Ephesians 2:22

22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Matthew 6:5-6

5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 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.

Matthew 6:6

6 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.

1. Religion is relating to God through systems instead of relationship

2. Religion is doing things for God instead of living with God

3. Religion is external obedience without internal communion

4. Religion is managing God rather than knowing Him

5. Religion is substituting practices for presence

Matthew 14:23

"After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone."

Matthew 26:39 (Gethsemane, first prayer)

"…he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed…"

Matthew 26:42 (Gethsemane, second prayer)

"Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed…"

Matthew 26:44 (Gethsemane, third prayer)

"So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time…"

Mark 1:35

"And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed."

Mark 6:46

"And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray."

Mark 14:32 (Gethsemane)

"And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed…"

Mark 14:39 (Gethsemane)

"And again he went away and prayed…"

Luke 5:16

"But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray."

Luke 6:12

"In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God."

Luke 9:18

"Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him…"

Luke 9:28 (Transfiguration w/ Peter, James, and John)

"He went up on the mountain to pray."

Luke 11:1

"Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished…"

Luke 11:1 (Gethsemane)

"And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed…"

John 6:15

"Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself."

Jesus is not coming against the prayer closet. Jesus is not coming against early morning prayer. Jesus IS against the Spirit of religion that robs Christians of enjoying Him, and that which attempts to box HIM into room.

God is not interested in being contained to your quiet time; He wants your time.

Prayer uses “words” but its more than words. Prayer involves “places” but its more than a place. Prayer is giving God TOTAL ACCESS. Anytime, anyplace, with or without words, and with or without anyone else.

THREE MYTHES TO SECRET PRAYER:

1. REMOVAL

Matthew 14:23

“After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”

We fall into the myth of removal when we think prayer begins when _________ ends.

2. SUPERSTITION

Mark 6:46

"And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray."

Superstition: a belief or practice based on fear, magic, luck, or the unknown, linking unrelated events or objects to good or bad fortune

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Matthew 23:5

5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,

We fall into the myth of superstition when we think prayer can only happen if ___________.

3. PENANCE

Penance: voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.

Luke 15:19

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.

We fall into the myth of penance when we think that we need to pray in order to ____________, or we cannot pray until we've _______________.

Psalm 51:6

6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Psalm 51:16-17

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

THREE BIG REALITIES TO SECRET PRAYER:

1. COMMUNION

John 10:30

30 I and the Father are one."

Ephesians 2:22

22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

"Prayer is talking to God about what we are doing together."

Dallas Willard

2. AWARENESS

"The presence of God is the only true joy of the soul; without this, the soul is in darkness though surrounded with delights."

Thomas Watson

1 Thessalonians 5:4-6

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

3. ACTION

"Prayer is the act in which we put ourselves in a position to be acted upon by God."

Eugene Peterson

Matthew 26:44

"So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time…"