| by Betty Schatzle (West Chester, Ohio) |
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| Jesus put considerable emphasis on Private Prayer (Matt 6:6). When you pray enter into your own room, shut the door and pray to your unseen Father and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you. Prayer is the highest exercise of man’s spiritual nature. First of all, we need to have a certain time to meet with God personally each and every day. David chose the mornings. “In the morning, O Lord you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my request before you and wait in expectation”. (Psalm 5:3). David’s tie with God each morning drew him into God’s heart. God honored this relationship with David by marking him as a man after his own heart (Acts 13:22). We need to make prayer a habit, at the same time each day when we will not be interrupted to spend that precious time with God. We must expect God to meet us in our private prayer. This does not mean that we can expect God to audibly speak or show himself, but deep in our hearts feel his presence. Praying is the expression of need, trust, submission, and union with God. Whether we are praying for others or ourselves it has to be God’s will on how and when he answers our prayers. We will not always get the answer we expect. For He knows what’s best for us. Sometimes we need to slow down so we can hear the voice of God. Life tends to spill over in our secret time with God. We rush through our private time with him, and we cannot hear God speak. Sometimes our minds wander in the middle of our prayers and a different thought pops in. Say you’re sorry to God and get back to your original thought you were praying about. God understands. We need to be transparent with God. Before and after every important decision we should lift our hearts to God for guidance and strength. There is no other habit that will do as much to give us joy in life. David was not afraid to express his feelings during his time of prayer. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1). If we are discouraged, despondent or just angry, be honest and tell God how you feel. He already knows how we feel anyway. Our willingness to be transparent with him builds a deep friendship and trust between our maker and us. Use God for all emergencies and non-emergencies. By being transparent you can unload some of the burdens and your heart will feel lighter. You can go through life hand and hand with an all-Powerful Friend, who we can consult with about everything and have confidence in right down to the smallest detail. God loves us; let’s try harder to make sure we spend enough quality secret time with him. |
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