Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter
into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.
Prayer calls for intimate relationship. Most of us believe
in public prayers yet public prayers are rarely a result of the intimate
relationship which prayer alludes to. Public prayer is sometimes intended to show off our prayer skills or our ability to
knit great and poetic prayer phrases. Coining poetic prayer phrases does not
necessarily mean that the prayer is focused on God. The poetic phrases may
actually be directed to the ears of our compatriots though words may make it
appear as if the prayer is focused on God.
In Matthew 7:8 the Lord said, “This
people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips;
but their heart is far from me.” What motivates prayer may not necessarily be a
desire for a memorable relationship with God. Quite often our prayers are
designed to impress the congregation. This explains why a great number of
public prayer chanters rarely pray alone. As long as there is nobody hearing
their prayers they will not utter a single prayer. The hallmark of these people
is their long and elaborate poetic prayers invariably shouted at the top of
their voices.
The Lord in Luke 18:10-14, the Lord
tells us of two kinds of prayers. He said, “Two men went up to the temple to
pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by
himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers,
evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and
give a tenth of all I get.” The religious person appears to have been calling
on God yet his real intention was inform the tax collector his level of
religious clout. By saying, “I am not like other people … or even like this tax
collector,” in the hearing of the tax collector, the taxman would come to the
realisation that the Pharisee was great and holy man of God very eloquent in
prayer. Do you think that the Pharisee would have prayed the same prayer had
the tax collector been absent? How often do we behave in such a manner?
The Matthew passage at hand is very
clear in that it says, “when you pray, enter into your room.” This was a
departure from the traditional prayer venues of the day. In those days, common
places for prayer were the temple, synagogues, besides populated rivers and
even streets and street corners or market places. Some even did it on rooftops.
These were favourite places because of the number of people who would congregate
there and witness the “commitment” of the “religious and godly” people saying
out their prayers to God. In Mathew 6:5, the Lord said, “when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men.” The main reason for this behaviour
was to be seen of men. Rather than
receive answers from God they were after the glory and praise of people.
The Lord’s prayer principle was a
complete departure from the traditional Pharisaic deportment. The principle was fully clad in the
standard of a strictly personal and private entreaty with no regard of what
others felt. The prayer spot was designed
to be away from the public eye. The principle was fully anchored on the level
of the relationship between the one praying and the one to whom the prayer was
directed. Without the said relationship, there is absolutely no need for
prayer. Why pray, in the first place if the person to whom you pray does not
hear you? The Shona people of Zimbabwe have an adage that says, “A relationship
is between two people and a third person is a spoiler.” Indeed, third parties
must not spoil that which exists between me and my God.
The Lord further says, “and when you
have shut your door, pray to your Father.” This further point to that
relationship. This a paternal relationship wherein God has fatherly rights over
you and you enjoy all rights accruing to a child. Notice this important aspect
of prayer. Shut the door behind you so that you are away
from the meddling crowd and you remain with your God in secret. When you are alone
with your God, you will show off to no one. This was Christ’s secret. Luke 5:16
reads, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (NIV) It was his
habit to pray alone and away from the public.
