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. Matthew 6:6

Jesus prayed. He prayed constantly. Jesus prayed to bless bread which He broke with His disciples. He prayed in the night hours and to escape the crushing multitudes. He prayed aloud to His Father before calling forth Lazarus. He agonized in prayer in Gethsemane. He prayed on the cross. His disciples watched Him pray and asked Him to teach them.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus challenged the hypocritical practices of the Pharisees who prayed for show. Prayer for them was a public stage of hypocritical piety for their hearts were open sepulchers. The Lord commands very specifically not to be like them. “You shall not be like the hypocrites who stand on street corner. You shall not babble repeatedly like the heathens.” In other words, Jesus says prayer is not to be a spectacle where we draw attention to ourselves. It then becomes idolatrous self worship which is an abomination to the Lord.

Instead Jesus instructs:

Go into your room.

Close the door.

Pray to your Father who is unseen.

Much is written about “prayer in the secret place,” a room or closet or nook where we can literally shut the door and pray. In this hectic, distracting, always connected age where something constantly grabs for attention, having a personal secret place to pray is important. In the mornings I take my coffee, go into my office and shut the door. I am blessed to have such a private place.

Jesus did not have an office- bedroom to pray in. He was constantly crushed and jostled and moved around by the multitude. The itinerant disciples didn’t have prayer closets with doors that could be shut. In the crowded noisy culture of Galilee and Jerusalem, privacy was impossible and unheard of. Even in Mary and Martha’s home, there would have been no space for Jesus to be by Himself. Yes, it is wonderful to have a definite place in our homes to pray but it is not about the space or place. It’s to go up on the mountain in His Spirit to seek the Father.

Jesus’ teaching on prayer in this chapter of Matthew challenged the Pharisees and then went a step further. Prayer does not belong to any of the Pharisees or today’s version of them. Jesus says that everyone already has a room to pray and a door to open and close. The secret place is the heart of men. Jesus’ prayer transpires in the heart where only the Father can see what is done in secret. Once you’ve entered there, shut the door. That is, close off the mind’s doorway of chatter and   distractions.   Spend time alone. Pray, seeking the Father, the Hidden One who has invited you in. Come to the Father with every heart condition which He already knows. Prayer draws you to Himself. The door closed to the world will swing open wide into the Father’s hidden, rewarding Presence.

Lord, teach us to pray like You.