Have you ever wondered why it feels as though God does not hear your prayers? Does your work feel fruitless? Have you ever cried out like the psalmist of Psalm 110: “Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
Today I’m writing to those who groan because they cannot see God. Perhaps like Moses at Mount Sinai, you have prayed for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of his back as he passes by. It is a tremendous request — to see the unseeable. I have to think this desire pleases God, because he wants us to seek him, and he is often found in the hidden places.
Recently as I was praying and wrestling with these questions, I thought about Jesus’ teachings on prayer and righteous living in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says that when we pray, we should not stand on the street corners and in the synagogues to be seen by others. Instead, he says, “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen” and God, “who sees what is done in secret” will reward us accordingly.
It is easy in life and spiritual living to spend our energy focusing on our outward actions because that is how we tend to evaluate others in our own lives. Jesus’ instructions run counter to this. He teaches that our prayers and spiritual lives should operate primarily in places others cannot see.
There are many reasons for this. When we pray in order to be seen by others, it is not to God that we pray, but to those by whom we wish to be seen. In such an instance we have surrendered our hearts to them, believing that somehow finding favor in their eyes might lead to fulfillment — which, of course, is impossible. That is why it is essential that we often withdraw to pray. Alone, we are truly able to seek the approval of him who is ultimate and can heal us.
God desires our authentic selves. He sees past our masks and charades. And he knows that our outward actions are often a manifestation of that which is stored up within. If there is hatred and bitterness inside of us, our actions will show it. If truth and love abide in us in secret, these virtues will bubble up into our lives. When we withdraw into secret spaces, we often discover the secrets of our own souls. It is only then that we can expose them before God and find healing in our brokenness. Our prayers are truest there.
But what struck me recently about Jesus’ teaching on prayer is something hidden behind his words, namely, what Jesus’ teaching reveals to us about the heart of the Father. If it is true that the bulk of our spiritual lives should operate away from view, then that means it must also be true of the Father. Indeed, how much of the Father’s work is done in secret! We can hardly comprehend all that God might be doing on our behalf. Our perspectives are so small, and our time is so short. Yet somehow, we have the audacity to say to God, “Why do you do nothing?” Part of why Jesus asks us to pray in secret is because our Father is unseen, and his work often goes unseen.
Truly it is in the hidden places that we find the heart of the Father. His outward actions, namely, his putting on flesh, living, and being crucified on our behalf, are the overflow of an aching love so great it is inexpressible. That love, which so often goes unseen, is truly sacrificial in that it gives and expects nothing in return. God’s love places no expectation upon us.
Christ died for those who would never turn to him just as he died for the righteous. That is the way of God’s love! He prays for us in secret to not coerce us into submission. He desires that we should search and find Him, “though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being,’” as said in Acts 17.
This gives hope and direction in our seeking. While the world is preoccupied with outward appearances, we should look deeper. For our God is indeed invisible, not because he does not desire to be found, but rather because he wishes for us to understand that his life and work transcend that which is visible and that his love for us cannot be bound.
