Matthew 6:6 ESV, “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.”
Do we enter into our room to pray? Are we intentional about “closed door” prayer time? Jesus specifically says “when you,” and it is addressed to each and every one of his disciples, past, present, and future. At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of loud prayers in the street to be seen of men. “To be seen of men” has a wide variety of applications in this teaching of Jesus, occurring repeatedly and emphatically. When is the last time we had some prayer time to search things out? It is ok to take heed, search it out and adjust (Psalms 77:6). Maybe there is a category or two that has been leaning more to being seen and less of doing it out of our pure love for God. This could include our music ministry, teaching, success in business, and many other parts of our lives. Spiritual integrity is based upon doing something solely out of our pure love for God. For many of us, it is easy to grab a Bible and carve out time to read and study without distraction. Are we that intentional about our time in prayer? Let’s do life based on the first and great commandment. This means loving God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our souls. Each day that we are alive and draw breath, we can live full of new expectations and joy when we are living for God and God alone. We can build our lives upon the love of God, for it is a firm foundation.