“But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly. But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” 1
As I looked over this verse in my devotional studies this morning it reminded me of an experience with a closet we used to store sound equipment and things needed to take to service back in the day when we rented different halls and churches for our fellowship meetings. This closet was quite spacious and also held every coat, jacket, pair of shoes, winter boots, hats, scarves, umbrellas, not to mention the myriads of things no longer displayed on shelves, or hung on the walls, and countless unnecessary junk from garage sales. Needless to say this closet was packed tight! One day my pastor, Sr. Celeste, tasked me with cleaning this closet. I dutifully went to work and emptied the entire room, sorting, folding, bagging up some things and neatly stacking the closet. It was in the summertime and it was hot! I stood back after the last tub of equipment and sound speaker was placed on its floor, and looked at this beautiful, put-together masterpiece. That week our next meeting was out of state and we were to return late…2:00 AM and still 92 degrees outside! Exhausted and hot I began off-loading all the equipment and placing it in that closet as quickly and as quietly as possible. But when things kept falling on my head, interfering with my work, I stepped back, flinging off of my head 20 year old coats, muffs, scarves and pictures…trying not to trip on the rubble laying at my feet, and with a fit of frustration I looked at the closet and spoke out in anger, …. “What on earth! How can this closet be such a mess? I just cleaned it out!” And, as fast as those words left my lips, I heard a still, small voice speak to me, saying, “Yes, but you didn’t throw anything out.” At that moment the light went on in my heart, calming me down and showing me what I needed to do.
It seems strange that Jesus would tell us to go into a closet to pray. Usually we use our closets to store vacuum cleaners, brooms, junk, winter coats, and moth balls. You name it… it can be found in a storage closet. I’m reminded of that movie War Room, where a woman going through hard times with her marriage was counseled to make a space for prayer, a war room of sorts where she can list the problems, petitions, and victories of answered prayer. A place she could go to be alone with God and pray. But it took work to set that up, because storage closets were made for junk, not prayer.
The word for closet in Greek is Tamieion, 2 , a secret place, a treasure room, a granary: a place well guarded. 3 But Jesus would have spoken the Aramaic word for closet: Tawanaah: a room where valuables and supplies are restored, a room without windows. That word is also used as a metaphor to describe one’s heart. 4
What did Jesus mean when He said that the Father is in secret and sees in secret? The word secret (Greek- krypto κρυπτῷ) 5 portrays the idea of “secret inward parts.” Jesus is speaking something here with a double meaning. We are to ‘closet ourselves away to share the intimate secrets of our hearts, while He shares the secrets of His heart with us.’ This sharing His heart with us is our reward!… One that we are not able to receive from public prayer. Public prayer doesn’t have the shared hidden secrets of the heart. Private prayer would, however. This kind of praying is meant for me and Jesus alone; for you and Jesus alone.
Yet, there is also another use of the word for tawanaah. It is the word for ‘silence.’ Funny how many charismatics and pentecostals tend to think that we need to keep ‘talking‘ to pray. I found a passage in Ancient Jewish Literature that was quite interesting: “That a man should not allow his voice to be heard in prayer, but should pray in silence, with a voice that is not heard: and this is the prayer which is daily accepted.” 6 When you share your heart with someone long enough, words don’t have to be spoken to communicate with one another. Share your inner heart’ secrets long enough with God and learn to hear His heart and pretty soon its your heart that is speaking, not your lips.
But returning to my experience with the cluttered, packed closet… Distractions have to be pushed out. Junk needs to be removed. If we are to have time with God every day it takes work! Clear that schedule. Remove the clutter and simply your life. Turn that cluttered closet of mothballs and time into a tabernacle of prayer. The reward is far more precious than words can convey.
May you and yours be blessed today!
Pastor Deborah