In our last blog, I wrote about a couple of things we should avoid when praying (pleasing to be seen by man, vain repetition).  In this blog, let us consider praying properly.  Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:6.

Matthew 6:6 (KJV 1900)
⁶ 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 set in secret shall reward thee openly.

What did Jesus mean when He said we are to enter the closet and pray?  I suggest the following:

• It means to make a practice of praying

Do you have a daily practice of finding a place to be alone with God and then praying?  That is what the prayer closet is all about – making a practice of praying. It is about disciplining ourselves to come before God.  It means having a heart that says, “I cannot wait to be alone with God in prayer.”  So, the question is, “Is prayer an important part of our lives as Christians?”  It should be.  If we are to reach our full potential as a citizen in the kingdom of God, it must be.

There are too few believers who practice prayer daily. Many only pray in public assemblies, the only exception being a few quick words to God before eating. If you only pray before partaking in a meal, you are not in the habit of praying.  That is not the way God wants us to live.

There is power in prayer!  We can be sure that when God sees us giving plenty of time to the trivial things of this world, and spending very little time in prayer, He is disappointed.  Prayer should occupy more than just a little space of time in our lives. So then, do you pray like you should? Do you make a habit of engaging in personal prayer?  When it comes down to prayer, do you have a regular routine?

• It means to have a place to pray without interruption

Your prayer closet can be any place where you are away from all distractions, including the kids, your spouse, or anything else that might distract you in the least of ways.  It is a place where you can concentrate, pouring out your heart to God in a passionate way.  That is the kind of prayer life Jesus is encouraging and the kind that brings us the power to overcome the devil.  Did you notice that Jesus said that we are not only to go into the closet, but we are to shut the door?  This implies talking to our Father with an uncluttered mind.   We should shut out all the thoughts that cause us to drift away from God and stop us from being focused.

• It means to pray to God with all your heart

Remember, we are not talking about a literal closet.  We are talking about any place where one can go to be alone with God.  Any place where there are no distractions. Once you have established a habit of praying without distraction, God desires that you seek Him with all your heart.  The Psalmist wrote, “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart! (Psalm 119:2).  Being in the closet implies that you are going to a place where you are before God for only one purpose, that is, to pour yourselves out to Him completely.  But, never forget, one cannot live in sin in the morning and seek God with all your heart in the afternoon or the evening.  Having a prayer closet, i.e. having a habit of going to God in prayer, assumes righteous living.  No prayer offered by a man living in sin is heard by God (John 9:31).  So, let us make sure we are entering that prayer closet free from willful sin.

Let us make a habit of praying properly.  We will be richly blessed because of it.  Jesus said if we pray in secret with the proper heart, our Father will reward us openly. 

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.