March 13 – Praying Privately

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:5-7

What is your prayer life like? Are most of your prayers done with others on Sunday morning, just around the dining table…or do you spend a few minutes every day specifically lifting others up in prayer to our Heavenly Father? Jesus prayed almost continually…and we need to follow that pattern. Here in this scripture passage (Matthew 6:5-7) from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He instructs us to pray in secret and not to repeat the same thing over and over. Short sweet heartfelt private prayers are what I hear Jesus telling us to do. I know that God also likes to hear His scripture repeated in prayer—not in a meaningless way—but in a way that tells God we are listening to His words, that we value His words, and that we want Him to specifically use His own powerful words to honor Him or to meet our needs. 

 

A few years ago I got a PRAY! Prayer Journal from the Navigators (NavPress). It suggested prayer topics for each day. One day a week focused on family and provided a page to fill with family names and specific scripture to pray for each person. It is a great tool for spiritual growth.  

Training Tip – When you pray for your children—in everything from their character to their future—you invite God to strengthen and equip them to promote his kingdom. From Praying the Scriptures for Your Children by Jodie Berndt, page 55. Search the scriptures for prayers that are specific for each of your children. Think of the character traits that you want to encourage in that child and pray about that with the Lord. Here’s an example from Berndt’s book, p 74:

Give ____ a wise and discerning heart so that she can distinguish between right and wrong. 1 Kings 3:9, 12. 

Heavenly Father, may our humble and secret prayers bring You glory and honor. I pray that You will make our love increase and overflow for each other in our family, our neighborhood and our church. May You strengthen our hearts so that we will be blameless and holy in Your presence when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones. (1Thessalonians 3:12-13)  

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.