My Prayer Closet

It’s not easy to find a quiet place in our house with all of our kids. But I’m always encouraged when I think of Susanna Wesley who had 19 children. When she needed time with God she would sit in a chair and throw her apron over her head. Her children knew not to disturb her during her prayer time.

We’re told that she seldom spent less than an hour each day in prayer. Her sons John and Charles Wesley founded the Methodist church and wrote many of the hymns that are sung throughout the world. John, her fifteenth child, said this about his mother:

“I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England.”

What an encouragement to any of us who think we are too busy to find time to pray!

I don’t know if it would work for me to put an apron over my head. I don’t even own an apron. :)But I do believe each of us should have a special place where we can go and meet with God.

I’d like to encourage you to find a place where you can go and spend time with God uninterrupted from the distractions of this world.

One of the best things about God is that He is always with us...wherever we are. So you can meet with God anywhere - in a closet, in your room, or in a special chair.

Let’s take a look at a few of the places where people in the Bible met regularly with God.

The book of Daniel records in Daniel chapter 6, verse 10:

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”

Moses made it a habit of meeting with God, too. In Exodus chapter 33, verse 7, it says:

“Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.”

Both of these Godly men made it a habit to pray daily to God and they both had a special place where they felt most comfortable meeting with God. Daniel’s place was his room. For Moses, it was a tent.

You may have a special place where you sense God’s presence. It may be a beautiful park or a quiet spot along a creek. The beauty of His creation is an easy place to recognize the reality of God and feel His presence. Usually though, we are so desperate for God that we don’t have the time or the money to go to those places. Or maybe the weather keeps you from taking that walk with God that you wish you could take. For me, I need Him everyday! So I need to have a place where I can go and meet with Him daily.

Jesus set an example for us as he often retreated to a solitary place to pray. The first chapter in the Gospel of Mark tells us that just after he called the first disciples and healed many people He got up very early in the morning and went to a solitary place to pray.

Mark chapter 1, verses 35 says:

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Matthew chapter 14, verse 23 records another example just after Jesus fed 5,000 people and dismissed the crowd:

“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”

Now I know that if the Son of God Himself needed to spend time with His Father in a solitary place, I do, too.

Not only did Jesus make it a habit to pray in a solitary place, but He also taught us in His Sermon on the Mount of Olives that praying in private is a good habit for us as well. He says in Matthew chapter 6, verse 6:

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Wow! Jesus even tells us to go into our room, close the door and pray to God. I remember one time hearing someone talk about going to their prayer closet. When I first heard them talk about it, I wasn’t sure if they were really talking about going into a closet to pray or if they were just saying that as a figure of speech. Most of the time we hear people talking about bringing something out of the closet, like a hidden sin, but not going into a closet. But I was desperate for a quiet place where I could focus on God, so I decided to try it for myself. I’ve found it to be immeasurably helpful in the time I spend with God.

My prayer closet really is just a closet! We homeschool our kids and my husband works at home, so there’s not much extra space in the house. So first, I had to clean out a section of a closet.  I’ve put a chair and box of tissues in there, along with a paper and a pencil to write down what God is speaking to me. Each day I bring in my Bible and my devotional. When I want to worship, I also bring in some worship music.

My goal is to make the place I meet with God free from distractions and as comfortable as possible so I can focus on Him.

I was telling Eric the other day that one of my favorite times of the week is on Sunday mornings during worship. I love being totally focused on worshipping Him! At home in my prayer closet, I can do the same thing. I love to listen to worship music. When I’m in my closet and put on my favorite worship songs, I’m there - in His presence - worshipping Him.

Probably my favorite aspect of being in my closet is the freedom I feel to just be myself. I have the freedom to raise my hands and dance (although it’s a small closet). I can cry when I’m overcome with my own sinfulness or I can cry out of complete gratitude for all He’s done for me, without embarrassment that my nose is running and I look like a mess. (That is why I have a box of tissues nearby.) I’m totally free - I have total freedom to make a fool of myself.

I have also noticed that when I pray silently to God my thoughts can be easily distracted. But when I pray out loud, my thoughts and prayers stay more focused. So in my closet, I can pray out loud and not worry about anyone hearing me. The clothes and walls muffle the sound! My prayer is that someday I’ll be as bold outside my closet as I am inside it during my worship and prayer time.

