If you ever come over to my house for dinner and I ask you to grab something for me from the basement, please know that’s just code for “the closet under the stairs.”
We don’t have a basement, so we call the wicked small space under the stairs our basement. And we call our living room the “office” because that’s where the computer is. And we call our dining room the “playroom” because that’s where the princess dresses are hanging up should you so desire to get your Snow White on.
Our house is a mish mash of rooms pulling double if not triple duty, but I realized recently there’s one thing we don’t have – a prayer closet.
A prayer closet is a small space you go in to pray and focus on the Lord without distractions. I assume that spiritual titans like Billy Graham have prayer closets that have vacuum sealed doors and upon entering them they are completely separated from everything else in the world except God.
I don’t currently have that. In fact, the best way to make sure my daughters play some sort of techno drum & bass solo on a door is to close it while trying to use the bathroom. They have “Whoa, someone is alone” radar and will tap tap tap tap tap tap the night away if you try to get some alone time. That’s why if you want to eat a piece of candy you have to hide yourself in the pantry, and do it in secret. So unless I find a way to tunnel to the magma encrusted core of the earth and establish my prayer closet there, it’s probably not going to happen for me at home.
That leaves me 4 prayer closet alternatives:
1. The Prayer Car
I’ve started to pray more in my car recently thanks to a radio station called “Victory” in Atlanta. Every morning at about 6:05AM the DJ, whose voice is so warm and friendly it makes me feel like he’s wearing an LL Bean sweater and perhaps petting a Golden Retriever while he talks, leads a session of prayers. And hearing him pray kind of kick starts my prayer. So I pray during my commute. I have a prayer car. The only downside is that when someone cuts me off I tend to transformer it into a “swear car.” That’s not great, and definitely wouldn’t happen in a traditional prayer closet.
2. The Prayer Conference Room
I get to work early to do my quiet time so there’s one conference room I’ve turned into a prayer spot. I like to pretend that all of the residual prayer helps the meetings that are held in there later in the day go better. I also like to pretend that when the fire alarm went off one morning at 6:37AM and I was in the middle of a quiet time in a building that was cavernous and empty that I didn’t pee my pants a little bit out of terror.
3. The Prayer Copier
The best place to pray is where you are most often, and me? I’m often at the printer in our building. And I need prayer when I’m there because I’m often tempted to jump my job over everybody else’s print jobs. Seriously? You needed a 97 page PowerPoint printed in color? Two copies? Really? And it is on like donkey kong if I find out you didn’t sort through all the documents when you came to the printer but instead just grabbed a stack and walked away, sorting through them at your desk and throwing mine away when you realized it was mixed in with yours. Plus, you requested an automatic staple be put into your seven page document even though the staple cartridge in the printer has been out of staples for months which causes an error on the machine and traffic jams all the documents that are behind yours. You can’t staple through seven sheets yourself? Seriously, how brittle are your staple muscles? This is why I have a prayer copier, because otherwise I spend all my time at the copier hatin’.
4. The Prayer (C)elevator
That would have been really nice if these points had all started with a C. But it didn’t work and neither do the elevators in our building all that often which is why I pray in them. Sometimes, one of them will skip the floor you requested, as if they’re “so over floor number 5 I don’t even want to stop there anymore.” Some of the elevators in our building refuse to acknowledge your arm as you ram it between doors to hold the elevator for someone and instead try to sleeper hold you in their warm steel embrace. Some of them buzz as soon as the doors close, forcing everyone to look at the heaviest person in the elevator with a look that says, “Thanks, that was probably the ‘prepare to plummet to your death’ buzzer. Way to go.” All of those situations and many more make it easy for me to muster a little prayer in the (C)elevator.
I don’t know if I’ll ever have a prayer closet at home. Until I do, expect for me to be praying in those four places listed above.
How about you, do you have a prayer closet?
Where do you pray?
Comments
I guess I have a prayer (c)bed. I'm can't fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow (unlike my wife), so that leaves me staring at the ceiling and contemplating life.
Prayer is my Xanax.
It's like a calming security while talking to God.
I have this weird, subconscious occurrence where I start singing @mattwertz 's song "The Day Forever Died" whenever I enter the bathroom (at home or public). I have no clue why. I think I went through a phase junior year of college where I was listening to that song all the time and had it in my head/singing it, even while on my way into the bathroom. Seriously, the second I open the door or sit down in the bathroom, …."Can't believe that you're gone!" haha. It is a habit, one I thought I should break, then I realized how great of a song it is, then stopped trying.
