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When You Pray

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The Prayer Filled Life - The Prayer Filled Life - Day 77 - Matthew 6-5-8 - When You Pray - Growing As Disciples

The Prayer Filled Life – The Prayer Filled Life – Day 77 – Matthew 6-5-8 – When You Pray – Growing As Disciples

“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 men. I tell you the truth, 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.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:5-8 (NIV)

Shut The Door

Why is that important? Why is what important? Why is it important that you go into your room, shut the door, and pray to me? That sounds like withdrawing from the noise and busyness of the world. That looks like setting a very specific time and place to meet with you. That no doubt has a very clear purpose and agenda in mind of meeting with you. That involves developing an intimate relationship with you. That requires a clear priority and definite commitment from me.  You are correct in your thinking. All your thoughts are right on target.

Will you set aside a daily time to go into your room, shut the door, and pray to me? How is that for a very clear and specific question for you to answer? Yes, I will meet with you in prayer. I will withdraw from the noise and busyness of the world so that I can hear from you. I will develop an intimate relationship with you. I will seek you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. I will make my wants and needs know to you. I will tell you what is on my heart and in my mind. I will listen attentively to all that you have to say to me. To meet with you, in this way, is not burdensome to me. I want to love and follow and serve you with all that is within me. There is no place I would rather be than in your presence. There nothing I would rather do than live a life of intimacy with you. I want to know you. I want you to know me. Then we both want the same thing.

What will happen to you when you make it your daily practice to meet with me in prayer? I will more passionately come to know and love and follow and serve you. I will begin to pray prayers that you can hear and answer. I will more powerfully live the life that you have called me to live. This life will be rewarding both now and favor. You will do in and through me what only you can do. You will make me able to bear fruit for your kingdom and bring glory to your name. You will help me to store up treasure in heaven with you. Yes, all these things will be true as you live an intimate life of prayer with me. Thank you, Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, I will go into my room, shut the door, and meet with you in secret times of prayer. I will make my needs know to you. I will humbly get to the point. I will not use an abundance of words. Teach me how to pray as I meet with you. Amen

Key Question…  When are you going into your room, shutting your door, and praying to your Heavenly Father?

Living It Out…  Make it your daily private practice to meet in secret, private prayer, with your Heavenly Father.

Seeing It Happen…  Have faith that you will be rewarded for meeting in secret, private prayer with your Heavenly Father.

Get Ready To Share…  Share with another person or your small group how your private prayer time with your Heavenly Father is developing.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Heavenly Father.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Devotional Study Guide click here

The Prayer Filled Life – Day 77 – Matthew 6-5-8 – When You Pray – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

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By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                                                        Copying not permitted                                                                                    http://www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Pray To Your Father

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Prayer - Pray To Your Father - Matthew 6:6 - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Prayer – Pray To Your Father – Matthew 6:6 – Growing As Disciples

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 6:6 (NIV)

In Secret

Here I am Father. I have shut the door to my room. There are no distractions. I have closed myself off to all the noise and demands of the world. This time we have together has been carved out of my schedule and set aside for the sole purpose of meeting with you. At first it was a challenge to make this time to be with you a regular practice in my life, but now it’s not at all. Why is that? For a very long time I let all the loudest voices scream for my attention. What do you mean by that? Well, there were voices of duty and my “to do” lists which demanded my attention and were never completed. I foolishly thought I didn’t have time to meet with you. Somehow, I thought that at some point I would get around to meeting with you during the day. But you usually never did. That’s right. What changed for you? I’m not sure exactly. I guess I just got weary and felt very unfruitful in my life. I was getting a lot done. But, I began to wonder how important were all the things that I was getting done. I began to ask myself, “What will all these ‘accomplishments’ add up to in light of eternity? What answer came back to you? The answer was “not much” or maybe even, “next to nothing”. So, out of a sense of futility a desire grew within me to meet privately with you. Where do you think that desire came from? I know now that you gave me this desire to withdraw from the world to a time of being with you in your presence. Yes, it was me. Tell me now how this time with me all began with you. I already know, but I want others to hear your story. 

