A Place To Pray

First, you need to know before you turn the page to read more (as if you were reading in my actual prayer journal), I believe that God still speaks to us today.

I meet with Him in my private little area every morning.  It took me a while to get to this much devotion.  I watched different people whom I admired their spiritual strength and wondered about their prayer lives.

For years, while I was busy raising daughters, my prayer time was right before I went to sleep. I would wait until bedtime, after I had prayed with my girls, or listened to them pray, I would talk to God and often write in an old journal that is long gone now.  My time spent was completely based on how long I was actually alone or how soon I  fell asleep.  It wasn't very well planned--it was more like I added God to the end of my day, rather than the focus of my day.

Sometimes my prayer time was standing at the kitchen sink.  I've had more than a few prayers with my hands in soapy water trying to clean hardened bits of casseroles off of pyrex while I slowly relinquished the hardness of my heart to Jesus' merciful hands.

I've spilled many tears into the dishwater while He cleaned my heart.  I took my complaints, my frustrations, hurt feelings, anger, anxieties and my brokenness to Him.  I believe my kitchen sink(s) was where more than dishes were cleaned.

My mother's porch--often used for prayer.

I remember my first kitchen sink.  I bathed our brand-new baby daughter in the old kitchen sink of the farm house where we first lived in Alabama.  I remember the fear I had that she'd slip from my young, inexperienced hands, and slide down the drain.  Of course she did not.  I prayed for her--but really more for me, because I had no idea what I was doing.  I didn't want to mess this up.  But of course I did.  Many times in fact.

Sinks have come and gone, but I realize the prayers prayed, with hands in hot water, was typical of the hot water my life seemed to be in during those times.

Then came the day I learned to begin "early".  I learned to find a place to pray that is away from the reminders of the struggles I was facing and get alone with God.  The prayer room, to me, is one of the most important rooms in the house.  Right up there with kitchens and bathrooms and closet space.  "Muy importante!"

The year I established the "place" to meet with God on a regular basis was the year my life began to change.  Sure, I still prayed in the car on the drive to work and even standing at the sink or even cleaning the toilet, but this spot became a place of refuge, a place that I actually hungered to be in.  It was the best part of my weekend when I knew I had uninterrupted time with my Lord right there in that certain place.  It was the true highlight of my weekend.  Later, when I quit my job (another story), it became even more important.

The entrance to my prayer room in Bolivia

Don't think I wasn't a Christian before I established this "place".  Indeed I was--but I was missing out on the best part of the journey with Him.  The place where the soil was overturned and the seeds were planted.  It was the place that new life in me really began.

The pages of this journey all stem from that designated place.   It was in this place where I truly made up my mind that I was going to get more of God...even if it killed me.  Oh, it did.  I had to die in order to truly live!  All my notions about what a Christian was supposed to look like also died.  God must be center of all desires and dreams.  The prayer life is where all that happens.

Jesus said:  "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.  Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.  When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do.  They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.  Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! ..."  Matthew 6:6-8 NLT

Notice Jesus said, "When you pray"?    Not "if".   He then goes on to teach them a pattern to use to pray to our Heavenly Father.  I sometimes use a pattern.  But more often than not, I simply talk to my Abba Father as if He's right there.  Because He is.  That type of praying began long before my "place" was designated though.  I always picture Him "with me"- in my mind--so I talk to Him in that same manner.

This was the early morning view from my prayer room in Bolivia.

Oh goodness, if I could choose anything to do over again it would be to get this part right the first time.  It would be to spend more time with Him than on anything else.  I've learned many valuable lessons over these 57+ years, but this one is most important.  Designate a place of prayer.  And go there often.

Before we move on, let me share some [possibly] helpful hints:

• Find a private place in your home--if necessary, clean out a corner of your bedroom
• Keep it orderly
• Having a big window helps [me]
• Comfortable chair or sofa
• Side table (for your coffee of course!) and lamp
• Select your favorite translation(s) of the Bible 
• Keep sharp pencils handy and a notebook (write what you hear in your heart after prayer)
• Don't be in a hurry.  Sometimes I've had to set a timer so that I wasn't late for work--and that is okay on occasion, but don't let it become a habit.
• Soft music helps me and promotes peace in the home (I sometimes have it playing all day)

The flagged pages signify a special Word.

In our little well loved house where we previously lived, my favorite place was the swing on the back porch.  Since we lived in Florida, it was useable almost year round.  When it was too cold, I had my spot ready in the living room by the fireplace.  I used them both-often.  It has been that practice that has given me the strength to be here today.  More about that later on too.  

Can I encourage you today to begin looking around your home for that special place to pray, even praying as you do so, in order to find that certain place, a place that is solely yours --private and sacred.

To close out today, I will share some from my prayer journal.  I write, read, pray and listen in my times with the LORD.  It's something I've learned how to do over the years--listening is often the hardest part because we all get in a big hurry to get the day going.  But the absolute best part of my day is my time with Jesus.  May it be so for you as well.

Filled and completed prayer journals

"March 29, 2014 

Father, as I began writing this morning, I wondered about all that You are doing...What would You have of me today?  

As I've sat here, reading in the Psalms- chapter 27 and then 34, as they are favorites to read when I feel like I do today, I became weepy, sensitive to Your Spirit.  I love You and am so thankful You are always present.... I want to Dwell with You today, Lord.  Help me see all that needs fixing, replacing, and even removing in my life.  Create in me a clean and pure heart--and outlook.  Renew Your Holy Spirit within me...cast me not away, but help me find my usefulness in You.  I know You have a plan...and it is far greater than I can imagine.  Keep me on the right path."

© Angie Knight

 BECAUSE of His great mercy He has given us new birth into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:3-4 HCSB (emphasis mine)