The Sermon on the Mount: In Secret
23 August 2025 · 1 min read · Prayer
Matthew 6 opens with a warning about religious performance: take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them. Jesus then walks through the three great disciplines — giving, praying, fasting — applying one principle to each: in secret.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
The theatre problem
The hypocrites (the word means stage-actors) gave with trumpets, prayed on corners, and fasted with disfigured faces. Verily, Jesus says with an auditor's finality, they have their reward — the applause was the whole payment; heaven owes nothing further.
The alternative is deliciously private: the left hand ignorant of the right's giving, the shut closet door, the washed and anointed fasting face. And thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.
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.
An audience of One
The question beneath all three disciplines: who is this for? Social media has multiplied the corner-praying options a thousandfold; the closet remains the same size. Secrecy is the test that purifies motive — do what no one will ever credit, and discover whether God is enough audience.
Pick one secret act this week: an anonymous gift, a hidden fast, a closet prayer. The Father sees in secret — and what he sees, he delights to reward.