It has been such a blessing in my prayer and quiet time to have a place to go to. I come out of the closet and I feel great! I feel refreshed and ready to take on the responsibilities of my day. Your prayer closet can be a great place to really feel connected to God, free from distractions and free to be the child of His that you are.

I’d like to encourage you to find a place where you can go and spend some time with Him. After trying it for a few days, I hope you’ll find yourself running to your prayer closet each day like I do, wanting to spend more time with your Daddy! He loves you. He created you. And He’ll love it as much as you do.

Where Has All the Security Gone?

"'I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the LORD Almighty."1

The sun set last night and rose again this morning as it has for thousands or millions of years. While some things never change, we can't say that about life in the last few decades—not to mention what lies ahead in the coming years!

I read that if we were to put the entire world's knowledge from the beginning of time until 1845 on a graph it would measure only one inch tall. From 1845 to 1945—just 100 years—the graph would measure three inches tall. But from 1945 until today the graph would be as tall as [or much taller than] the Washington monument in Washington, DC.

Change today is the order of the day. It has been said that today's average worker will need to be retrained at least three times during his working career to keep up with all the changes. Changes in technology, lifestyle, philosophy, morals, etc., are happening so fast it is difficult to keep up with them all.

Furthermore, the security that so many of us knew in earlier times has pretty much vanished. With escalating terrorism worldwide, unless we have an anchor for the soul, we can be left drifting on a restless changing sea of uncertainty. But for those who have faith in God, of this one thing we can be absolutely sure: He never changes! His love is from everlasting to everlasting and he is still in control of the world and universe no matter what. As the Bible says, "I the Lord do not change."2

Americans have engraved on their coins, "In God we trust." But until that commitment is engraved on people's hearts and we genuinely trust in the God who changes not, we will have no lasting security.

The Chosen

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."¹

Mike Barnicle, a former columnist for the Boston Globe and more recently with the New York Daily News, tells about a baby born to Mary Teresa Hickey and her husband in 1945. The parents came from Cork, Ireland. The baby was a Down's Syndrome boy. Mary Teresa held the baby tightly, saying, "He's ours and we love him. He is God's chosen one."

The family lived in the Dorchester section of Boston. Their other boy was Jimmy. The dad died young of a heart attack, and Mary was left to raise the two boys, nine-year-old Jimmy and seven-year-old Danny. To pay the rent she scrubbed floors at a chronic care hospital.

Jimmy took good care of Danny. Dan felt at home with all the kids because no one told him he was different. Then one day, as they were boarding a trackless trolley, some strange kids shouted, "No morons on the bus!" That was the day Jimmy Hickey learned to fight. It was also the day Jimmy decided to be a priest. Little Danny attended the Kennedy school in Brighton and eventually obtained a job.

In 1991, Mary Teresa Hickey died at age ninety-one after showering her sons with unyielding love all their lives. Father Jim Hickey had been a priest for thirty years. In every parish to which he was assigned, Danny went along with him. The people were favored with both men.

In October 1997, Danny was in the hospital. His fifty-two-year-old body was failing. One night when ordinary people were eating supper, watching a ball game or going to a movie, a simple story of brotherly love played itself out at the bedside of a man who never felt sorry for himself or thought he was different.

Father Jim held his brother and asked, "Do you trust me, Danny?"

"I trust you."

"You're going to be OK."

"I be OK."

Eight hundred people stood in line at his wake. Parishioners packed the church for his funeral. They sang and cried and prayed. Later that day, Daniel Jeremiah Hickey was gently laid beside his parents at New Calvary cemetery. The granite headstone bore his name and the inscription: "God's Chosen."²

Bin Laden is still alive

The death of Osama bin Laden is a key moment in the history of radical Islamist movement he led. But could his death pose more danger than he was alive?   Osama bin Laden has often said that he would not be captured alive as what would other jihadist say.  They are even more confident to claim that their death would open more opportunities for other young jihadist to follow suit. The first was true but the second will be tested now.

U.S. authorities are clearly proud of the fact that finally, their number one enemy is dead. The question whether if they have totally silenced the al Qaeda movement is yet to be answered in the next episodes where we will find these young Islam fundamentalist grow mature.

