Go To Your Room!

No apprentice of Jesus will be surprised that the leading instruction on the vital and central issue of how to meet with God comes from the very mouth of Jesus himself:

"But 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).

This instruction comes in the central part of the central section of Jesus’ leading teaching discourse.

So it’s important – we need to listen.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that every disciple’s progress in the Kingdom hangs or falls on whether this instruction is obeyed.

Those who do literally "go into their room, shut the door, and pray to their Father who is unseen" make progress.

And those who don’t, don’t.

I remember a friend at University. One year the Administration department had made an almighty blunder and placed him in a house with 22 others so they were sharing several people in a room! And the only time and place that he had to pray was between 1:00 am and 1:15 am each morning in the toilet!

This quickly became the big joke in the house. No one could use the toilet for 15 minutes after 1:00 am each day!

But my friend said afterwards that those 15 minutes with God were some of the most wonderful times of prayer in the whole of his time at University. The Lord prepared him for a life of full-time Christian work and service.

"Go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret."

Discipleship continues as we follow through on a decision to spend time praying to our Father in the Heavens.

Now we are all different people with different (God-given) characters and we each pray in different ways.

That’s okay!

But the first step is to find a place where you can pray openly, honestly, and without interruption to our Father in the Heavens.