Tag Archives: prayer closet

August 1, 2025 · 6:01 AM

Meaningful Prayer

Sometimes when people ask me what I do for a living I tell them, “I teach the younger generations how to talk to people.” With all the means of communication we have today, we’ve lost the art of talking. We’ve gone from having meaningful conversations to text acronyms with emojis. The problem is that many of us have done the same thing in our prayer life. We’ve gone from having meaningful conversations with God to short quick prayers when we need something. Just like with people, a lack of meaningful conversations results in a shallow relationship. The truth is that our prayer life is a reflection of how much we value spending time with God. I believe God is calling us back to meaningful prayer times where we grow our relationship with Him.

Here are some verses on meaningful prayers:

1. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2 ESV

2. Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!

Matthew 26:41 NLT

3. Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life.

Philippians 4:6 TPT

4. First of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people.

1 Timothy 2:1 AMP

5. I am passionately in love with God because he listens to me. He hears my prayers and answers them. As long as I live I’ll keep praying to him, for he stoops down to listen to my heart’s cry.

Psalms 116:1-2 TPT

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July 30, 2025 · 5:40 AM

Creating Eremos

When was the last time you got alone and quiet without distractions? No phone, tablet, computer, TV, radio or people. With all the technological breakthroughs of the last century or so we have advanced in so many areas and made life better. However, with the invention of all these things, we have lost our ability to be alone. The quietest place on earth is at the Microsoft headquarters. The anechoic chamber has six layers of concrete and steel. It’s suspended by springs to eliminate ground vibrations and it’s fully padded with foam. It’s designed to absorb all sound. The problem is most people can’t stay in there for more than 30 minutes because it’s so unnatural to the modern person.

In Luke 5:16, and throughout the Gospels, it says, “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray [in seclusion]” (AMP). The Greek word for wilderness that was used each time Jesus did this is eremos. We have translated it as wilderness, but it’s more than that. It’s not just a lonely, quiet place, it describes a place of encounter, formation and communion with God. It was a set apart place from all distractions where He could hear God’s voice without the noise from the world. In this eremos, He met God to get clarity and renewal. If He made it a point to find these places often in a less distracted and connected world, how much ,ore should we make time for it?

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus encouraged us to do the same by saying, “But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.” We must find our own eremos where we can meet with God. It may not feel comfortable at first, but keep going to it. The goal isn’t external silence, but internal stillness. Jesus is inviting us into God’s presence where we can be still, know He is God, rest in His presence and find renewal for our soul. Creating your own eremos is critical to your spiritual growth and relationship with God.

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December 11, 2024 · 5:38 AM

Quieting The Noise

There was a time in my life when every time I got in the car, I would call someone. As soon as I got home, I would turn on the TV. I wouldn’t necessarily watch it most of the time though. Then one day my wife asked me why I did that every time. I didn’t have an answer for her, but it got me to thinking about it. I was addicted to living my life with background noise. I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts. I then decided to make a conscious choice not to call someone every time I turned on the car. I even started turning off the radio so I could ride in silence. What I discovered was the noise wasn’t just keeping me from being alone with my thoughts, it was also blocking me from hearing the voice of God.

As you read through the Gospels, you’ll find that Jesus was surrounded by noise. The disciples always had questions about what He taught. People would follow Him everywhere wanting to hear His message or needing His healing touch. Luke 5:16 mentions that Jesus would often go away from everything into the lonely places. In Mark 6:31, Jesus invited the disciples to go with Him into a quiet place. Jesus even practiced solitude as shown in Mark 1:35. Why did He make quieting the noise a discipline? He knew He needed to hear His Father’s voice and to we needed a model to show us how to be alone, to be quiet and to be stop and wait on God.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world” (NLT). When is the last time you quieted the noise around you, found solitude and got still? Our breakthrough is often found in those moments. It’s why Jesus told us to go into our prayer closet. Our lives are filled with noise, and that noise is available everywhere we go. I believe God is asking us to find a lonely place, to seek solitude and to be still so we can hear His voice and honor Him. Take time today to think about where your noise is coming from. What do you need to do to quiet it? Where do you need to go to be still? God is waiting for you if only you would be intentional about quieting the noise.

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November 29, 2023 · 5:37 AM

Making Space

Have you ever seen a show on hoarders where people have so many things, their house is full? I got to experience what was like when one of my relatives died. When we went to clean out the house, there were so many things in there that there were only trails throughout the house. Once we got the house cleaned out, there were several other buildings on the property full of items floor to ceiling in them without trails. All the things he thought mattered were either sold, recycled or trashed by us. You and I may not be hoarders in that sense, but chances are that our house is full. Look in the closet, the garage or the bedrooms. How does your calendar look? Is there space in these places for what really matters?