One day it occurred to me to set aside just a few minutes to meet with you to pray and read your word every day. How did that work out? It worked great. How so? I think you guided me to select a specific time and place that could become sacred for us. When and where was that? It was in my room and just before I went to bed at night. At night, that seems a little odd, doesn’t it? Not really, I knew that nothing would ever compete with this time and place so I dedicated it and myself to meeting with you then and there. What happened then? As you know, we began to meet together every night. Out of this time, my hunger and thirst for you grew like never before. I began to taste your goodness, mercy, and love. I began to understand better your will and what you wanted to do in and through my life. What was that? You wanted to change me into the person that you had planned that I would become. Have I been doing that for you? Yes, you most certainly have. You have also been showing me how you want to use me for your kingdom and glory. I now have a sense of purpose and hope that comes from you. I now know that I am bearing fruit through my life, with your help, that will last for eternity. Do you believe that the promise of secretly meeting with me has come true for you? Have I been rewarding you as you have met with me? Yes, Father, you most certainly have been rewarding me as I have met with you. Now I would not trade our time together for anything else in all of life. It is my joy to be in your presence. Just to know you and love you is reward enough.

Father, I know that you have been waiting for me to come to you in prayer. I have been busy and distracted by many things. Sorry, that I have kept you waiting. I am here now to wait and to listen to all that you have to say to me. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Matthew 6-6 – Pray To Your Father – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                                               Copying not permitted                                                               http://www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Close The Door

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Becoming Like Christ - Day 20 - Matthew 6:6 - Close The Door - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Becoming Like Christ – Day 20 – Matthew 6:6 – Close The Door – Growing As Disciples

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 6:6 (NIV)

Time To Pray

That is exactly what I will need. What’s that? I need to close the door to the world so I can open my heart in prayer to you. That will be very good. I would like to ask you a question. Go ahead, I’m listening. Why is it necessary for you to close the door to the world so you can open your heart in prayer to me? The world is a busy and noisy place. I need to separate myself from the world so I can hear from you. I need to leave the frantic pace of life so I can slow down to listen to you. I know myself. You know me. Yes, I do. Setting aside a special time and place to meet with you in prayer is essential. Why is that? If I don’t make a firm commitment to meet with you in prayer, it won’t likely happen. I am easily distracted. Minutes and hours and days race on by me. Days become weeks and weeks become months and months become years more quickly than I could imagine. I don’t want opportunities to meet with you in prayer to race on by me. There is no place I would rather be than in your presence. There is nothing I would rather do than meet with you in prayer. I have no higher desire than to live in an intimate relationship with you. So, I will close the door to the world and open my heart to you in prayer. That is very good.

Will you always need to close the door to the world so you can open your heart in prayer to me? Will that be the only time and only place in which you will pray to me? Certainly not, it is my hope and dream and desire to live my life in a constant dialogue of prayer with you. Will there be a time when I no longer need to close the door to the world so I can open my heart in prayer to you? Will I move beyond this need? Absolutely not, I will always need to withdraw from the noise and busyness of life to meet with you in prayer. This is my starting point. In our time together you will teach and train me. In our time together I will hear from you and you will hear from me. This is where living my life in a dialogue of prayer will begin and continue and never end. So, I will always close the door to meet with you in prayer. I will carry our times together in prayer out into every moment of life. That’s good. That’s true. That’s right. Yes, you will. I will hear and answer this hope and dream and desire of yours.

Heavenly Father, I will shut the door to the world so I can open up my heart in prayer to you. Help me to leave the noise and busyness of life so that I can hear clearly from you. I want to live in an intimate relationship with you as you hear and answer my prayers. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Becoming Like Christ – Day 20 – Matthew 6-6 – Close The Door – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com