But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 (CSB)
Saturday Jesus described the wrong way to pray. Praying to impress the people watching. Now He gives the right way.
Find a private room. Shut the door. Talk to God there.
The reason is in the verse. God sees what happens in secret. Nobody else knows we prayed. He does. The door shuts everyone out except the one we came to talk to.
We know the pull of the opposite. Praying our best prayers when someone can hear them. Wanting the people around us to know we pray. That turns prayer into a show. With the door shut, there’s no audience.
Two things this does not mean. Praying with other people is still good. The first church prayed together in one room (Acts 1). And the reward is not a paycheck. God is a Father being good to His child, not a boss paying wages.
So this week we find a private space. A quiet room before the house wakes up. A parked car. And we pray there, and tell no one. God will know. That is the whole point.
One more thing. There was a room in God’s temple nobody could enter, blocked by a heavy curtain. When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain ripped from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). His death opened the way to God. The door to the Father is open because of Jesus.