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