“When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is so very difficult for me to quiet my mind when I come to spend time with the Lord. It is so easy to be bombarded with so many issues, concerns, “To Do” list items, etc. It’s as though there is an Enemy wanting to distract me from my time with Jesus. Apparently, he knows how beneficial and necessary it is for a Christian’s genuine growth. In fact, without time alone with God; I’m convinced we’re no real threat to the Enemy at all. It’s a battle to get quiet, but we must not give up the battle. It is absolutely essential to win greater personal victories and make a true difference for Christ in this world.

One person who helps me capture my thoughts is Oswald Chambers. I read these words again this last week from My Utmost for His Highest. I was encouraged and I trust you will be too!

Jesus did not say, “Dream about your Father who is in the secret place,” but He said, “…pray to your Father who is in the secret place…” Prayer is an effort of the will. After we have entered our secret place and shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray. We cannot seem to get our minds into good working order, and the first thing we have to fight is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is overcoming this problem of our idle and wandering thinking. We have to learn to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful, deliberate prayer.

We must have a specially selected place for prayer, but once we get there this plague of wandering thoughts begins, as we begin to think to ourselves, “This needs to be done, and I have to do that today.” Jesus says to “shut your door.” Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place,” He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in “the secret place,” it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into “the secret place,” and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.

I remember the conclusion to an old poem called "The Secret” by Ralph Spaulding Cushman, “So, I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way; you must seek Him in the morning if you want Him throughout the day!” I want Him throughout my day, don’t you? Give Him your best and allow Him to do the rest!

Hope to see you this Sunday!
Yours in Christ,
Mark

P.S. When I’m distracted in prayer I try to keep a piece of paper nearby so I can jot down the errand, etc. and take care of it later. It usually works! Blessings!