Dedicate a Space

I met someone recently who was a prayer closet person.

A prayer closet person is someone who has a designated space or room or literal closet in their home where they do their praying—a prayer closet. As far as I know, the idea comes from something Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: “whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matthew 6:6) The King James Version actually says “enter into thy closet.” There was even a whole movie about a prayer closet a few years back called War Room. It’s a thing.

This isn’t something I’ve ever done, and it’s very rare that I ever hear someone talk about one, but, like I said, I met a real, live prayer closet person recently.

And she told a story.

She said that there were some guests coming over to the house, and, of course, she had junk everywhere that she needed to clean up, stat. So, in the rush before folks got there, she crammed all of that junk into her handy, dandy prayer closet.

But it’s a lot easier to cram junk into a closet than it is to clean the closet back out, isn’t it?

So, everything just sat in her prayer closet. And sat. And sat.

And she said, “Yes, I was praying, but I lost my dedicated space, because I put junk in there.”

I don’t remember what point she was making with that story. All I remember is thinking, ‘Wow. That’s a parable.’ I don’t think she meant to tell a parable, but that’s how it hit me: this wasn’t just a story about her closet; it was a story about all of our schedules.

She had a space in her life dedicated to prayer, but she lost it, because she’d filled it with junk instead. Meanwhile, you and I don’t have space in our days for prayer. Why? Because we’ve filled every moment we can find with something else.

TV.

Social media.

Hobbies.

Socializing.

Podcasts.

Sports.

Work.

Exercise.

You know what your schedule looks like. Some of the busyness is really good, valuable things. Some of it’s junk.

The psalmist said he would lift up his hands in prayer as long as he lived (Ps 63:4). The first Christians were known for their devotion to prayer (Acts 2:42). The Apostle Paul exhorted believers to “never stop praying” (1 Thess 5:17).

But I don’t have time, because I fill all my opportunities with other things instead.

What would it take to clean some of the junk out of your day and dedicate a space in your life for prayer?

How would you need to rearrange your schedule?

What might need to be cut out of your current routine?

What new thing might you need to say ‘no’ to?

Everyone has at least a little margin in the day that they can control, but if you aren’t intentional with that time, devices and distractions will happily colonize it. So make a plan. Prioritize the things that are vital.

That cup of coffee in the morning.

The chance to decompress at the end of a long day.

Those moments of connecting with your Lord in prayer.