The Secret Place of Prayer

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“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. 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.”

Matthew 6:5–6

Though there is certainly a place for public and corporate prayer, and I have been in some wonderful prayer meetings in my life, there is no substitute for personal private petitions to our Father in Heaven. The praying that we do in public can never carry the depth of emotion and feeling that our private prayers have. The Scottish pastor Thomas Brooks said, “The power of religion and godliness lives, thrives, or dies, as closet [private] prayer lives, thrives, or dies. Godliness never rises to a higher pitch than when men keep closest to their closets.”

Prayer—prevailing, powerful, Bible prayer—is a spiritual discipline. It requires an investment of time, energy and emotion. A few words in a Sunday school class or a church service are no substitute for meaningful and personal time spent with God. We need to make prayer a habit just as Jesus did. Again and again in Scripture we read that He separated Himself from His disciples to spend time with His Father in prayer. Often Jesus was extremely busy with the crowds pressing in to see Him and teaching and healing, so He began the day with prayer. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). There is no more important priority that we have as believers than to spend time with God in prayer.

Today's Growth Principle
If your life is marked by time spent alone with God in prayer, it will also be marked by His power.

Old Testament Reading

Psalm 72-73

PSALM 72

A Psalm for Solomon.

¹ Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son.

² He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. ³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. ⁴ He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. ⁵ They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. ⁶ He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. ⁷ In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. ⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. ⁹ They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. ¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. ¹¹ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. ¹² For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. ¹³ He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. ¹⁴ He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. ¹⁵ And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. ¹⁶ There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. ¹⁷ His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

¹⁸ Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. ¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. ²⁰ The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

PSALM 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

¹ Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. ² But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. ³ For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴ For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. ⁵ They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. ⁶ Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. ⁷ Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. ⁸ They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. ⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. ¹⁰ Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. ¹¹ And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? ¹² Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. ¹³ Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. ¹⁴ For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

¹⁵ If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. ¹⁶ When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; ¹⁷ Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. ¹⁸ Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. ¹⁹ How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. ²⁰ As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

²¹ Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. ²² So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. ²³ Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. ²⁴ Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. ²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. ²⁶ My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. ²⁷ For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. ²⁸ But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

New Testament Reading

Romans 9:1-15

¹ I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, ² That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. ³ For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: ⁴ Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; ⁵ Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

⁶ Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: ⁷ Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. ⁸ That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. ⁹ For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. ¹⁰ And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; ¹¹ (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) ¹² It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. ¹³ As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. ¹⁵ For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 7

¹ My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. ² Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. ³ Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. ⁴ Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: ⁵ That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. ⁶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, ⁷ And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, ⁸ Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, ⁹ In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: ¹⁰ And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. ¹¹ (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: ¹² Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) ¹³ So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, ¹⁴ I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. ¹⁵ Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. ¹⁶ I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. ¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. ¹⁹ For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: ²⁰ He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. ²¹ With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. ²² He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; ²³ Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. ²⁴ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. ²⁵ Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. ²⁶ For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. ²⁷ Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.