Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Secret prayer is the private, individual prayer of the believer alone with God—the ‘closet’ prayer commanded by Christ, distinguished from public and family worship. Our Lord laid down the rule: ‘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.’ Secret prayer is set in deliberate contrast to the hypocrisy of those who pray to be seen of men, loving to stand and pray in the synagogues and street corners that they may have the praise of others. The hidden place—the shut door, the Father who sees in secret—guards prayer from the corruption of display and tests its sincerity, for what a man is in secret before God, that he truly is. Secret prayer is the believer’s most intimate and personal communion with his heavenly Father, where the soul pours out its particular confessions, needs, and affections without an audience, where it may be wholly honest and unguarded, and where the deepest dealings between God and the soul take place. It is modeled by the saints throughout Scripture and supremely by Christ Himself, who rose a great while before day and departed into a solitary place to pray, who withdrew into the wilderness and the mountain alone, who agonized in Gethsemane apart. The practice of secret prayer is the surest barometer of the spiritual life: a man is, in religion, what he is in his closet and no more; public devotion may be sustained by habit, duty, or reputation, but secret prayer, having no witness but God, reveals the true state of the heart. To maintain a faithful, regular life of secret prayer—a set time and place to meet God alone—is among the chief duties and privileges of the Christian, the hidden root from which all visible godliness draws its life; and to neglect it is to wither inwardly however flourishing the outward profession.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines SECRET as hidden, concealed, private; secret prayer is that offered in private, as Christ directs in Matthew 6.
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SECRET, a. — 1. Properly, separate; hence, hid; concealed from the notice or knowledge of all persons except the individual or individuals concerned. 2. Private; secluded; being in retirement. Secret prayer is that which is offered in private, in distinction from public worship.
CLOSET, n. — A small room or apartment for retirement; any place of privacy, particularly for private devotion.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 6:6 — "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."
Matthew 6:5 — "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."
Mark 1:35 — "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."
Daniel 6:10 — "...he went into his house... he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition, but secret prayer is corrupted by the hypocrisy of praying to be seen (against which Christ set it), and far more commonly by simple neglect—the abandonment of the closet that hollows out all visible religion.
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Secret prayer is corrupted first by the very hypocrisy against which Christ established it—the love of being seen praying, the performance of devotion for the praise of men. Our Lord exposed those who prayed standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be observed, and pronounced that they had their reward: the admiration they sought, and nothing from God. The shut door of the closet is the cure, for prayer offered to the Father who sees in secret, with no human witness, cannot be a performance; it is necessarily sincere, sought for God’s sake alone. Wherever prayer becomes display—even subtly, in the eloquence cultivated for public hearing or the reputation for piety—the spirit of secret prayer rebukes it.
But the far more common corruption of secret prayer is its sheer neglect—the quiet abandonment of the closet that hollows out the whole of religion from within. A man may maintain his public worship, his family devotions, his Christian reputation, while the secret place has long been deserted; and such a man is, whatever his appearance, a withering soul. For secret prayer, having no witness but God, is the truest measure of the spiritual life: a Christian is what he is on his knees alone before God and no more. The recovery of this duty is the recovery of vital religion itself. The believer is to keep a faithful appointment with God in secret—a set time, a private place, the shut door—where he may be wholly honest, pour out his heart unguarded, and commune intimately with his Father. This hidden discipline is the root from which all visible godliness grows; tend it, and the outward life flourishes; neglect it, and no outward profession can long disguise the inward decay.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The doctrine rests on Christ’s command to pray in the tameion (closet, inner room) to the Father in secret (kruptos), who sees in secret and rewards.
Usage
"Secret prayer is the believer alone with God in the closet—the truest barometer of the spiritual life."
"Christ set secret prayer against the hypocrites who prayed to be seen of men."
"A man is, in religion, what he is in his closet; neglect of secret prayer hollows out all visible godliness."