“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:6-7)
Journal Entry
“In His description of the model prayer Jesus also includes the ideal setting/atmosphere. You can spend time with God anywhere, at any time; however, whether or not it’s quality time is up to you. He also highlights the fact that God doesn’t want to hear recycled prayers: He wants to hear from you.
Father, help me to close the door of my mind in the same way I close the door of my room. So often I feel like I’m spending time with You, but I’m not 100% present. I’m usually in a rush or distracted by the day ahead. I want to have quality time with You, as opposed to ‘checklist’ time with You.”
Commentary
One of the things I find frustrating is when I can’t get in contact with someone that I need at that precise moment. It’s no use you calling me after the fact… I had to make an executive decision without you, so it’ll be almond instead of soya milk!
The one thing you could never accuse God of is being absent. When you need Him, you know exactly where to find Him: the secret place. Although it isn’t somewhere you physically have access to, you can still connect with Him through prayer. It doesn’t make sense how He can be equally present for the millions of people who require His attention. But He is. Always.
You rob yourself of an authentic connection with the person who loves you the most by over-complicating, or undervaluing, prayer.
At it’s core, prayer is simply talking to your Father. Bear in mind that He’s always willing to give you His undivided attention for an unlimited amount of time. Yet, so often we designate a set amount of time to offload briefly, or waffle superficially, before taking matters into our own hands. He wants YOU! The very next verse says He already knows your needs: you’re not telling Him anything groundbreaking. He just wants you to be as open and engaged as He is towards you.
So…
God is a father who yearns to connect with His children one-to-one. Intimately. In the previous verse, Jesus berates the Pharisees for missing the point because they were praying ‘for show.’ You can’t weary Him (Isaiah 40:28), so what do you have to lose by taking the time to be real and present?
Notice: This section of the blog (Father) was actually from my devotions in September-October. The previous posts didn’t capture the essence of what I was trying to communicate (see Because My Father Said So) in the way I wanted; therefore, I’ll mainly be commenting on my mini journal entries in future Father posts.
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