I pray that my prayer life could be the same…..that I could truly understand what it means to pray continually…to have triggers throughout the day (even if it is the bathroom), that cause me to stop and pray.
Prayer sink. I do most of my praying while I'm washing dishes. Or prayer laundry room. I'm somewhat jealous of my husband's prayer car. He gets to work early for his quiet time and stays in his car to read the Bible and pray.
My prayer space is… Anywhere I happen to be, the closest solitary area that nobody will interrupt me at. Makes a slight convenience when I forgot in the [hectic] morning.
First of all, this is one of the funniest posts in a while. It's just chock-full of awesome humor tidbits like "I like to pretend…I didn't pee my pants" and "how brittle are your staple muscles?".
I have prayer running shoes, a prayer sink, a prayer road-trip car, a prayer shower, and, for the real emo-God prayers, I curl up in a ball on my bed and stuff my face in my pillow. What I'd really like is a prayer dance studio.
I have a prayer car too! Weird! Although, I have to admit that lately it's become the Christmas Music Car because I'm 26 now and officially becoming my mother … But Jesus doesn't mind, right, 'cause it's CHRISTMAS music?
I try to use the "Cone of Silence" method, but my 3 year old son always wakes up and I find that my cone of silence (also known as the sphere of holiness) isn't working so well.
Here's to waking up earlier…
All of a sudden I'm very grateful for the peace and quiet I'm able to find. And serious dude-bro -I guard it fiercely.
Oh! I thought this blog was about praying FOR our closets…all of the unorganized closets. Now mine need some serious prayer over them. Prayer car…not with three little ones asking questions all of the time with Veggie Tales playing in the background. Prayer conference room…being a stay at home mom that would be the kitchen…probably gets the most prayers there. My copier mostly prints coloring sheets…maybe the kids pray that it would print faster. My "elevator" is the stairs to the basement…mostly I pray that I don't step on a toy or that the cleaning fairy would vaccum the steps for me. So, I guess put me down for conference room/kitchen.
Shower.
In my last house I had the coolest prayer closet ever. Under the basement stairs. Complete with carpet scrap, cushion, 3-way touch lamp, a notebook, hymnal, cassette tape player and Bible. On the sheetrock my kids and I wrote with colorful Sharpie markers every prayer verse we found, so as I prayed, I saw the promises surrounding me on walls and ceiling. The "door" — oh, the door — it was a hippie beaded curtain hanging from the joist! Walk through the curtain into The Presence! I tacked things onto the walls (like a blueprint of my church to be built, photos of family/friends, maps, etc) and even nailed an old perfume bottle to one wall with Song of Solomon 1:3 under it. That was the finest get-away ever, even better than my childhood tree fort, which was wondrous. For this highly distractible person, focusing was never easier than while in that space.
hilarious post
Okay this may seem tacky. I've wondered if I am the only one….I pray in the bathroom. It's one of the few times and places I can have a quiet moment to myself. Is that wrong that I pray while…eliminating??? Jon, help me!!!
Prayer car…for the same reason as you! The two prayer times I hear on "Victory" each day often jump start my own prayers. Plus….You are sooo right about that man's voice! And honestly the prayer style he has just leads me into prayer. I think he probably influences a lot of us listeners.
My Dad visits this place called the Prayer House, its about an hour away. It's a nice place to visit and pray.
Although its not a regularly thing, so I guess it doesn't count.
I like to find a nice patch of grass and pray.
but either than that, its my room.
I once had a job I hated so bad that when I went on break I would pray that the elevator would get stuck and no one would know till pretty close to 6pm and I would be clocked in. The elevators got stuck all the time with people on them, and people would be very upset and speak so badly about it. But unfortunately, in almost 3 years, it never happened to me.
I don't really have a place. I've tried to get into praying while walking but i'm easily distracted
Well I am in the Coast Guard and I have a Prayer cutter. It is when you are in the middle of the gulf and when you can look up and see God's creation and pray to him over the sounds of the rumbling of an engine.
