in order to be seen and heard by others. It doesn’t do any good to go into your room to pray if you hang a big sign on the door saying, “Don’t disturb. I’m praying!”
D. Willard: ‘So when the children of the kingdom pray, they may even disappear from sight, for they have learned to be indifferent to whether others know of their prayer or not. They enter a private room and close the door. There they pray to their Father, who not only sees in secret, but, Jesus here says, is in secret (v. 6). This is very significant. The secret place is where God is. There we stand “under the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91).’
The term "secret place" means "to hide or be concealed". One of the biggest issues, if we are honest, is we rarely get to this place.
Whatever you may be facing, there is a place that God has specifically designed for you to come to receive help, guidance and direction. (This is what these blogs are all about - that place of refuge where you take a seat and rest a while.)
In C.S. Lewis' book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, there’s a wonderful moment when Lucy, in a panic, jumps into a closet to hide. Her intention is to stay as quiet as she could. Instead, to her surprise she finds herself smack bang in the middle of an amazing adventure! What was once a cramped yet secret place exploded into something far beyond her imagination!
STOP
Where’s your secret place? Park bench? Study? Garden room? Your kitchen table? Father God sees us and shapes us through secret prayer. Secret prayer is the secret of prayer!
Go to your room - the place of dared expectations, an adventure in prayer. “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”.
He’s waiting at the secret place of wonder, holding open the door for us.
Jonathon Edwards said,“No one ever kneels in prayer with a heart that remains unaffected.”
What is the reason to pray?
One answer is found in a word that is used 12 times in Matthew 6 — a word that unlocks the chapter, a word that only Jesus dared to use in reference to God – ‘Father.’
The religious folk of Jesus’ day understood God to have a name, but it was too sacred, too holy to even pronounce. They knew God only as a mysterious yet powerful Deity.
Apparently, scholars have carried out research in the Old Testament and all Jewish writings dating from the beginning of Judaism until the tenth century, and there is not a single reference of a Jew addressing God directly in the first person as Father.
So what Jesus is inviting us to do is a radical departure from tradition. What’s even more radical is that Jesus says, “When you pray, you say, ‘Our Father.’” He has given to us the right and privilege to come into the presence of the majesty of God and address Him as Father because indeed He is our Father. He has adopted us into His family and made us co-heirs with His only begotten Son (Rom 8:17).
Jesus is inviting us into the same relationship He now has with God – whom He addresses as Abba, Father. Amazing!!
When we pray, we simply begin by acknowledging that life actually isn’t about us. The world doesn’t revolve around me/you. We are invited to address the Creator of the universe, as Father. Prayer is meant to be an expression of this relationship and also of our dependency on God.
Prayer is essential for a genuinely lived relationship with God as Father ... says Tim Keller.
And why should he, the God of Grace.
Be forced to live here face to face
With him who hung him up to die.
Against an angry darkened sky.
Who pierced his feet, crowned his head.
Who laughed and left him very dead.
Forgive me Lord I beg of thee.
Deal with the Pharisee in me.
(The Pharisee in Me by Jill Briscoe)
The Sermon on the Mount, calls us to a radical way of living, of loving, of giving, of praying; and with such teaching, His Kingdom, His will, is done.
A blessing by Malcolm Duncan: “May you be open to new possibilities, whether that be a discovery or a new path.May your heart be open to new friendships, your mind to new truth, and your spirit to a new encounter with God.”
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