Tuesday

Related Verses
Matt. 6:1, 6
1 But take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Isa. 45:15
15 Surely You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.

Matt. 6:17-18
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 So that you may not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Col. 3:3-4
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

1 John 3:2
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we will be. We know that if He is manifested, we will be like Him because we will see Him even as He is.

Related Reading
The genuine growth in life is to cut off the self…We should pray much yet not let others know how much we pray. This is healthy. If you pray every day without telling others or letting them know about it, it means that you are healthy and that you are growing. However, suppose you always tell others how much you pray. If you do this, you will not only lose your reward, but you will not grow in life or be healthy. We all must admit that we have the subtle self, the subtle flesh, within us…When we pray alone in our room, we often wish that others could hear us. Likewise, we do our righteous deeds with the intention that others could see them. Such desires and intentions are not healthy; they indicate that we are not growing in life…If you want to grow and be healthy in the spiritual life, you must slay the self in the doing of righteous deeds. No matter what kind of righteous deeds we do—giving material things to the saints, praying, fasting, doing something to please God—we must try our best to do them in secret. If your righteous deeds are in secret, you may be assured that you are growing in life and are healthy. But any time you exhibit yourself in your righteous deeds, you are not healthy. Such an exhibition greatly frustrates your growth in life. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 244-245) 

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The universe indicates that God is hidden, that God is secret. Although He has done a great many things, people are not aware that He has done them. We may have seen the things done by God, but none of us has ever seen Him, for He is always hidden, always secret. God’s life is of such a secret and hidden nature. If we love others by our own life, this life will seek to make a display of itself before men. But if we love others by the love of God, this love will always remain hidden…A hypocrite is one who has an outward manifestation without having anything within. Everything he has is merely an outward show; there is no reality inwardly. This is absolutely contrary to God’s nature and to His hidden life. Although God has so much within Him, only a little is manifested. If we live by this divine life, we may pray much, but others will not know how much we have prayed. We may give a great deal to help others, but no one will know how much we give. We may fast often, but this also will not be known by others…This is the nature of the kingdom people in the doing of their righteous deeds. 

When the worldly ones donate a hundred dollars, they advertise it, making it appear that they have given a much greater amount. But when we Christians give a hundred dollars, it is better that we only let others know that we have given a dime. We do more than what is visible to others. We can never practice this kind of giving in our natural life. It is possible only in the divine life, the life that does not enjoy making a show. This is the crucial point in this portion of the Word. 

If we are serious about being the kingdom people, we must learn to live by the hidden life of our Father. We must not live by our natural life, which is always making a display of itself. If we live by our Father’s hidden life, we will do many things without making any public show of them. Rather, all that we do will be in secret, hidden from the eyes of others. The biographies of many saints reveal that they did certain things in secret, things that often were not made known until after they had died. 

Our prayer should be in secret…The kingdom people must have some experience of prayer in their private room, contacting their heavenly Father in secret, experiencing some secret enjoyment of the Father, and receiving some secret answer from Him. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 245-246, 248) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msg. 27