If you are finding it difficult to spend time in prayer as you desire — maybe you don’t want to wake your spouse, maybe you have children that interrupt you each time you get ready to pray or maybe you find yourself rushing into your day — this is not unusual. Many Christians who want to develop a more intimate relationship with God find themselves in these situations.
The truth is, you have to:
- First make prayer a priority;
- Commit to a time of day when you will spend time in prayer;
- Decide how long you will pray. Will it be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour?;
- Find a nice quiet place to pray;
- Set your alarm for the time you committed to;
- Make no excuses;
- Get up and go to the place that you designated for prayer; and
- Pray for the length of time you said you would pray or longer.
“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 6:6
WHAT IS A PRAYER CLOSET?
You may hear some refer to a prayer closet as a war room as in the popular 2015 movie, “War Room: Prayer Is A Powerful Weapon.” I like to refer to it as my secret place … my shelter … my sanctuary.
A prayer closet is a place where you go to intercede on behalf of others — your family, friends, church family, your country (or even yourself). It’s where you go to speak to or pour your heart out to God. You can also use your prayer closet to praise and worship God as well.
The scripture that best describes a prayer closet is Matthew 6:6, which says, “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.
A Peaceful Space
You can fall on your knees anywhere but creating a space that is set apart, quiet and peaceful can help you spend more time in prayer and with the Word of God.
Now that you understand how to carve out time to pray and what a prayer closet is, we want to give you …
10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD SET UP A PRAYER CLOSET:
- Our homes are full of distractions and that may be an understatement for some of you. Having a dedicated place to pray such as a prayer closet can help you eliminate stress, and you can set yourself apart from everything else around you.
- Creating a separate place to pray and spend time with God is imperative if you desire to build a stronger relationship with Him.
- You will spend more time in God’s presence allowing you to hear God’s voice more clearly.
- It’s a good place to do your morning devotions.
- If you are a dreamer, it will give you a place to meditate and think about what you’ve dreamed and write them out.
- You can spend time in praise and worship.
- To break free from your electronic devices. That means no Bible apps in your prayer closet.
- You can use your prayer closet to also study the Bible. Use your physical Bible while in your prayer closet.
- It can be used as a special place to take communion.
- It’s a great place to practice putting on the whole armor of God.
Too often people make a prayer closet out to be all about the fancy things you can put in it, but it truly is not about that. That is not to say you can’t or you shouldn’t make the space comfortable and visually appealing. We think you should do just that. The more comfortable it is, the longer you will want to stay there.
READ:
12 Things You Need In Your Prayer Closet: Prayer Closet Checklist
