In our last blog, I wrote about the wrong way to pray. Now let us see the right way to pray. Jesus said, we are to enter the closet and pray to the Father in secret. But, what does it really mean 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 where you can be alone with God and pray? 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. In fact, it must be if we are to reach our full potential as a citizen in the kingdom of God.

There are too few believers who practice prayer daily. There are many who pray only in public assemblies, with perhaps a few quick words to God before going to bed. They have no habit of prayer. That is not the way God wants our lives to be. 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 (if you are not praying together), and anything that might distract you in the least of ways. It is a place where you can concentrate and simply pour 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 in 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 the right way. 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 on these things.