Matthew 6:6 (ESV)
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.
I
want you to think about this. There are people praying for you… praying for me,
that we don’t know about. They don’t
tell us. They do what Jesus says here in
Matthew 6. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your
Father who is in secret. For me,
that is a very humbling thing to remember.
Before I start patting my back about being a good preacher, or teacher
or pastor – I need to remember that these unseen prayer partners are lifting me
up in prayer. If I really am any of
those things – its not my doing. It’s
the fact that God in His grace is answering those secret prayers.
This
came to mind today because of something I read in a great book on Prayer by O
Hallesby. For my blog today I would like
to share with you a couple of snippets from that book.
“The greater part
of the work of intercession is, of course, done in secret; and work of this
kind requires the expenditure of greater effort than work that can be seen by
others. It is astonishing to see how
much it means to us to have others see what we do. It is not only that we all have a great
weakness for the praise of others, but the fact that our work is appreciated
and valued is a remarkable stimulant to us.
Furthermore, we
all love to see the results from our labors.
But the work of prayer is of such a nature that it is impossible for us
always to know definitely whether what happens is a fruit of our own
intercession or that of others.
Both of these
facts call for a great deal of self-denial in connection with prayer.
That is why it is
difficult for the Lord to get enough people to carry on this work. It is easy enough to get people to
preach. Many are anxious to preach and offended
if not asked to do so. And we are asked
to do so, are so zealous that when we once get into the pulpit it is difficult
to get us out again. But there are not
many who are willing to take upon themselves the self-denying work connected
with prayer, because it is neither seen nor appreciated by others.
You may perhaps
have prayed for some unconverted people in your neighborhood, perhaps for many
years. Then a revival starts in your
neighborhood, and the first one to be converted are the very ones for whom you
have been praying so faithfully. No one besides yourself, however, knows
anything about that. You have kept it,
as is right and proper, a secret between yourself and God. Consequently, no one talks about what you
have been doing. But the name of the
preacher who has spoken at the meetings is, on the other hand, on everybody’s
lips. All are loud in their praises of
him and say, ‘My, what a great evangelist!”
My friend, when
you begin to grow tired of the quiet, unnoticed work of praying then remember
that He who seeth in secret shall reward you openly. He has heard your prayers, and He knows exactly
what you have accomplished by means of them, for the salvation of souls…
Though they lay
unseen by others, nevertheless they are centers of spiritual power, and by
their simple and persevering prayers they were
the chief supporters of the Christian work which was being done in their
neighborhood, their community, their country and even to the ends of the
earth.
Every time I meet
one of these unseen intercessors, I am reminded of a great electric power
plant. They, too, are often hidden away in some secluded valley. But they are, nevertheless, exceedingly important,
a fact which we become aware of especially when they do not function. When that happens, our homes are darkened,
and our factories come to a standstill.”
P. 163-165
To
all of you who are unseen intercessors, especially those of you who pray for me
– thank you and thanks be to God. Your work
is important. I may not know who you are,
but you do, and so does the Lord Jesus.
