Since 'that they may be seen of men' constitutes the evil, we may fairly
say that Christ is not here prescribing the place where, but the spirit
in which, we ought to pray; that what He condemns is not the fact of
praying where we can be seen, but of picking out the place in order that
we may be seen; that, in a word, the contrast here is between
ostentation and sincerity. A man that has sidelong looks at the
passers-by in his devotions has not much devotion.
But then, as a material help to this, we need solitude and secrecy; they
are not indispensable, but almost so. And in that solitude what is to be
our occupation? One word answers the question--Communion. We are to be
alone that we may more fully and thrillingly feel that we are with God.
That communion will have an intellectual element in which we try to rise
to perception of the high truths as to God, or in meditation gaze on
Him, and a petitionary element in which we ask for the communication of
His grace according to our needs.