Matthew 6:7

"But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

Key Reflection

This passage emphasizes the importance of private prayer, highlighting that true devotion should be intimate and undisturbed. Jesus teaches that God, who sees in secret, values genuine, heartfelt communication, promising open and rewarding acknowledgment for such prayers.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 7. Use not vain repetitions. The original word here is supposed to be derived from the name of a Greek poet, who made long and weary verses, declaring, by many forms and endless repetitions, the same sentiment. Hence it means to repeat a thing often, to say the same thing in different words, or to repeat the same words, as though God did not hear at first. An example of this we have in 1 Ki 18:26: "They Called on Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us;"* The heathen do. The original word is one commonly translated Gentile. The world was divided into two parts, the Jews and the Gentiles; that is, in the original, the "nations," the nations destitute of the true religion.

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