I had a friend who used to tell me to say a
prayer for her every time I went to church. It annoyed me because it seemed
like she thought I could only pray when I was in church. Although I prayed in
church, most of my prayer life has happened wherever I happen to be.
In my living room, reading my Bible.
In my kitchen, doing dishes.
In my car, waiting at a stop light.
When I was a child, I actually knelt by the bed to say my
prayers at night.
But here, Jesus tells us to go away to somewhere private to
pray.
Over the years I’ve found some beautiful private places. One
of my favorites when I was a kid was the campfire circle at Mount Zion. I liked
sitting on one of the benches and looking over the lake and the mountains while
I talked to Him.
There were two small chapels at Forest Home, the camp where
I worked during the summers in college. One had floor to ceiling windows that
looked over a lake and mountains. The other was a traditional stone chapel
where I fainted after kneeling on the cold floor too long.
When I was in college, I did my best praying while I walked
through the college parking lot. I prayed aloud because there was no one around
to hear me except for God.
This year, I saw the most beautiful prayer chapel I’ve ever
been in. It’s on the North Greenville University campus. The chapel is built as
a small square with a tile pool in the middle. One end has a series of stone
walls rising to the ceiling, with water falling down them into the pool. Ferns
and other water plants grow in the crevices around the water. Wooden kneelers
face the other three sides of the pool. There are no benches, so you have to
kneel to pray. It is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been in.
There are lots of places we can pray and lots of ways we
should pray. A beautiful chapel like this one makes it easy, but even if I only
have a messy bedroom available, I can still go away to pray in private. The
important thing is to spend time with my Father in private.
**********
In today’s chapter of A Dozen Apologies, Mara goes to Greenville
for her apology. I’m hoping that she found some time to go to the prayer chapel
on the campus, but even if she didn’t, she definitely needed to spend some time
in prayer. What she’s been doing is really hard.
Good thought for this day...
ReplyDeleteThat prayer chapel in Greenville is so beautiful - thank you for reminding me of it.
ReplyDeleteLove this post. My favorite prayer closet is my bed - I retreat there with the excuse of a nap, and everyone leaves me alone so I can pray, and imagine I'm curled up in my Father's lap, pouring out my heart to Him.
But I'm like you - I pray everywhere. Working, driving, cooking, showering - continual communication.
Very beautiful post here. I actually use my closet for my prayer closet, when the door is closed, the family knows to leave me alone. Another place in town is called the Jerico Center. It has many little tiny rooms that look like caves. Sometimes I go myself other times, a couple of strong prayer warriors go with me. It's always quiet, relaxing, and refreshing.
ReplyDeleteIt would be wonderful to create a prayer closet in my house, but unfortunately, thery're all full of stuff. I wonder what that says about my treasures? But that's a topic for another post. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Phee
ReplyDelete