Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
Matthew 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.”
Without spending time with the Lord, there is no possibility for us to experience a solid transformation.
And this time must be a private time with the Lord.
The Lord makes this clear in Matthew 6.
Beginning in verse 5 He says, “And 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. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
The Lord points out here that the Pharisees were hypocrites because the motivation behind their kind of praying was to be seen of men.
Then in verse 6 He says, “But you, when you pray, go into your private room.”
The Greek word for private room can also be translated “inner chamber.”
The King James Version renders it “closet.”
All these translations–the private room, the inner chamber, and the closet–signify a personal, private time in a private place.
In the verse above the Lord gives still further detailed instruction.
After you go into your private room, “shut your door.”
Shutting the door is a reinforcement of privacy, of aloneness with the Lord.
And then He says, “pray to your Father who is in the secret place.”
There is a deep significance in having a private time in a private place, and that is, that our transformation would be genuine and not something hypocritical.
It should not be a performance.
In our private time with the Lord, no one else is there.
We open ourself to the Lord deeply, without any pretense, without any hypocrisy, without being motivated by any onlookers.
There is no one else there saying anything or knowing anything.
This means our Christian life is taken out of the realm of man-pleasing and mere outward behavior, and is brought into the reality of an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord.
Until Tomorrow
With A Shepherd’s Love,
Pastor Jackson
WEDNESDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Dan Haines
Gerri Atkinson
Terrell Loyd
Jodi Bateman
David Burnette
Dwight Byrd
Daniel Cooper
Sandy Paschal
Amy Garner
Lamar Knight
Jim Mabe
Charlene Palmer
Lorraine Elliott
Eric Ward
Dr. and Mrs. Davis
Sandra Graham
Doris Loyd
June Cronan
Jillian Gray
Amy Garner’s Mom & Dad
Brandon’s Dad
David Harrison
Denise Hulsey – Jordan’s G’mother
Easton Fielder
Erik Magusson
Freddie May’s Mom
George & Linda Alexander
James Burnette
June Cronan’s Sister
John Austin
John McClain
Lillanna Magnusson’s Mom
Linda Hodges’ Sister
Michael Stanley
Ricky Gipson – Ashley’s Brother
Rose Fuller
Scott Nix
Tom Witcher
James Garner’s Friend
Kim McClain’s Mother
Lonzo Christin
Ashely Burn’s Sisters
Coly/Connor – Allison’s G’sons
Larry Barker
Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah
Mary Sims
Marynell Ford
Pastor & Mrs. Driskell
Ricky Stubbs
Roseleigh Osborn
Scott Lanier