And he said to them, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Jesus felt free to pray in front of the disciples for the purpose of discipling them. But prayer for the purpose of our own personal communication with God is to be done in secret—in private. Certainly, there are other times and reasons for prayer that fit neither the category of discipleship nor intimacy with God, but regarding the public nature of these prayers, Jesus remains largely silent. He does, however, provide guidance in the Sermon on the Mount regarding which things should be public and which should remain private.
In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus compares his disciples to salt and light. As to salt, we are to make our presence known in such a way that we bring flavor to life. To understand this, it might help to take a quick look at the conclusion of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” The author of Ecclesiastes tells us that the vanities of life—wisdom, pleasure, riches, oppression, position, work, spouses, families—are dull and meaningless unless we fear God and obey his commandments. A life lived without the fear of God and in disobedience to God’s commandments is like dull meat; but if we fear God and keep his commandments, we flavor that dull meat with salt. Life becomes much more pleasant and meaningful.
As regards light, Jesus said we are to live our life in such a way as to shine out in front of others. The light we shine into the world as disciples of Jesus is the fear of God, the keeping of his commandments, and the loving of others. But this light is not our own; this light comes from the Father himself through the love in our hearts, the works of our hands, and the words of our mouth.
One of my favorite songs is “Christ Has No Body Now But Yours” sung by Josh Garrels. He has taken the words from the Inner Castle written by St. Theresa of Avila in the 1500s. She wrote, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” While some might debate fine theological points or misunderstandings of St. Theresa’s writings, I find her words a wonderful explanation of what it means to be salt and light. We, his disciples, are Christ on earth.
With these things in mind, it should be no surprise that following Jesus’ comparison of his disciples with salt and light he goes on to explain the real meaning of the Law. By fully obeying the commandments we practice our good deeds in front of others so as to glorify the Father in heaven.
Following his discussion of public salt and light, Jesus then urges his disciples to not practice their righteousness in front of others (Matthew 6:1). We might be tempted to think this a contradiction, but as Jesus defines righteousness, the apparent contradiction disappears. Jesus tells us our acts of righteousness are giving, prayer, and fasting. One of the first thing to notice is that in each instance he prefaces his comments with the words, “And when you…” These were not things he thought we might consider doing, but these were things he expected we do. Give. Pray. Fast. These are our acts of righteousness.
Jesus tells us that prayer should not be done in public for the sake of recognition. This doesn’t exclude corporate prayers or prayer at other such public gatherings, but when we spend time with the Father for own spiritual growth it should be private. In the time of Jesus—a time without social media—the easiest way to be seen praying by others was to walk about the marketplace and pray with a loud voice, deep groans, and colorful ceremonial clothing. Their god was not the Father; it was public perception. And they got their reward; people thought they were super-spiritual. But, as we know in our world with social media, public adulation lasts only until the next viral post, tweet, or video arrives, at which point the old becomes quickly irrelevant. The hypocrite’s rewards are temporary rewards washed away by a new wave of public sentiment.
In contrast to publicly praying, Jesus tells his disciples to go into their room, shut the door, and pray in secret. No tweeting or posting about your “prayer time,” your “God-time,” your “Devos.” Just do it. Secretly spend time with the Father in private and God will reward you in the way that only he can: with eternally valuable rewards.
This doesn’t invalidate prayer in front of those you are discipling or public prayer at gatherings of believers. But it does say that our personal time with God must be done in private. Group dates and double dates are fine, but real intimacy in your relationship comes when you avoid the crowds and spend time alone with the Father.
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