By: Dale Weckbacher
Psalm 119:147
I rise before dawn and
cry out for help;
I put my hope in your word.
I put my hope in your word.
(CSB)
Time to clean out the closet. I am not talking about throwing out old junk
or clothes that we no longer wear, I am talking about cleaning out the closet
of prayer. The prayer closet is not a
junk closet and needs occasional cleaning out, just as the Temple did when it was
unused for a time during the time of King Josiah (2 Kings 22:5). In fact, just as workers found the neglected Book
of the Law in the Temple during restoration (2 Kings 22:8-13) causing King
Josiah to come to grips with the sins of the Nation of Israel, we will discover
valuable insights and motivation as we spent time with God in our prayer
closets.
While the prayer closet may not be a literal closet as it
was in the movie “War Room,” it symbolizes a special place where believers in Jesus
go to be alone with God, free from distractions. Unfortunately, for many of us the fast pace
of our society and its busyness has cluttered the closet making going into the
closet to pray impossible. To unclutter
the prayer closet we must look at what dominates our time and determine if it
is beneficial to our walk with God. If
it is not, we should throw it out of the closet, so we have time to pray, even
if it is just for a few minutes each day.
In Psalm 119:145-152, the psalmist provides a glimpse into
his own prayer closet, giving us a picture of what should be in our prayer
closet. In the psalmist’s prayer closet
we see,
1)
A direct line to God (Psalm 119:145-146) – When
in the prayer closet the psalmist has a direct line of connection to God where
he cries out from his heart expecting an answer and salvation. The connection is clear due to his obedience
to God. Any disobedience in our lives
represents clutter in our prayer closet in need of removal.
2)
A place to start the day (Psalm 119:147) – For those
that are not morning people, the thought of rising before dawn is unthinkable
unless it comes with massive amounts of coffee or some other form of caffeine. However, making the effort to rise a little
earlier to spend time with the Lord helps set a Godly tone for the day. For the psalmist it made possible placing his
hope in God’s Word.
3)
Meditation on the promises of God encountered in
the prayer closet (Psalm 119:148) – In the prayer closet the psalmist
encountered God and the promises in His Word.
However, he did not leave those promises in the closet but instead took
them with him throughout the day. My
family and I recently began the practice of journaling during our time of
personal devotions. I journal special
promises or thoughts from reading the Bible and write them down. I take this journal with me and when I have a
break throughout the day, take time to meditate on what I read during my time
in the prayer closet.
4)
A place of love, life, and justice (Psalm 119:149)
– In the prayer closet we encounter a just God, but also a God who loves us and
sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.
While God is a just and holy God and we are sinful, through the
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we have complete forgiveness and expectation that
God hears our prayers from the prayer closet.
5)
A place of safety (Psalm 119:150-151) – Just a
casual look at the news of the day reveals the fact that we live in an evil and
dangerous world. However, God is near
and always with us providing safety. In
the prayer closet, however, the connection with God is unhindered by worldly
cares, making us even more aware of the nearness of God and the safety He
provides.
6)
A glimpse of eternity with God (Psalm 119:152) –
John 3:16 reminds us that our reward is eternal life. While we know this with John 3:16 being the
most quoted verse in the Bible, are we fully aware of what it means? In the prayer closet we have a glimpse of eternity
with God as we spent uninterrupted time with God in prayer and His Word.
While we as disciples of Christ are not of this world, we
still must live and work in it. As such
we cannot help but have ourselves dirtied by being in the world and its
pollution. Through time in the prayer
closet, we have an opportunity to spend quality time with God our creator and
have him wash off the worlds pollution and empower us to live as lights in a
dark and polluted world.
Please join me in finding a personal prayer closet and
committing to spending time in it to become empowered lights in a dark
world. This does not mean a commitment to
hours each day in the closet but beginning with only five minutes a day. A quality time of five minutes a day will not
stay five minutes for long as we discover the benefits of spending quality time
with God our creator.
May God bless everyone reading this.
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