“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6, NLT)
If you want to screw up your spiritual life, take a verse of the Bible out of context and make that verse central to your belief system. Without understanding the meaning of a verse in the context of the entire Biblical message, you can easily fail to follow God’s purpose for your life.
Take for example, the scripture for today from Matthew 6:6. This verse of the Bible seems on the surface to say that when a person prays, there should be limitations. The person who prays should be alone (“by yourself”), and in a “private” place, so that nobody knows you are there. In a cursory reading of this verse, this is absolutely without a doubt what this verse says. However, this verse is not meant to explain how to pray in all situations and for all purposes. This verse is meant to explain how to pray when you do not want act hypocritically. This verse is not saying that to be holy you should never pray with another person or in public. This would go against other scriptures in the Bible which promote public prayer or prayer with another (James 5:14-15, Acts 12:12, Acts 1:14, Acts 16:25, etc). From ancient times, the Israelites prayed together in the Temple and in synagogues. In summary, this verse must be taken in context to be understood.
If you read the whole paragraph from which this verse is drawn, the subject is about hypocritical people of faith who endeavor to look good in public. Religious hypocrites like to appear outwardly faithful to all those in hearing distance. They like to show off their faith for others to see. All to often, their faith is meant to show off, to appear righteous. This is a prideful act. To counter this, Matthew 6:6 was written to urge the faithful to take time away from public prayers in order to speak just with God. Its emphasis is on encouraging the one-to-one relationship between believer and God. This verse urges you to desire to spend private time with God MORE than desire to have others see your religiosity. This verse is meant as a correction to those who would put their faith on public display as an arrogant “act”. When you are good at public speaking or are gifted at showmanship, its all too easy to let your prayer time become a selfish show for public consumption.
Darla was interested in beauty products. She loved how they could transform a woman from ordinary into beautiful. As a help for others, she produced a few videos for her Facebook page and for YouTube about new beauty products coming out on the market. She then began to do reviews and demonstrate the best methods to apply the products. Young women praised her videos and begged for more. Darla ate up the attention and began to produce more and more content. She began to expand to other media sites like Instagram and Twitch. All the while, Darla attained quite a following. As manufacturers discovered her videos, they sent her free products for evaluation. They also began to sponsor her content.
The more Darla’s videos became popular, the more Darla changed. She began to be recognized in public. A reporter came to her home for an interview and comments. However, the more famous that Darla became, the more likes and upvotes she attained, the more she began to put emphasis on her own appearance. She would not leave her house without a perfect blend of beauty products. Several times a week, she got her hair done. Then, she had a face-lift to look younger. The more Darla worked at her appearance, the more money she made.
Over time, Darla’s personality began to change. Her friendships became more exclusive. She spent less time with her family and more time with influencers, a-list people, and political elites. As a Christian, Darla’s spiritual life also changed. She left her home church to join a church that was highly influential and elaborately decorated. She would not go to church without an expensive dress and perfectly done nails and facials and much more. Her attendance at church became a public “appearance”. She was even asked for autographs before a Christmas service. Darla’s prayer life also suffered. In her home church, she often prayed publicly. As her fame grew, she would now bow her head in reverence or say “Amen” at appropriate moments. She had a friend videotape her reciting the Lord’s Prayer at church to put on her web site. She thought it might draw in a few more Christians to her broadcasts during the holiday season.
Like Darla, its easy to fall into the trap of praying for public consumption. If you find yourself changing the words of your prayers in public to appear more righteous or more modern or more politically correct, you have a spiritual problem. When your public prayers are more concerned with looking better than being more faithful, your relationship with God will become shallow. At times like this, its better to go into the prayer closet to pray instead of becoming a showoff for your faith.
It is not uncommon for pastors and church leaders to have a problem with showmanship. It is not unusual to for people to enjoy putting on a public display of their faith. Not everyone who shares a prayer or worships publicly has an issue with public displays of faith. However, it is spiritually healthy to search your heart regularly to make sure you are not one of those who does have an issue without outward displays of faith or prayer.
Every Christian needs, at times, to openly share their faith in public. However, every Christian also needs to make sure that his or her motives for sharing faith in public are godly. If at any time you think you might be a little too self-righteous or showy in your faith, it will be time to get back into the prayer closet. You might just find that is the only place where you and God can be real with one another.
