Thursday, July 19, 2012

Public Rewards of Private Prayer

UV 467/10,000 Mathew 6 v 6 Secret Prayers are rewarded openly Mat 6:6 “ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” Prayer connects the consciousness of man with the consciousness of his Creator-God at the deepest level. It is not in acts of public display of piety or religious activity that the Lord’s favour is won but in the intimacy of our private and personal moments with Him where we close the doors but open our hearts to Him. We ask Him to look inside our hearts and cleanse us from within. We ask Him to see the things that burden our hearts and ask Him to lighten the load. While we do this, we express our highest and deepest love for Him. We recall His commandments and promises to us and pledge to obey Him. Jesus took time off from His public ministry to spend time alone with the Father. There are many secrets we share with the Lord in prayer- issues that we might never be able to share with another human being. Only when the answers from the Lord come will others come to know what our problems, aims and goals were. This is the private victory that precedes public victory that Stephen Covey the management guru talked and wrote about. Our faithful prayers are a private victory as we overcame our own spiritual lethargy, doubt and fear to make known our petitions to the Lord. We receive public victory when the Lord answers our prayers. Personal prayer is one of the most important aspects of our personal relationship with God. It is through prayer we begin to and continue to taste the reality and goodness of God in our daily lives. It is said the Lord inclines or leans His ear towards us to hear the prayers we make in the privacy of our rooms. The rewards of consistent personal prayer are an ever deepening intimacy with God and amazing answers to daunting questions, challenges and problems we face in life. Prateep V Philip

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