Burying Bin Laden at sea has just triggered more questions than answer to many Muslims.  They now consider Bin Laden as great martyr which was truly the ultimate goal of every jihadist, which is to die as martyrs.  Some however are still in doubt if he was indeed killed during the operation or it was just some psychological tactic the US employed to confuse the enemy.

Whether Bin Laden is dead or still alive, the world should be able to address the root cause of these young unsatisfied Islam to be convinced to join the movement.  It appears that there is an overwhelming power behind the movement that drives these people to act irrational to fulfil their calling.  They should be made to understand that they should learn to live in harmony with other religion which is totally a dead end situation.

There are some Islam practitioners who abhor terrorism as what some of their brothers do and yet there are those who continue to look forward to getting the rewards in heaven after accomplishing their martyrdom.  These are conflicting doctrinal teachings that needs to be addressed appropriately or otherwise the US will continue to live under the shadows of Bin Laden as he was able to successfully indoctrinate a lot of young Islamic followers to follow his footsteps. 

The key to world peace is to dig deeper into the foundation the teachings of Islam and reverse the process.  It is a fact that there are factions within the religion itself which makes it more difficult to address conflicting issues most especially in areas issues concerning Islamic religion infidels.  If only they can start educating these young ones about peace and harmony then world peace can be achieved by probably in the next generation to come, or else we can just expect that the last war will be on religion. 

As You Think So Are You

"As a man thinks in his heart so is he." 1

Golfer Arnold Palmer has won hundreds of trophies, but does not present it to brag. His office only has a small trophy displayed. This is a small cup, received his first professional victory at the Canadian Open in 1955.

His office wall is a framed plaque, which read simply:

If you think you are beaten, you are.

If you think you dare not, no.

If you want to win but think you can not,

It is almost certain that you do.

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is a man who thinks he can.

The life of struggles, challenges, successes and / or errors are all fought, won or lost in the mind.

"Keep your heart with diligence," says Solomon, and absent of life. "2 The Bible refers to the heart of the whole spirit, intellect, will and emotions and spirit of the guard with all care and commitment every day and trusts in God.

Living in the mind makes the body function. If you do not believe it, think about how temptation works. The first that come is an idea, then stop and continue to think about it to justify, and act on it accordingly. It is all too real: what your mind focuses on is acted upon by your body.

End of the World - Doomsday

Since time immemorial, people have thought about the end of the world and make predictions about when and how it could happen. Most major religions have their own theories on the subject, which often include fateful battle between the forces of natural good and evil and catastrophe.

According to a 2007 article in The New York Times, agnostics foretold the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God from the first century. The Shakers thought the world would have been over in 1792, while the Jehovah Witnesses presents different years between 1914 and 1994 as an end date. Recently, some apocalyptic predictions focused on the year 2012. Referring to the conclusion of a long cycle of ancient Mayan calendar, some theorists have predicted the end of life we know, December 21, 2012. These theorists believe that December 21, 2012, Earth will experience unprecedented disasters: devastating earthquakes and tsunamis massive collapses nuclear reactor. To prepare for these events, some supporters of the 2012 prophecy already started sourcing equipment for survival.

Major religions of the world each have their individual beliefs about the world ending, the victory of good over evil and the Day of Judgement. In Christianity, the last chapter of Revelation in the Bible, New Testament mentions Armageddon, the final battle on Earth between the forces of God and Satan. Armageddon would be the Hebrew word "mountain of Megiddo." Located in the current Israel, Megiddo, the ancient, strategically located in the city, was present at many battles. Some Christians construe the book of Revelation as a road diagram that creates the way the world ends. They argue that the Day of Armageddon will take place and Jesus will save the believers, while non-believers are left behind to suffer.

In Islam, the end of the world called time and involves Jesus' return to Damascus to kill an anti-Christ, who put the planet at risk. Anti-Christ taken out of the picture, a period of harmony will take place. Jesus later died a natural death, leading to an era of destruction that leads directly to an hour. In Judaism there is no designation of Armageddon, but there are references in the Hebrew Bible to events that could be compared to Armageddon, including the Lord's day (where God is causing death and destruction to people who deserve to be punished) and the war of Gog and Magog (where Israel and its God fight their enemies, rather than as an anti-Christ).

