The three secret weapons
Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:6
Nowadays, digital culture emphasizes open and transparent images to create social influence, making being secretive an unpopular concept. Jesus, however, commands us to do three particular spiritual activities in secret, namely praying, fasting, and giving.
When we do our spiritual activities openly and out of a strong desire to be recognized and seen by men, our full reward will be from men, which will be fleeting and pointless. I picture God saying, "Done, that guy got all the attention he wants, so I don't need to reward him any further." Conversely, when we perform these activities in secret, He rewards us openly and brings true satisfaction. In addition to receiving God's reward, these three secret activities serve as powerful weapons against three primary sins: pride, lust, and greed.
Pride can lead to prayerlessness because we operate on self-sufficiency. “There's no need for me to pray about this issue because I can handle it myself.” On the other hand, a prayerful person has the humility to seek God's guidance and assistance at all times. When we kneel before God, pride has to leave us, and God promises that "he who humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:12
Fasting is the second secret weapon. It is a powerful weapon against the belly God (Phillipians 3:19) and lust. It is proven that fasting is beneficial to our health, but fasting without prayers has no spiritual significance, as it is no different from dieting. Biblical fasting is about denying our flesh and starving it so we can sanctify ourselves and devote ourselves to God and prayer. During spiritual warfare, fasting is an upgrade arsenal that destroys lust and enemy work, and God honors our fast in secret and delivers us mighty.
Finally, generosity in secret is a secret weapon that destroys greed. Greed is the strong desire to possess more, typically material possessions and power. Giving is an act of worship and acknowledgement that everything belongs to God. Showing generosity to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will reward us. (Proverbs 19:17)
Similarly, our Father God, who hides in the secret place, sees our hearts and operates silently and powerfully!
Blessing prayer: In everything we do, we do it for the glory of God, not for the benefit of men. God will defeat the enemy openly when we use the secret weapons! In Jesus’ name, Amen
