Matthew 6:5-8 Close the door!
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 5, 2019, Matthew 6:5-8
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 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. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
(Understanding the Text) What does it mean “your Father who is in secret?” The SDA commentary says that it probably means “who hears what is said in secret,” which is implied by the context. That tells me that the experts are not totally sure of the meaning of the expression, which is why none of the other commentaries even tried to touch that expression.
I wonder if this is a warning against the kind of public praying in Pentecostal churches where everyone is shouting out their prayers while the pastor prays? My guess is it would depend on the motives of the person. Are they trying to be heard by others, or are they simply expressing joy.
The Jews were not just stopping for no reason to pray. They were actually stopping at the times of prayer to pray. Guzik says “There were two main places where a Jew in Jesus’ day might pray hypocritically. They might pray at the synagogue at the time of public prayer, or on the street at the appointed times of prayer (9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m.).” Thus, Jesus was telling them that they needed to plan for those prayer times and go into a room at that time rather than being caught out in public. Rather than being religious by praying in public at the prayer time, they were showing their lack of awareness of God and foresight. God was a last minute thought and prayer with Him was not important enough to take time out of their schedules to find privacy before the prayer time.
(Revelation of God) God knows what we need before we even ask, so why do we need to ask? So that we can trust God to answer. Asking for stuff should be just a small part of our prayers. Prayer needs to be about more than asking. We don’t have to beg God over and over again for something. He knows our need and is more than ready to sustain us.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus contrasts two kinds of problem prayers here–hypocritical Jewish prayers and ignorant Gentile incantations. The problem with Jewish prayers was that they were not actually prayers to God. Instead, they were performances for other people. The Pharisees were not speaking with God. They were talking to themselves and the people around them while facing in the general direction they thought God was. Essentially, they were ignoring God and focusing on other humans. Guzik’s commentary says “When we mouth words towards God, while really trying to impress others, we use God merely as a tool to impress others.” On the other hand, the problem with the Gentiles was that they were praying to a god, but they had a false conception of who God is. When Christians pray like the Gentiles, they are misrepresenting God. God does not need to be cajoled, persuaded, appeased, or flattered into helping us. When we pray with many words with little meaning to us, we are transforming prayer from communion with God to insincere worship that assumes that God is not inclined to listen or take time out of His schedule for us. Guzik says “When we try to impress God with our many words, we deny that God is a loving, yet holy Father. Instead, we should follow the counsel of Ecc_5:2 : God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.” The first method ignores God; the second method is ignorant of God.
(Revelation of God) God wants us to spend time just with Him, no outside audience. He wants us to BE with Him without outside distractions. God wants us to listen to Him instead of focusing on others. God wants our undivided attention just as He gives us His attention. He is not limited by human or any created being’s physical limits. He can give us full attention while attending to the rest of the universe. However, we are limited, so we need to make a special effort not to be distracted when speaking with God. It is difficult for God to get through our sinful natures so that we can hear Him, which is why we need to reduce the white noise around us. That means limiting the people who impinge on our consciousness, as well as the business of life. In going to a private room and shutting the door, we are making it more possible for us to hear God. Guzik’s commentary says “The specific ancient Greek word ‘room’ was used for a storeroom where treasures were kept. There are treasures waiting for you in your prayer closet!”
(Application / Prayer) My application to myself is that I need to pray more. I do not take the time to communicate with You like I should. It is easiest for me to communicate with You in nature; however, winter weather precludes that method and so in winter, I feel less connected to You, even though I know that part of that is feeling versus reality. I pray to continually remain connected to You.