Moment With The Master
“Successful Prayer”
Categories: Moment With The Master"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. (Matthew 6:5-6)
Successful prayer is not an exercise of self-importance, but an expression child-like faith to the Father. It is to be offered out of recognition of dependence. Consider three features of successful prayer.
It may sound redundant, but successful prayer must be devoted to God. Making God the sole object of prayer frees us from the temptation of ostentation and selfishness. We must pray to the Father and shut out the world. We must put to death our own will and surrender completely to the will of God.
Successful prayer must not be for show. This is especially the temptation of those who lead public prayer. However, it could be just as detrimental for one who brags about their private prayers. This custom was apparently common among the hypocritical Pharisees who prayed to impress men. In prayer one must never assume a position of self-promotion.
Thus, successful prayer is to be performed in the closet. Prayer is to be private even when one leads a public prayer. The closet is the heart of the one praying. Jesus says “shut the door” and “pray in secret”. This action is designed to shut out the distractions and temptations of the world, and to completely focus on the will of God.
Successful prayer is an act of submission. One must never use prayer to gain the approval men, nor must one use it to selfishly solicit God’s blessings. But, one must humbly petition God alone that God and God alone might give us what he wishes.
George Slover
