Chapter 15 - The Hiddenness of Prayer
Mat 6:5 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.
Mat 6:6 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.
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Bonhoeffer- 'The disciples pray only because they are followers of Christ and have fellowship with him. Only those who, like them, adhere to Jesus have access to the Father through him. All Christian prayer affords direct access to the Father. Only through Jesus Christ can we find the Father in prayer. Christian prayer presupposes faith, that is, adherence to Christ. He is the one and only Mediator of our prayers. We pray at his command, and to that word Christian prayer is always bound. '
My thoughts- TRUTH.
1Ti_2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
Bonhoeffer- 'Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.'
'Where is the innermost chamber Jesus is thinking of where I can hide, if I cannot be sure of myself? How can I lock it so well that no audience spoils the anonymity of prayer and thus robs me of the reward of hidden prayer? How are we to be protected from ourselves, and our own premeditations? How are we to drive out reflection by reflecting? The ONLY way is by mortifying our own wills which are always obtruding themselves. And the only way to do this is by letting Christ alone reign in our hearts, by surrendering our wills completely to him, by living in fellowship with Jesus and by following him. Then we can pray that his will may be done, the will of him who knows our needs before we ask. Only then is our prayer certain, strong and pure. And then prayer is really and truly petition. The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of the Father.'
My thoughts-
Selflessness.
God knows our needs.
Mat 6:8 '... your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. '
Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
'Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'
We love to doubt, we doubt all the time. Saying, "I doubt that…" is common place. When it comes to doubting God we reveal our lack of faith and it is our faith that pleases Him.
Heb_11:6 'But without faith it is impossible to please him…'
So there you are faced with one tragedy after another and ultimately you end up on the street with only the clothes on your back and shoes on your feet and nothing else. You've lost everything. You haven't a clue where your next meal is coming from. In fact you haven't eaten in over two days. Can you still have faith in God? Has He truly clothed you? Fed you? Given you something to drink? You've never been more thirsty than you are at this moment. So what's happening? You thought you had faith, you trusted God and yet there you are. This verse keeps playing over and over in your mind.
Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
And you just want to cry because you know that doubting in the face of your tragic situation is all you want to do. You don't understand. You don't know what to do. Will you die of hunger and thirst? What does it mean if you do? That you didn't have enough faith? That you doubted too much?
How many people truly do suffer and die with those verses on their lips? We, of course, have no way of knowing really. So where is the answer? We know God doesn't lie. So maybe in a way we cannot even begin to comprehend, that death was the path they were meant to take.
We can bring up countless numbers of scenarios of horrific lives and deaths, and then hear people say God lies, He didn't provide for their needs. But He knows their eternal need far better than we ever will. If they are His they'll believe that whatever the cost it isn't too great to sacrifice for their God.
Doubting.
This is something we REALLY need to pay attention to.
We are told not to be of a doubtful mind.
Our Father knows what we have need of way more than we do. We might think we know, but we are often mistaken. We might think that new house is what we need most, but it might not be. Sometimes we get various promptings that something isn't exactly God's will and yet because we want that thing, we go ahead anyway and say consequences be damned. We truly need to ask for God's will to be done, NOT our very faulty wills.
When Bonhoeffer talks about the hiddenness of prayer it truly is a hiddenness not only from outward showing off, but inward boasting. It's God and God only through our Mediator Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He prayed to the Father and He never made a great show of it, never. In fact more often than not, He went 'off' to pray in solitary. He prayed for the Father's will, only wanting His Father's will to be done in Him. Our Savior had to divest Himself of His immortality so He could die. His faith was in His Father, faith that He would do His will.
Our faith must be to do God's will in all things!
All by HIS grace, HIS mercy, HIS love!
Mat 6:5 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.
Mat 6:6 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.
Mat 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mat 6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Bonhoeffer- 'The disciples pray only because they are followers of Christ and have fellowship with him. Only those who, like them, adhere to Jesus have access to the Father through him. All Christian prayer affords direct access to the Father. Only through Jesus Christ can we find the Father in prayer. Christian prayer presupposes faith, that is, adherence to Christ. He is the one and only Mediator of our prayers. We pray at his command, and to that word Christian prayer is always bound. '
My thoughts- TRUTH.
1Ti_2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
Bonhoeffer- 'Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.'
'Where is the innermost chamber Jesus is thinking of where I can hide, if I cannot be sure of myself? How can I lock it so well that no audience spoils the anonymity of prayer and thus robs me of the reward of hidden prayer? How are we to be protected from ourselves, and our own premeditations? How are we to drive out reflection by reflecting? The ONLY way is by mortifying our own wills which are always obtruding themselves. And the only way to do this is by letting Christ alone reign in our hearts, by surrendering our wills completely to him, by living in fellowship with Jesus and by following him. Then we can pray that his will may be done, the will of him who knows our needs before we ask. Only then is our prayer certain, strong and pure. And then prayer is really and truly petition. The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of the Father.'
My thoughts-
Selflessness.
God knows our needs.
Mat 6:8 '... your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. '
Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
'Neither be ye of doubtful mind.'
We love to doubt, we doubt all the time. Saying, "I doubt that…" is common place. When it comes to doubting God we reveal our lack of faith and it is our faith that pleases Him.
Heb_11:6 'But without faith it is impossible to please him…'
So there you are faced with one tragedy after another and ultimately you end up on the street with only the clothes on your back and shoes on your feet and nothing else. You've lost everything. You haven't a clue where your next meal is coming from. In fact you haven't eaten in over two days. Can you still have faith in God? Has He truly clothed you? Fed you? Given you something to drink? You've never been more thirsty than you are at this moment. So what's happening? You thought you had faith, you trusted God and yet there you are. This verse keeps playing over and over in your mind.
Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
And you just want to cry because you know that doubting in the face of your tragic situation is all you want to do. You don't understand. You don't know what to do. Will you die of hunger and thirst? What does it mean if you do? That you didn't have enough faith? That you doubted too much?
How many people truly do suffer and die with those verses on their lips? We, of course, have no way of knowing really. So where is the answer? We know God doesn't lie. So maybe in a way we cannot even begin to comprehend, that death was the path they were meant to take.
We can bring up countless numbers of scenarios of horrific lives and deaths, and then hear people say God lies, He didn't provide for their needs. But He knows their eternal need far better than we ever will. If they are His they'll believe that whatever the cost it isn't too great to sacrifice for their God.
Doubting.
This is something we REALLY need to pay attention to.
We are told not to be of a doubtful mind.
Our Father knows what we have need of way more than we do. We might think we know, but we are often mistaken. We might think that new house is what we need most, but it might not be. Sometimes we get various promptings that something isn't exactly God's will and yet because we want that thing, we go ahead anyway and say consequences be damned. We truly need to ask for God's will to be done, NOT our very faulty wills.
When Bonhoeffer talks about the hiddenness of prayer it truly is a hiddenness not only from outward showing off, but inward boasting. It's God and God only through our Mediator Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He prayed to the Father and He never made a great show of it, never. In fact more often than not, He went 'off' to pray in solitary. He prayed for the Father's will, only wanting His Father's will to be done in Him. Our Savior had to divest Himself of His immortality so He could die. His faith was in His Father, faith that He would do His will.
Our faith must be to do God's will in all things!
All by HIS grace, HIS mercy, HIS love!
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