“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.”
– Matthew 6:6
Oh, this is one of my favorite verses in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:6 Teaches of God’s Rewards for Those Who Pray
Jesus is warning people about practicing deeds of righteousness, religious actions to be seen by others. He says, “When you pray, go in your room, shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret,” like nobody else but you and God, “and your father who sees in secret will reward you.” That’s a promise. That every single day there is reward waiting for you and me in a room alone with the Father.
Just think about that reward. Is this not a picture of God’s love for you and me? And he says, I want to give you a reward every single day. I want you to enjoy me. I want you to receive reward from my hand in my presence, just you and me. Even the thought that today I, you can spend time alone with the God of the universe, that He will listen to you, share, unburden your heart before him, that he will speak to you by His word and his spirit, that you and I have the privilege of communion with God alone today, and not just communion with him, but reward from him.
Matthew 6:6 Reminds Us We Should Ask God for His Graceful Rewards
So God, we pray, help us to take advantage of the reward that you have made possible for us. Lord Jesus, we praise you for the privilege of communion with you. We praise you for the reward that is found in being alone with you. So help us all, every single one of us, to prioritize this over and above everything else in our lives, going into the room today, some room someplace, closing the door and spending time alone with you. God, we praise you for this privilege that that is. Jesus, we praise you for making it possible, and we pray that you would help us to experience the fullness of this reward on a daily basis.
Praying for the Agariya People of India
God, we pray for the Agariya people of India and Pakistan who don’t know this reward. They’ve never heard the good news of Jesus, who’s made this kind of relationship with you possible. None of them have been reached with the gospel. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Agariya people, that they might experience the reward that you have made them for.
God, we praised you for the privilege we have in a room alone with you to participate with you in what you are doing around the world, among people groups in India, in Pakistan. Hear our prayers and show, shower your reward among the peoples of the world, specifically the Agariya of India and Pakistan. God, we praise you for this privilege and we pray that you would help us to experience it every day, enjoy it every day to the full. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Matthew 6:6 and your promise there to us. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