In Hinduism Vishnu is the story of return to the last round of a figure of a name is gone, riding a white horse, carrying a sword and destroy the comet appears to the forces of evil. Some Buddhist prophecies, Armageddon is equivalent to Shambhala, where good triumphs over evil, but the planet has been surrendered or destroyed, so that people can achieve enlightenment.

Despite the many theories and interpretations of religion, the only thing that is certain about the end of the world is that nobody can know with certainty what will happen. And until that day - if it happens - people will probably continue to speculate endlessly about when it is finished.

Get Your Prayers Answered

"If we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him."⁶

Pray specifically. Recently I had a need for office equipment and asked God to show me how to get the needed funds that month! That night I was unable to sleep so I got up and worked on balancing my finances. To my amazement, I found a mistake in my favor and was able to order the equipment the next day!

Pray persistently. Not all prayers get answered so quickly. I have prayed for some things for years before getting an answer. If our prayer is legitimate, sometimes we need to be as persistent as Jacob, who once said to God, "I will not let you go until you have blessed me."⁷ Jesus Himself said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."⁸ The principle is to keep on asking and seeking until you receive.

Pray in harmony with God's will. As today's Scripture says, "If we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him."⁶

High on God's priorities for us is our growth and maturity. Prayers in harmony with this principle, and with all of God's will, will always be effective. Prayers outside his will are denied.

Pray sincerely. "Do you want to be made well?" was Jesus' question. In other words, if we want God to answer our prayers, we have to want the answer enough to be willing to pay the price. For instance, if we want to grow in faith, love, patience, perseverance, and maturity, we need to realize that all of these are acquired through experience, often painful experience. As the Bible says, "Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character."⁹

Pray in Jesus' name. "I tell you the truth," [Jesus said] "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to [God] the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son [Jesus] may bring glory to [God] the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."¹⁰

Finally, come to God on his terms. Effective prayer is also dependent on our having a right relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only one through whom we can approach God. "Nobody can come to God except through me,"¹¹ Jesus said. Because of our sin, our relationship with God has been broken. But because of Christ's death for us on the cross, our relationship with God can be restored by our responding to Jesus' invitation to receive him into our heart and life as personal Lord and Savior.* And then we can come to God in prayer through Jesus.

When we are living in a right relationship with God and learn to pray the right prayers, we can be certain that God will answer them. As Jesus said, "If you stay in [right relationship with] me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!"¹²

Osama Bin Laden a Decoy

Obviously there were individuals serving Bin Laden in his Pakistan hideout site, be they state workers, were they merely from Taliban-related assemblage, were they from the intelligence organization?

For each and every one may pose the questions, doubtfully they will get any answers. There will be uncertainty about the issue and the Pakistanis will refute they had some information at all.

The concern here is made up of army headship, intelligence organization direction and some higher-ranking social servants, and they have for all time run Pakistan, whether democratic administration or military rule, and those folks do have associations among jihadis.

The sophistication the Americans have in understanding that there are more than 20 diverse types of jihadi organisations stationed all over the world, and al-Qaeda is just one of them. The military has diverse strategy towards various types of faction and that subtleness is often vanished on American policy-makers.

Bin Laden resisted the troops and was shot dead head-shot, but was not armed.

The CIA is by now probing objects in custody from the raid, as well as computer hard drives, DVDs and some pertinent documents that could lead to other groups linked to Bin Laden.

No conclusion had yet been made on whether to let loose a picture of Bin Laden's body, the image was pretty gruesome and could inflame some sensitivity. 

Just watch out for what actions these jihadist will do next because obviously Bin Laden’s death just appeared to be offered in a silver platter. The Navy Seals have taken full control of the hide out in just 40 minutes without any casualty at all which is very unusual for the world’s most wanted to succumb that easily.

There are plenty of question running in everyone’s mind about the how Bin laden hid himself for a decade putting to shame the elite intelligence network that was employed to track him.  What came to be more surprising was that he was found to be in a posh Pakistani neighbourhood and not in a bunker somewhere in the desert which no advanced technology satellite could penetrate.

If he was really that formidable, as what media has established him to be as the world’s most wanted, the defenders of Islam would have given him the invincibility which obviously presented to us the opposite during the time of assault. Let the world therefore become more vigilant as the assassination of Bin Laden could just be a ploy to ward off the world’s attention from the real war on terror. A sacrificial lamb describes him best.