21 Days of Prayer & Fasting | Day 11

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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 6:5-6

God prospers the humble, and humbles the proud. Prayer done for the sake of those watching is seldom fruitful. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus tells us that the closed-room, humble
prayer done in secret will be rewarded eternally.

Prayer done in order to garner people’s positive attention might perhaps gain us that positive
attention, but it will not gain us the attentive ear of a Holy God who despises pride. And by
bringing attention and worship to ourselves in our pride, we furthermore distance ourselves
from God.

Are you frequently noticing that the only time you pray is in front of people? Have you established ‘behind doors’ closet time with the Lord? Is your prayer promoting you?

Corporate prayer is a marvelous thing, but if all of your prayer is done corporately, you cannot
experience the fullness of an active, personal prayer life.

Prayer Challenge:

Pray today for God to reveal to you instances in your life when you have used prayer to boast about the fact that you seek Him. As the Spirit reveals, repent of this pride and ask God to give you the sensitivity to know if you are guilty of praying the “haughty prayer.”

Continue to pray in the spot you picked out to meet with God on day 4; if you were not able to establish that habit on day 4, try to do so today.