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus stopped by a friend’s house along with His disciples. Martha, who owned the home, got busy trying to clean it up to make room and also cooking in order to feed everyone. Her sister Martha decided to sit and listen to Jesus teach. Martha began to mumble under her breath and give Mary looks to try to get her help cleaning up, but Mary wouldn’t budge. Finally, Martha told Jesus to make Mary help her. Jesus replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part [that which is to her advantage], which will not be taken away from her” (AMP). Martha wasn’t doing what really mattered because her home was cluttered. Mary created space for what really did mattered it was to her advantage.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.” Do you have space in your cluttered life to meet Jesus in private away from all the mess and distractions? Are you worried, anxious and bothered about things that won’t matter for eternity? In our full lives and homes, we must make space for Jesus. We need to give Him the attention He deserves rather than a passing thought or 5 second prayer when we need something. If your life is frazzled and it feels like things are falling apart, it’s time to make space on our calendar and in our home so we can choose the good thing of spending quality time with Jesus.

Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

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October 19, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Intimate Conversations

Whenever I travel for work, it’s important to stay in contact with my wife. Sometimes when we end up talking I’m at the airport or I’m at dinner or while I’m with coworkers. It’s hard to have good conversations in those places. It’s often noisy, people are trying to get my attention or I’m trying to find where I’m going so I’m somewhat distracted. The best conversations are when I’m away from all the noise in the quiet of my hotel room. Only then can we truly have interruption free conversations where it doesn’t have to be quick snippets.

Luke 5:16 says, “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer” (MSG). Having intimate conversations with His father while He was here was important to Him. People were constantly vying for His attention and needing a miracle. He just wanted to have a quiet, uninterrupted conversation. Many times He had those quick conversations in front of people, but very often we read where Jesus went to a desolate place to pray. If it was important for Him to do that, how much more important for us?

At one point, Jesus told us to go into our closet to pray. I don’t know that He meant that literally. I think what He was saying was that we need to find a quiet place where we can have some uninterrupted prayer time. We can’t always go to an out of the way place to pray, but we can find space to get alone with Him. It may be a closet or it could be before everyone wakes up or after they go to bed, but we each need to find time to get alone with God so we can have intimate conversations with Him. I believe the quality of our relationship with Him hinges on it.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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January 26, 2023 · 5:30 AM

Intimately Knowing God

One of the things I’ve loved since I was a kid is trivia games, especially Bible trivia. My parents couldn’t afford to send us to camp when we were young, so they took us to every Vacation Bible School in town. I got a head full of knowledge about the Bible from going to all of those. When you combine that with my ability to memorize things, I won a lot of prizes when it came to Bible Trivia. The only downside to having all that knowledge is that for years, I thought I knew God because I knew a lot about Him. However, knowing about someone and knowing them are two very different things.

When David was old, he was preparing to hand over the kingdom to Solomon. Like any parent, I’m sure he saw great qualities in his son. He wanted to make sure that his son didn’t just rely on who he had heard God was, but wanted him to intimately know Him the way he did. In 1 Chronicles 28, David was giving Solomon instruction for ruling, for building the Temple and for living well. In verse 9, he said, “Learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever” (NLT).

There is so much wisdom in that one verse, but I want us to simply focus on that first part today. Learn to know God intimately. It’s good to learn about Him, but it’s more important to learn to know Him intimately. Knowledge about God comes from Scripture, but knowing Him comes from spending time in prayer and being still in His presence. All of the Bible is about this one thing: God wants an intimate relationship with you and He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. The problem is it takes two to have a relationship. God has done His part. Will you do yours and spend some alone time with Him today listening to His voice?

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 15, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Stop. Breathe. Pray.

I, like you, have a pretty busy day and week ahead of me. From the moment I woke up I started thinking of all the things I need to do to accomplish everything today. My mind races to find solutions to scheduling conflicts, deadlines, and how to be in two places at once. I’ve got a to-do list a mile long and a very short time to accomplish it. With all of that happening, do I have time for God?

It’s tough not to put God on a back burner on busy days. He’s the easiest one to “reschedule”, but He’s the last one I need to reschedule. “He’ll understand”, I reason in my mind. “I’ll read my Bible and pray later,” I tell myself. The truth is that I won’t have the time later either. If I don’t make Him a priority right now, I won’t make Him one later. If I don’t slow down now and take time to reflect on Him and His Word, I won’t do it.

God told David in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” David was a king and I’m sure he had a lot on his plate too. He would cry out to God in times of need and celebration. He would throw those 911 prayers up to Heaven like you and I often do. “God, I have a lot to do today. Help me to get it all done”, is what we pray. God wants more than that. He wants us to stop, take a moment and spend some time with Him.

