You Need to Find a Place for Prayer

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)

Daniel also had a place for praying.  The Scriptures tell us that it was in his apartment, by the window, facing Jerusalem.  Jerusalem and the Temple in a very special way represented the presence of God.  At the dedication of the Temple Solomon had prayed for God to bless all who prayed toward the Temple as the place of God.  The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.  1 Kings 9:3  No doubt Daniel found great comfort and strength in looking toward Jerusalem as he offered his prayers to God. This was his place of prayer.

Prayer can never be relegated to just one place.

·        Jonah prayed from the belly of the big fish.

·        Peter prayed from a rooftop.

·        Hezekiah prayed from a bed of affliction.

·        Hagar prayed while in the wilderness.

·        Jairus prayed on the street.

·        Paul prayed while he was in jail.

·        Jesus prayed while on the mountaintop.

·        The thief prayed from the cross. 

·        And you can pray anywhere, anytime. 

Any place a Christian finds himself able to focus on God can be a place of prayer.  However, it will help our prayer life if we have a definite place where we meet God on a regular basis. 

The closest Jesus ever came to telling us where to pray was when he told us to enter into our closet for prayer (Matthew 6:6).  He was not emphasizing the location of prayer.  He was instead stressing the importance of attitude and atmosphere of prayer.  The advantage of entering into a quiet place is that it shuts out the distractions of the world.  In that place we can do some other things to help our focus:

·        For one thing, you can pray out loud. This helps your concentration.

·        Use a prayer list. This keeps your mind on the track.

·        Keep a notepad and pencil handy. Then when extraneous ideas or tasks flood into your mind, you can jot them down, put them out of mind for the time being, and get on with your praying.

 

Sometimes in our busy, hectic world it is difficult to find such a place.  However, it is essential that we find a quiet time and place to be alone with God.  You may have to follow the habit of Jesus, who got up a great while before day and went into a solitary place in order to be alone with God (Mark 1:35).  He lived in a much less hectic day than ours.  However, he found it necessary to say no to sleep in order to say yes to a quiet time with God.  You may have to do the same thing.

Scripture to Claim:

Be still, and know that I am God."  Psalm 46:10