SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/26/2020 9:29 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The True Audience: God”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 6:6
Message of the verse: “6 "But you,
when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray
to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay
you.”
If
I would ask you the question “What is the basic definition of prayer?” What would your answer be? When we are praying to God what we are doing
is communicating with Him, we are in communion with God when we pray. If God is not involved then there is no
involvement there with Him, only pretense of prayer. The Bible states that if a husband does not
treat his wife right then God will not answer his prayers. If we sin and then do not repent of our sin
before God then we are out of fellowship with Him and He will not answer our
prayers. Begin each day with the words
found in Psalm 139 23-24 “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and
know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And
lead me in the everlasting way.” I
really don’t want to go down a rabbit hole here but perhaps we should look at
the preceding verses in this psalm. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts
to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they
would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. 19 O that You would slay the
wicked, O God; Depart
from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate
You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them
with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.” After these verses David asks God to search
his heart to make sure that there is nothing between God and him. By the way there was nothing wrong with what
David was praying about as he was not really a schizophrenic.
John
MacArthur writes “Not only must He be involved, but centrally involved. Prayer is God’s provision; it is God’s idea,
not man’s. There could be no prayer if
God did not condescend to speak with us, and we could not know how to pray had
He not chosen to instruct us.”
What
Jesus is teaching here is very simple and it is in contrast to the complicated
and difficult traditions. As we look at
the phrase “when you pray” we see that this implies great latitude. The Lord Jesus does not prescribe time or
occasion when it comes to prayer.
MacArthur adds “The tameion
(inner room) could be any sort of small room or chamber, even a storage
closet. Such rooms were often secret and
used to store valued possessions for protection. The idea is that on going to the most private
place available.”
We
have already talked about the fact that Jesus does not forbid or even condemn
public prayer. 1 First of all, then, I
urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4). Now what Jesus is doing here seems to be to
make as great a contrast as possible to the practice of the scribes, Pharisees,
and other hypocritical religionists.
Jesus’ primary point here is not talking about place but talking about
attitude. Jesus says that if it is
necessary go to the most secluded, private place you can find, in order that
you will not be tempted to show off. He
says go there and then “shut the door,” so that you will be alone with your
Father, and then “pray to your Father.”
Do whatever necessary to be alone with God so that you can talk to Him.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Jesus is saying for me to be alone, for the
most part, when I am praying to the Father, and this is something that is
needed on my part to do a better job at.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember
that I serve a God who forgives me of all of my sins, and to remember to
confess any sins to the Lord so that I can have sweet fellowship with Him.
10/26/2020 10:03 AM
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