In the world we live in, it’s easy to mix up the temporary with the eternal. It’s easy to reverse their importance. Today, stop, breathe, meditate on His Word, and thank Him. Rest in His arms before you do anything else. Give Him more than a 911 prayer and truly thank Him for another day of life. Thank Him that you even have things on your schedule. Know that He is God and really that’s what matters more than anything else I’ll accomplish today.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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November 7, 2022 · 5:48 AM

Investing In Prayer

A few years ago I left corporate America to be self employed. My 401k money was sitting there and I needed to roll it into an IRA. I did it in January of 2020. They put everything into a money market account until I chose what funds to invest in. After a few weeks, I made my choices and moved the money into them. The next week the markets began crashing due to Covid. My money was shrinking at an alarming rate. I called my advisor in a panic wondering if I should put what was left into the money market. He reminded me that I was in it for the long haul. Then he encouraged me to keep investing even when times were bad. In facet, I’ll get the best return on my investment when I buy funds at their lowest.

Jesus was a person who invested. No, he didn’t invest in a stock market. He invested time in prayer. You’ll constantly read in the Gospels where Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to invest in prayer. Almost every time you read that statement, major miracles occurred. You can also read how on the night He was betrayed, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He was constantly making deposits in prayer. He understood that no matter what was going on in His life, He needed to be investing time in prayer. He didn’t panic or even look for some to blame. He looked for God’s presence instead.

Ephesians 6:18 says, “With all prayer and petition, pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people” (AMP). It’s always a good time for us to invest in prayer. Nothing in your life will pay greater dividends than spending time in God’s presence. If you’re facing adversity, invest more time in prayer. If you want to do greater ministry, invest more time in prayer. If things are going well, invest in prayer. You will on,y receive dividends according to what and where you invest. Prayer is something that pays dividends now and throughout eternity.

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September 19, 2022 · 5:28 AM

Listen With Intention

Almost every one of us are born with the gift of hearing. While we are able to perceive sound, not all of us listen. Hearing is passive while listening is active. I’ve spent many years training people on how to listen. It requires removing or blocking distractions. It also demands that you give your attention to the one speaking. Listening is not an easy task. It’s one of the greatest ways you can show someone that you value them. When people don’t listen, it causes a breakdown in the relationship. When they listen intentionally with the intent to understand, it causes the relationship to grow. All of us could get better at listening.

In John 10, Jesus was talking about the Shepherd and the sheep referring to Himself and to us. In verse 14 He said, “I am the Good Shepherd, and I know [without any doubt those who are] My own and My own know Me [and have a deep, personal relationship with Me]” (AMP). It’s important to note that Jesus points out that His sheep have a relationship with Him. Because of that relationship, He listens to us and we listen to Him. He went into say in verse 27, “The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.” We must be alert daily to hear His voice and to listen in to what He is saying so that we may follow where He leads us.

God is always speaking to us, but we are not always listening or hearing. We have such busy lives that are full of distractions, it’s hard to hear or listen in. This isn’t just a phenomenon of our modern world. Throughout history people have failed to be intentional with their quiet time. That’s why Jesus told us to go into our prayer closet to pray. Your prayer closet is simply a place where you can get alone, free of distractions to hear God’s voice. You must be able to hear Him before you can listen to Him. If it’s been a while since you have heard Him, find a quiet place today, free from distractions and interruptions so you can listen with intention. It won’t be easy because you will also have to learn to quiet your mind. When you are intentional about listening to your shepherd, you will have a deeper, more personal relationship with Him.

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November 8, 2021 · 5:38 AM

The Gift Of Self

In Dr. Gary Chapman’s book “The Five Love Languages,” one of the languages is Receiving Gifts. Just like verbal languages, there are different dialects. In this particular one, a dialect is the Gift of Self. It’s where you put everything else that you need to do aside for a bit and simply give your spouse your time. You may have a ton to do with deadlines approaching, however, when you put that stuff aside and give yourself to your spouse, it speaks volumes. It tells them they are more important than anything else you have to do. It signals to them that they are your priority. The Gift of Self is a powerful expression of love especially when it doesn’t come natural for you.

In Luke 10, Jesus and his disciples were visiting a small village outside of Jerusalem called Bethany. They were met by a woman named Martha who invited them to her home. Martha immediately went to work to prepare a large dinner to fed all these people. The more she worked in the kitchen, the more she realized her sister wasn’t in there helping her. Mary was in the other room sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to everything He had to say. I’m sure Martha cleared her throat a few times to get Mary’s attention,. Maybe she even gave her some ugly looks. When those didn’t work, she told Jesus to tell Mary to come help her. In verses 41-42 Jesus replied, “Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her” (TPT).

It’s easy to get distracted by all the things we have to do. Sometimes those things are for the Lord Himself, but what’s more important is giving Him the Gift of Self. We must choose to set aside the things we have to do in order to sit at Jesus’ feet. We must make time with Him our priority. We lead very busy lives, but when you compare the things you have to do with eternity, sitting at the feet of Jesus is what will matter most. We all can get better at managing our schedules so that we’re in control of our time. We all can get better at being undistracted while we give ourselves and our time to the Lord. It starts with making our time with Him a priority, and then building the rest of our schedule around that. When we give Jesus the Gift of Self, He does the same back to us.

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