Thoughts for Life: #12 The Inner Room and the Closed Door

Samuel Chadwick: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee" (Matt. 6:6).

There are two difficulties awaiting us at the threshold of this command. One is that many have no inner chamber. There is no place in their lives for privacy.
(Google image, Time alone with God)

They have no room that is not shared, and if they could find room they have no leisure. The closed door may neither shut out nor shut in. The radio has made us familiar with the fact that neither bolted doors nor shuttered windows can secure privacy.

The thought is more subtle than sound, and Satan is more cunning than the radio engineer. The saints who have been practiced in private prayer bear witness of the adversaries that keep watch at the door of the soul's inner chamber.

My aim is not to instruct but to suggest. Manuals of devotion have usually been to me depressing rather than helpful. They are either too mechanical or too exacting. They discourage rather than inspire.

I want to write quite frankly, and in the first person. All my life I have wanted to learn to pray. In my zeal I have experimented and explored in likely and unlikely ways and schools of prayer, and without pose or pride I want in meekness and humility to tell you what I have leaned.

I speak for myself. I judge no man's method, criticize no man's counsel, challenge no man's experience. I speak with utmost simplicity, and you must judge what I say.

Let us begin with the difficulty of privacy. There are tens of thousands of Christ's disciples who have no room to which they can retire for private prayer. They live with other people, sleep with other people, work with other people. They cannot escape from people.

Is not this a reason why the door of the house of God should never by closed? One Monday morning a penitent sinner stopped me in the main street of the town where I had preached on the Sunday.

There were three nonconformist churches near at hand, but they were locked and bolted, back and front, and we had to go to the parish church to find a place where there was privacy for prayer.

The door of the church should always be open. Even that does not meet the need of the soul. The secret place of prayer should be part of the daily life, a part of the daily dwelling place.

Some place must be found that shall be a trysting place with God. A hungry heart will find a way. In the open air or in some secluded corner, some inner sanctuary will be found.

If this advantage is impossible, the soul must make an open space into which it can withdraw, even in the presence of others, and be alone with God; but the "inner chamber" is an unspeakable boon.

Happily, God wills that men should pray everywhere, but the place of His glory is in the solitudes, where He hides us in the cleft of the rock, and talks with man face to face as a man talks with his friend.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE PATH OF PRAYER

By Samuel Chadwick

(Click on title to purchase)

Used by the permission of

www.cliffcollege.ac.uk
(Emphasis by Jean)

Let's pray-

Father, some folks have no private place to go to, to shut themselves in with You, except for driving alone in their cars.
This way, they're able to secure some privacy on their way to work. Otherwise, they're surrounded by people, both at home and at work.
When we find that we can make an open space into which we can withdraw, even in the presence of others, we can still have our "inner chamber" time with You.
Hide us in the cleft of the rock and enable us to discover our trysting place with our Friend, Jesus, in the midst of our busy lives.
Help our hungry hearts find a way to meet with You, whether in the open air on a walk, in some secluded corner or place, or in some inner sanctuary.
We are grateful that we can pray everywhere and at any time. Help us discover in solitudes, we'll be more apt to find Your glory.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, amen.

Today's Bible verses-

Lam. 3:24-26 (NKJV) "The LORD is my portion, says

my soul, therefore I hope in him! (v. 25) The LORD

is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who

seeks Him. (v. 26) It is good that one should hope

and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

Deu. 4:29 (NKJV) "But from there you will seek the
LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek
Him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Ps. 18:6 (NKJV) "In my distress I called upon the
LORD, and cried out to my God: He heard
my voice from His temple, and my cry came
before Him, even to His ears."

Ps. 94:19, 22 (NKJV) "In the multitude of my anxieties
within me, Your comforts delight my soul. (v. 22) But the
LORD has been my defense, and my God the rock
of my refuge."

Today's quote-

~ Katie Morris- "I think a lot about sin and forgiveness. You know, when Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, agreed to take on Himself ALL of our sin, when He agreed to drink the cup of God's wrath for you and me, He sweated drops of blood at the very thought of it!
What a terrible bridal price He paid to take us to Himself! Did ever a man do such a thing for such an evil bride as we? But when that spear pierced His side on the Cross and blood and water flowed our, you and I, by faith, were born again, out of His Life's flow, just as Eve was taken out of Adam's side to be his bride.

Very soon He's coming back to take us, to be one with us and we with Him forever. Until then, He has sealed this agreement with the Holy Spirit, and HE now dwells within us . . . Until that Day we are HIS responsibility. He loves us so much!"

(Taken from p. 14 of David Hathaway's magazine, Prophetic VISION, #90 winter 200018)

Today's popular post-

#36 You Must Prevail Before God

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: To prevail involves being spiritually strong, committed to the prayer goal, and persevering until God's answer of victory is received.

Not only may prevailing prayer involve prevailing over ourselves, situations, other people, and Satan, but there may be an element of prevailing before God.

Today's question-

What is it you worship?

As we have been wired for worship, we do worship; but what? Money, fame, sex, pleasure or materialism? When people were in the presence of the Lord Almighty throughout the Bible, they bowed down and worshiped Him. They were deeply moved by His Presence.
We have the capacity to respond to God in the same way, if we'll humble ourselves and see our need to respond to His majesty. Praise is good, as it invites the Lord to come to us to develop an intimate relationship with Him. The fact is, He created us for fellowship!
He can have no fellowship with any other creature He made. Only mankind. He longs to bless us with His Presence during our worship; both alone, and with others.

Today's sermon spotlight-

JANUARY 13, 2019

Faith Filled Prayer

Speaker: Ben Levendusky Series: 21 Days of Prayer Topic: CFC Madrid

Upcoming posts-

True Humility

16th- Saturday's post by Mrs. Fannie Erb

#13 How Can we Secure the closed Door?
19th- Tuesday's post by Samuel Chadwick

#14 the Word of God in the Holy Presence
21st- Thursday's post by Samuel Chadwick

Why Is Forgiveness Important?
23rd- Saturday's post by Jean Oathout

Boy with sled