Take for example, the scripture for today from Matthew 6:6. This verse of the Bible seems on the surface to say that when a person prays, there should be limitations. The person who prays should be alone (“by yourself”), and in a “private” place, so that nobody knows you are there. In a cursory reading of this verse, this is absolutely without a doubt what this verse says. However, this verse is not meant to explain how to pray in all situations and for all purposes. This verse is meant to explain how to pray when you do not want act hypocritically. This verse is not saying that to be holy you should never pray with another person or in public. This would go against other scriptures in the Bible which promote public prayer or prayer with another (James 5:14-15, Acts 12:12, Acts 1:14, Acts 16:25, etc). From ancient times, the Israelites prayed together in the Temple and in synagogues. In summary, this verse must be taken in context to be understood.
If you read the whole paragraph from which this verse is drawn, the subject is about hypocritical people of faith who endeavor to look good in public. Religious hypocrites like to appear outwardly faithful to all those in hearing distance. They like to show off their faith for others to see. All to often, their faith is meant to show off, to appear righteous. This is a prideful act. To counter this, Matthew 6:6 was written to urge the faithful to take time away from public prayers in order to speak just with God. Its emphasis is on encouraging the one-to-one relationship between believer and God. This verse urges you to desire to spend private time with God MORE than desire to have others see your religiosity. This verse is meant as a correction to those who would put their faith on public display as an arrogant “act”. When you are good at public speaking or are gifted at showmanship, its all too easy to let your prayer time become a selfish show for public consumption.
Darla was interested in beauty products. She loved how they could transform a woman from ordinary into beautiful. As a help for others, she produced a few videos for her Facebook page and for YouTube about new beauty products coming out on the market. She then began to do reviews and demonstrate the best methods to apply the products. Young women praised her videos and begged for more. Darla ate up the attention and began to produce more and more content. She began to expand to other media sites like Instagram and Twitch. All the while, Darla attained quite a following. As manufacturers discovered her videos, they sent her free products for evaluation. They also began to sponsor her content.
The more Darla’s videos became popular, the more Darla changed. She began to be recognized in public. A reporter came to her home for an interview and comments. However, the more famous that Darla became, the more likes and upvotes she attained, the more she began to put emphasis on her own appearance. She would not leave her house without a perfect blend of beauty products. Several times a week, she got her hair done. Then, she had a face-lift to look younger. The more Darla worked at her appearance, the more money she made.
Over time, Darla’s personality began to change. Her friendships became more exclusive. She spent less time with her family and more time with influencers, a-list people, and political elites. As a Christian, Darla’s spiritual life also changed. She left her home church to join a church that was highly influential and elaborately decorated. She would not go to church without an expensive dress and perfectly done nails and facials and much more. Her attendance at church became a public “appearance”. She was even asked for autographs before a Christmas service. Darla’s prayer life also suffered. In her home church, she often prayed publicly. As her fame grew, she would now bow her head in reverence or say “Amen” at appropriate moments. She had a friend videotape her reciting the Lord’s Prayer at church to put on her web site. She thought it might draw in a few more Christians to her broadcasts during the holiday season.
Like Darla, its easy to fall into the trap of praying for public consumption. If you find yourself changing the words of your prayers in public to appear more righteous or more modern or more politically correct, you have a spiritual problem. When your public prayers are more concerned with looking better than being more faithful, your relationship with God will become shallow. At times like this, its better to go into the prayer closet to pray instead of becoming a showoff for your faith.
It is not uncommon for pastors and church leaders to have a problem with showmanship. It is not unusual to for people to enjoy putting on a public display of their faith. Not everyone who shares a prayer or worships publicly has an issue with public displays of faith. However, it is spiritually healthy to search your heart regularly to make sure you are not one of those who does have an issue without outward displays of faith or prayer.
Every Christian needs, at times, to openly share their faith in public. However, every Christian also needs to make sure that his or her motives for sharing faith in public are godly. If at any time you think you might be a little too self-righteous or showy in your faith, it will be time to get back into the prayer closet. You might just find that is the only place where you and God can be real with one another.