Are you looking for a way to become more committed to your prayer life? Have you ever wanted your very own secret location to spend time with God? Maybe you should consider creating your own prayer closet.
What is a prayer closet? A prayer closet is a location where Christians go alone, in privacy, to spend a well-needed prayer time with the Lord. This is by only focusing on all of the blessings the Lord has granted and promises He has fulfilled.
Why Should Christians Have a Prayer Closet?
It is vital for Christians to have a strong prayer life. One reason why a believer should consider creating such a sacred place to pray is because of distractions. It is very easy to not be able to focus on only the Lord when there are so many different events happening in your life.
Having a room that is quiet and private makes it easier to meditate on scripture and what the Lord wants to say to you. Provided below are three main reasons why Christians should think about having their own prayer closet.
1. Intentionality
Everyone goes to different places with a specific purpose in mind. When we go to our occupations, we are there to work, and when we go to the gym, we go to exercise. Christians create and pray in their secret place with God to spend time with Him and for no other reason. Going to a designated place for a specific purpose produces the type of intentionality that is lacking in the lives of many Christians.
Followers of Christ enter into their prayer closets for the sole reason to be intentional with the Lord. They sit in an empty and quiet room so they can only have God on their minds. Not school, stress for paying bills, or homework. It’s important to be intentional in your prayer life for many reasons and a prayer closet can help you focus only on God and nothing else.
Jesus Christ, alone, secluded himself so he could pray on His own. In the book of Luke, it is written that the Son of God withdrew Himself from the world so that He meditate in prayer and communicate with His father, the Lord.
But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Luke 5:16
2. Privacy
In Matthew 6:6, this verse mentions how a Christian should pray to the Lord. It mentions being in a room, in secrecy is the proper way to talk to God. A prayer closet is a place where a person can spend time with God alone. This verse unmistakably emphasizes that this place should be private and cut off from the comings and goings of the household. It should be a place where the world can be shut out. The reason privacy is necessary for prayer is clear: Privacy fosters honesty, and honesty fosters relationships.
When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6
How can we pray freely and openly with God when there are others nearby, who may disturb us and listen to us pray at that moment? Having a secret meeting location with God prevents any hindrances to the unbroken communion that is essential for meaningful prayer.
3. Intimacy
Intimacy comes right on the heels of privacy. Without the safety of privacy, having any depth of relationship with another person is impossible. Even when intimate friendships or relationships are developed in a group setting, it’s because of a certain privacy that surrounds the group, allowing people to bond without the encumbering presence of outsiders. There is no intimacy without privacy.
The sharing of a special, secret place is an intimate act in itself. If there is a place where you meet with one person, and with nobody else, that place becomes a hallowed sanctuary for the relationship. It becomes more than a place. The thought of sharing that place with another person for similar purposes can even seem blasphemous. Simply going to that special, secret place creates an expectation in itself. In the same way, having a special, secret place to meet with the Father creates an expectation, before we even arrive, that God is already there, eager to meet with us.
How to Create A Prayer Closet
If you’re interested in creating a prayer closet. how do you start? Here are three easy steps on creating and designating a sacred place to talk to the Lord.
1. Find a Location
It may currently be used as storage and filled with various items, but consider emptying a room by selling or giving away excess that you don’t really need.
If a little space like this does not exist in your home, try to be creative with an alternative. Is there a space on the floor of your bedroom where you could be alone, , and leave a Bible? It just needs to be an electronics-free zone.
2. Decorate Your Space
Decorating is the fun part of creating a prayer closet. If you ave space, buy or collect items that you would love to see on a daily basis. Be creative! Adding scriptures and inspirational quotes is a great way to decorate your space.
Hang up some lights and a tapestry, roll out a shaggy rug and design a room to be comfortable in. Make sure not to forget tossing in some comfy pillows and a cozy blanket. (Just a reminder, you don’t have to decorate your prayer room if it’s too small).
Now since you have found a location and decorated your prayer room, it’s time to add the most important items. Putting your Bible, devotional, prayer journal, etc, is a vital step for your sacred space. Also, if you journal the aspirations that you are praying for, you will be encouraged and praise The Lord when He answers your prayers in His timing. Otherwise, you might not even notice when God has moved in response to your prayer.
3. Add Your Bible and Prayer Journal
Tearing yourself away from the endless amounts of housework and electronics, (TV, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, e-mail, etc) is the hard part. Adding your Bible, devotionals, and prayer journal are important for your closet so you can meditate on the Lord.
Having a prayer journal and devotional keeps you focused only on communication, prayer, and meditation on God’s words. Distractions are what often keeps us from hearing from God. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that states that growing in your faith and dedication will take time, effort and energy. Persevere through the battle of distractions and you will be rewarded with peace and contentment.
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
What The Bible Says About Prayer
In the book Philippians chapter 4, says that anything that we are faced with, we should confront any opposition and give it to God in prayer.
The Holy Word clearly states that Christians should not be anxious for anything and should give their everything into prayer. For the Lord loves each individual human on this planet and He will take care of all stress, depression, insecurities, or anything that the enemy is going to try to attack a believer with.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…
Philippians 4:6
Committing yourself in prayer is important because it makes believers more like Jesus and because it reveals to them the heart and mind of God. Creating a prayer closet is beneficial because of prayer being significant. Hearing God’s voice matters and God, Himself, commanded Christians to devote themselves to prayer.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2
Prayer is simply communication with God. It is a privilege bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is first and foremost a desire to conform humanity’s will to God’s will. In the book of 1Thessalonians, it is written that Christians should live in a continual state of prayer in their everyday lives. They should be praying all through the day. Obviously, if believers follow this, they cannot limit prayers to simply “praying in a closet.”
Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Is a prayer closet something that you can see yourself creating? Just taking ten minutes out of your day to sit in stillness, listening to the Lord, will strengthen your prayer life. A prayer closet is a space where you can spend time with the Holy Father in devotions and in quality time, to communicate with Him.