But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.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.But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
7 sermons cite this verse
… Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go to your room. When you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in this secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. When you pray, don't use vain repetitions as the heathen do, but they think they'll be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. I'll stop there. It's a tragic thing, but really, sin knows no boundaries. It can follow us to the very throne of heaven where I'm actually missing the whole point of what prayer should be. Focusing the intention upon myself. This was the problem with the Pharisees. They prayed to be seen by men. The Pharisees loved the theater of prayer. It was sort of like a performance. They would go to a street corner and stop and pray loudly and people would look, oh, look at that religious man. …
… to take the recommendation of God? And we're gonna see that in Matthew 6, verse six, when Jesus says this, but when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. If you want God, he's often found on the other side of a closed door. Shut the door, go in and seek your father. There are few conversations more frustrating to be in than trying to talk to a parent who's been tasked to watch their kids at the playground. If you want to take it up a notch, you can try a phone call with a parent who's got their kids at Costco. So, do you ever try to have a serious conversation with a parent who's watching their kids? You're like, so tell me about yourself. Tell me about your life. You're like, one second. Get back here right now. So, one more time. Oh, man, that sounds so hard. …
… your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees this in secret will reward you. Same thing down in verse 6, when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. You get to fasting, verse 17 when you fast anoint your head wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you Jesus says give in secret pray in secret fast in secret why? because it's in hiddenness it's in what happens between you and the Father alone where reward is found you see this get this our hearts were made to find joy not in receiving honor from men but in experiencing hiddenness with God your heart was made to enjoy deepest intimacy and hiddenness with God, your Father. It's in hiddenness where reward is found. Don't neglect this, brothers and sisters. …
… get when, but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not like be the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep babbling like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because there are many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Then he goes on and he gives them the Lord's prayer, which most of us are familiar with. He talks about forgiveness, but skipping ahead to verse 16. When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your father who is unseen. …
… either from people or from him. 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. This is a very significant thought that I wanna make sure we have established before we get into this prayer. Where is the father? He's in the secret place. where is his attention is to the prayers prayed in secret what does that mean it doesn't mean you have to go into your clothes closet and close the door it means that what you want to do in meeting with the father it's a relational journey you shut down all the exterior noise everything that competes for your affection everything that competes for your attention why because to build the identity as a son or a daughter with a heavenly father isn't done in busyness. It's done in focused time with the father. Something is built in the secret place, the quiet place, the alone place that you can't build anywhere else. I'm thankful that we have the privilege of praying in the craziness of life, in the busyness of life. I'm just saying there's a muscle developed, if you will, a muscle developed in our soul about identities of son and a daughter that requires quiet before father. The discovery of who he is changes how we pray. …
… Matthew 6, 6, Jesus says, But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen, then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. I love that. He says, go in your room, shut the door, and pray to your father who is unseen, who sees what is done in secret. You don't have to post it on Instagram. You don't have to create a reel or a picture with your Bible and your coffee and like a cute little quote, you know, just go into your room, shut the door and have a private moment with God. But the problem is we live in this culture where everybody wants to know everything that you've ever done. And so like, have you ever met like a marathoner before? it's all they talk about yeah i'm getting 50 miles in this week working up to 100 i got a mare next month short for marathon it's like no one says that but like it's like it's all they talk about like you can't talk about anything else it's like it just makes you feel terrible about yourself you know what i'm saying like that's how crossfit used to be until everyone started getting hurt and now we don't have to hear about crossfit anymore I don't know. …
… Verse 5. who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you're praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then in this way, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. And thinking about Father's Day, again, I was drawn to this passage because it repeatedly addresses God as Father. That's what we need to understand in its most full sense, the relationship that we enjoy with the eternal God. He is our Father. …