The Value Of Private Prayer

The Value of Private Prayer

[Jesus said,] “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Matthew 6:5-6

Jesus is our pattern for prayer, not only in giving us the Lord’s Prayer, but in his prayer practices. The Son of God had a great mission and many people to heal and teach, but he often left the multitudes and his disciples and went apart to pray with his Father. He didn’t just flash an eloquent prayer heavenward to impress his followers; he spent solitary, extended times talking and listening to God. In today’s verses he exhorts us to do the same: not to pray like the Pharisees, who did it to impress others with their petitions, but to get alone with God and “shut the door” behind us. That means setting aside our tasks, separating ourselves from other family members and even our prayer partners for times of intimate conversation with our Father in heaven. If morning is the best time with the fewest distractions, meet with God then. If you’re busy caring for the needs of others in the morning, come into God’s presence after everyone else is asleep, and know that the Lord never sleeps and loves to communicate with you then.

One woman I know had such a big family that her place to get alone with God was in the bathroom or in her car in the garage. Another woman awoke very early before she left to teach high school and prayer-walked the streets of her town alone. Be assured that God, who sees and knows all secrets and the innermost parts of our hearts, promises to reward you. —CHERI

Lord, I long to connect with you and hear your voice, just as Jesus did. Help me to draw away from this frantic and busy world to be alone with you. Show me a window of time each day when I can do this.

From three to four each morning, that is my hour. Then I am free from interruption and from the fear of interruption. Each morning I wake at three and live an hour with God. It gives me strength for everything. Without it I would be utterly helpless. —TOYOHIKO KAGAWA (1888–1960), JAPANESE SOCIAL REFORMER