BCL Devotional: The Blessings of Secret Prayer — Matthew 6:6

Photo Credit: Simeon Jacobson on Unsplash

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Editor’s Note: We are pleased to reintroduce our former BCL Grow devotional series under the new name BCL Devotional. Each devotional includes a Bible passage, an encouraging quotation, and three practical steps to help believers reflect on, remember, and rejoice in God’s love in Christ.

Bible Passage

“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.” (Matthew 6:6)

Quote

Consider God’s express command, which ties you to pray always continually, and without ceasing. This does not mean, that you should do nothing but pray, or spend your whole time in this exercise. No; but denotes frequency, and embracing every opportunity that offers for so delightful and profitable a duty. It says you should be always in a praying frame, never having your minds so much engrossed in worldly concerns, as to be indisposed to call upon God in prayer. (Thomas Boston, Motives to Secret Prayer: With Answers to Objections Commonly Made to the Performance of This Duty)

Steps to Take

Reflect: Since God already knows our hearts, why do we need to pray to him? And why does Jesus tell us to pray in secret?

Remember: It might seem to be an unnecessary use of time to pray in secret to our heavenly Father with our cares and petitions since he is all-knowing and nothing we say would be a surprise to him. The beloved Scottish theologian and pastor Thomas Boston (1676–1732) reminds us not to neglect secret prayer as we seek God’s blessing on our daily labors:

Fool’s haste is no speed. To rise out of the bed, and to go immediately to secular work, is foolish cursed haste. How canst thou look for a blessing on thy work without prayer? … Rise the sooner every morning, that you may not be scrimped as to time for this exercise, as our blessed Lord did, Mark 1:35. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” How wilt thou answer to God at the great day, for spending that time in sleep, which thou shouldest spent in secret prayer? Daniel would not omit this exercise, though at the hazard of his life.

Rejoice: Praying in secret is a great privilege for God’s children. We have the opportunity at any time of the day or night to thank God for his many blessings poured out upon us, confess our sins to him privately, share with him our deepest fears and feelings of shame, and make petitions for ourselves, family, neighbors, and governments. As Boston points out, our secret prayers show obedience to God’s command on this matter and give glory to God as we acknowledge his omniscience and omnipresence. Jesus took time to pray in secret, both early in the morning and in the evening (Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35). May we follow our Lord’s command and example and make secret prayer a priority each day.

Related Articles:

• The What, Why, and Blessing of Prayer
• Why Is Prayer So Vitally Important for Christians?
• “Forgive Us Our Debts”: Getting Specific When Confessing Our Sins to God
• Do You Forget to Thank God When You Pray?
• 6 Things You Need to Know about Unanswered Prayer

Recommended:

Motives To Secret Prayer by Thomas Boston