My prayer closet is not an isolation chamber, but it works well. On Wednesday nights at my church, we create a prayer chapel. We light some candles, turn the lights low, play some live, un-rehearsed, un-scripted acoustic prayerful worship, and we open the room for a come-and-go-as-you-please format. The setting is amazing. Despite other people being in the room, you still get an incredibly intimate time with God. I am the lead pastor, and it is my favorite time to be "at church". Our worship pastor says it is like sharing his prayer closet with his friends, who are also sharing their prayer closet.
My P/C is called a W/C in other countries….. It's like being in a warm baptismial fount…. only with bubbles….
Funny! I pray in the shower. Something about the light-headed feeling you get from too much steam makes me feel closer to God.
(Part 1 of 3)
Let's examine the prayer closet from a first century Jewish point of view. Matt 6:6 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. Ok, if Jesus is talking about a physical room in your house then I think we are on to something. I personally use the Prayer Car and the Prayer Office (my study at home), and the Prayer Bench (stealthy hidden between two wings of my work place. However, first century Jews are praying multiple times a day and they aren't always at home, so what's a Jew to do? Well think about this. Every first century Jew has something we don't have today. Large outer garments (usually made of wool that they cover their bodies with, it also has some tassels on the corners) called Tallit. Under that they have an inner or under garment.
(continued …)
(Part 2 of 3) It was considered inappropriate to go out in public and especially in religious places without your outer garment. This was basically a large rectangular cloth that had four corners on it. God told them to put the tzit tzit (tassels with knots) on the corners of this garment. see Num 15:37-40. So what they would do is just use that large outer garment and pull it up and over there heads when they wanted to cover their head. That's like entering your "closet". When you want to be no be disturbed you just kind of close the front hole you've created with your hands. That's equivalent to "Shutting the door" So they could pray without being visually distracted by everything going on around them. (Continued…)
(Part 3 of 3) It also allows everyone to pray in "secret" even while standing together in great multitudes at the temple or other gathering spot. I doubt any of the Lord's disciples were rich enough to build another room on their house with the sole purpose of praying. Almost everyone can afford and outer garment. Peter is praying on the roof of his house in Acts when he see his vision about the unclean animals in the sheet. Perhaps he was really in his "Prayer Closet" because he had his tallacim pulled up over his head to keep from being distracted. I hope this helps shed some light on the idea. If nothing else, hopefully it'll keep you from spending a bunch of money on something you don't need ("A fool and his money are soon parted") So just throw a towel over your head. You'll probably look foolish but hey, according to Jesus your heavenly father will reward you openly.
Celevator, I love it. Rathher approps actually; an elevator that frequently stops working quickly becomes an unintended cell. Personal experience. So stay strong and stick to your C’s!
I kick it old school, kneeling on the side of my bed and I try my hardest not to fall asleep. That’s the challenge. The prayer car doesn’t work for me. How can you concentrate when you hear “Momma, Momma, Momma” for 10 minutes???
I pray/walk to the metro station, then pray on the metro, so could that be the 'prayer blue/orange and yellow line?' Extra helpful before starting my work day – getting to work as the sun comes up while riding over the Potomac.
Personally I am a frequent user of the "prayer balcony".
Some time ago this spring I discovered that one of the smaller staff rooms on campus had a balcony. In case you can call it that. There's just enough space to fit a small chair, an even smaller table and one (dead) potted plant (keeps getting renewed by someone, but it still dies every 2 months or so). I have to add that this plant is a serious distraction, firstly because the pot is so unbelievably ugly that I'm not surprised every living thing in it dies. Secondly, it's really distracting when you're in the middle of giving praise to God, for e.g.: his amazing creation, but when you open your eyes you see That thing.
But Anyway, apart from the occasional smoker I'm the only person who seems to know about this oasis of peace, as it faces a courtyard nobody ever uses.
I was fine using it up to just recently but as temperatures have dropped to the low 20s (and Winter's just started) I'm now faced with the decision to either get rid of the plant (which apparently has a fanbase, as it is renewed ever so often) and put one of those outside radiators in its place, or search for a new prayer "closet"…
I wonder whether the plant people will still put a new one there if the plant has, let's say "an accident" of the gravitational kind…not even that ugly pot should withstand a fall from the 2nd floor!!
My bed and my bathtub are my prayer closets, every morning I lie down to soak in my tub and I pray, and at night when I lie down in my bed I pray, I also pray when driving.. Thanks for your message, Berle