Prayer Closet

Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace. Mt. 6:6 (The Message)

Many of the great saints actually built a place where they could go to be alone with God. The place was dedicated to the single purpose of prayer and became hallowed ground.

Setting aside a physical location for prayer is advantageous for several reasons. First, you can eliminate all the distractions that could come from simply praying in your living room where the television, the phone and family are. Second, because it becomes your “prayer closet” not only in your mind, but also in the minds of those who love you, then they learn to not disturb you when you are there. Thirdly, the human mind is a strange thing. It learns to associate certain objects or places with activities or feelings. That is why it is not a good habit to try studying on your bed because you will tend to grow sleepy. That is why when you sit down to your desk your mind immediately becomes more business-like. If you have a regular place where you pray, when you go there you will find it easier to get into the “mood” more quickly.

Your prayer closet doesn’t have to be very elaborate. I remember my grandmother sitting on her porch with her apron pulled over her head. The first time I saw her do that, I thought she had lost her mind and I asked her what she was doing. I very quickly learned to not disturb her when she was in this position. She had retired into her “prayer closet”.

Some people have a special stool at which they kneel. It can be a padded bench a few inches off the ground with some kind of back on it so that you can lean your weight against it. I once built a little prayer altar with a little shelf under the top so I could set a Bible or a notebook on it. The top was at an angle so that my arms could rest comfortably on it. Maybe you could dedicate a closet in your house to it. Maybe you could use that tree house that your grown kids no longer use. Maybe you could use a corner of the shed or the garage. You could have a certain bench in the park that could be your place to go. Whatever you use, use it regularly. Use it wisely. Never waste time there. Your time with God is the most precious time you’ll spend. It will make or break your day.