“But you, 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.

The secret place of prayer or prayer closet refers to the place and time when all other things are shut out and we can commune with our heavenly Father unhindered, undistracted. It does not only mean a small room or closet far from people, if it does many would be deprived of this privilege of prayer.

The secret place is where and when you spend time with God alone in prayer and time alone with Him in His word. It is an inner chamber of unhindered communion with God.

I love to tell the story of Sussanah Wesley who had nineteen children of whom nine died as infants. Having many children to raise and so much work to do daily, including farm work, she still made time to pray. The Wesley were materialy a poor family. She homeschooled all her children. After teaching them all, she would tell them that it’s now time for her to have time alone with God. Sitting on a chair with her Bible, she then throws the long apron she’s wearing over her head. Anytime her children sees her under the apron they know she must not be disturbed, except in case of an emergency. And she did this almost two hours daily, even with all her children around her. You see, that was her inner chamber of communion with God.

When we come to this inner chamber of communion with God it is not simply to bring God a list of our personal requests, though we are told to ask for our needs to be met by our Father, and we should (Matt. 6:11, Matt. 7:7–11).

This is a place and time you talk with Him, and learn to listen to Him talk to you through His Word, where and when you spend time with Him alone in fellowship daily and without being in a hurry. You bring all your thoughts and concerns to Him and talk with Him about them sincerely from the depths of your soul. Like He says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.” It’s a time of heart to heart dialogue with our heavenly Father. Here you begin to develop intimacy with Him.

This communion does not end in the place of prayer, it only begins there, for it will extend beyond that special place and time into the whole of your day and every area of your daily life. You will discover yourself communing and conversing with God as you go about your normal daily affairs throughout the day.

“… and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

God rewards those who take the time to seek His face and wait upon Him in the inner chamber of communion. Not a reward in terms of material stuff as many advocate and claim, though He does provide us with the things we need in this life and He sometimes blesses some of His children with material wealth, but this is not the open reward meant here.

I believe that this reward foremost is His presence in our lives. His presence includes the revelation of the depth of His love for and towards us, His peace, His light, His revelation of Himself to us through His Word, guiding us by His wisdom and counsel, the gift of faith in our hearts, the engraving in our hearts of an enduring hope in Him, rooting and grounding us in Him and much more (Ephesians 1: 15 -21, 3: 14 -19)

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