The very best place to prove that God is God is behind the closed door of prayer. This is a place of secrecy, where God and you are the only ones present and where you can honestly and confidently communicate your petitions and decrees. Your faith is best tested in this secret place because then God, and God alone, who hears, can respond to bring reward.
The human and fleshly alternative includes demonstrating in public how good a prayer warrior one is. This might include assuring everyone else knows how much time he spends in prayer and even how much he knows about prayer. Indeed, as Jesus points out, they have their reward. Also included in the carnal approach is an over-emphasis on letting everyone know their needs. Though there is a place for sharing needs with others, and thereby a mutual sharing of burdens, often times this extreme approach is a manipulation of both God and others to make sure their prayers and petitions get an answer. Thereby they assure their own self-focused success through scheming and in actual fact have more faith in themselves than they do in God.
A true prayer warrior does not involve himself in such things and is not motivated by worry. His extreme confidence in God alone keeps him praying and the way things look around him, good or bad, have little or no effect on his commitment to prayer. Strengthening our commitment to prayer is needed for the sake of God’s kingdom. The rewards of such commitment are immeasurable, and it will take someone willing to shut a door behind him or her on a regular basis if they want to see results.
The lonely quiet of a prayer closet then becomes the launch pad for God’s release of power and influence on the unredeemed, on the sick, on the needy, on the characterless, on the family, on the church, on the city, on the state, on the world.
Your prayers and mine, in the secret place of prayer, releases God to show His power and to express His own great glory.
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