In Secret

8/23/2020

Matthew 6:6 “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and…pray to the Father which is in secret.”

If you have not yet seen the movie War Room, you are really missing a powerful piece of media. No spoilers, but there is a certain character that takes this verse and applies it literally to her life. After seeing the movie, I started going into my closet and praying. I call it “my chapel”, and in it hangs a beautiful cross my sister gave me for my 40^th birthday. When I enter and shut the door, the whole world goes away and it is just me and God. I cannot express the power of closing myself off to the rest of the world and being still before the Lord. Time loses all meaning, because I can never tell if I am in there praying for ten minutes or forty minutes. It is a place where I can just be still, be grateful, intercede for others, and listen to God. My chapel is the place where I feel completely free to be exactly who I am, and share everything with my Savior.

Chambers writes, “Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and have shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is pray; we cannot get our minds into working order, and the first thing that conflicts is wandering thoughts.” I have often heard people say they struggle with regard to prayer over the years, and have also experienced it myself. Many say they struggle to focus during time with God. I have even heard ministers admit to this. Has the act of going into a private, quiet place to be with God become largely a thing of the past? Is our busy, crazy, uncertain world pushing out quiet time with God? Chambers adds, “We have to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful prayer.” I know for me, having a special place where I can close the door and block everything out certainly helps me focus on prayer. Making that time essential in my day is the number one thing for me. I know I can pray and come to God at any point of the day or night with every praise and petition, but it is those quiet moments within my chapel, when it is just God and me, that I cherish the most.

“Unless the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on the wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.”

                                           ~Oswald Chambers

Amen and Amen!