Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord.

• 2 Kings 4:33

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

• Matthew 6:6

“But prayer, Jesus says, is not a spectator sport. … When you pray, go into your room and shut the door. Find a closet, an empty office, the workshop out in the garage, some secret place away from people and alone with God. …
“Why the emphasis on privacy? Why shut the door? First, there is an obvious, practical reason. A private place ensures a minimum of distractions, and most people find distractions deadly when it comes to making connection with God.”

• Bill Hybels, Too Busy NOT to Pray

Rev. Hybels mentions closet first when suggesting a good place to pray, but he goes on to mention an empty office or a workshop in the garage.  But then he says a secret place.

A secret place and closing the door are the keys here.  No distractions.  In writing blog posts in my basement, a great place to pray, I found that I distracted myself.  For several years, I was my wife’s caregiver.  An internal clock would alarm, and I would stop writing.  I would go upstairs to check on her.

This was not a waste of time, but for nearly two years after she passed away, the internal clock would alarm.  I would stop writing and go upstairs.  With her not there, I would often wonder why I had done that.  Actually, in going to God in prayer about my constant distractions, God led me to understand that I had been doing that for years, and the habit stuck.

Now in realizing what I was doing, it has taken me many months to not do that as much (water breaks, bathroom breaks, etc. are still necessary).

It does not have to be a closet, but a closet usually has no windows, thus less distractions.  But I could sit in a room of windows and television screens and pray while having my warm-eye-compress time each day.

Close the door may not be necessary either, but Jesus said to do that.  We reduce our distractions.  God speaks softly.  We need to be focused on Him.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.