Can you keep a secret? For some, it’s impossible. They can’t wait to share these little-known facts with others.
Many spiritual rewards start as secrets known only to you and God. Our all-knowing God encourages secrets, that is, secrets in prayer. God gives believers a few guidelines about secret requests and actions.
Your richest prayers are those when you pray alone, not just alone but with the door shut behind you (Matthew 6:6). When you follow that simple instruction, there’s a guarantee. Our heavenly Father is in your secret place!
Now that you know where to do your effective praying, for what should you pray? Chapter 6 of Matthew includes several things. The first on God’s list is your charitable giving. Your gifts are a private endeavor (6:4) that no one needs to know. If possible, your gift should remain unknown even to the recipient.
If you are fasting and praying, that should also be private (6:18). Fasting in this situation is to intensify your prayer without interruptions. By doing so, you can pray longer. Once again, God sees your commitment to prayer and promises a reward.
Scripture digresses for a moment to reassure the believer his prayer is viewed by God for eternity. In becoming a prayer warrior, you lay aside many of the earth’s pleasures to spend time with God. One of the rewards for your increasing devotion is to realize and understand God’s insight to see more opportunities to be more like Jesus in His prayer ministry.
The concluding part of prayer in this chapter is eliminating worry. Why? Because you can take all your concerns and burdens to the Lord in prayer. You can leave those in the hands of the Almighty.
The last paragraph in Matthew 6 points to life’s insignificant details: food, drink, and clothing. The Savior encourages His children to seek God’s Kingdom first and live righteously. By doing so, Jesus says, “God will take care of the situations in our lives.”
