AT THE WELL ... finding my spiritual closet

Today's discussion over AT THE WELL has to do with our spiritual closets. This will be a very interesting topic to discuss today.

The question that we are discussing is:

Do you have a favorite "spiritual place" in your home?

Is it a room? a closet? maybe a chair?

YYYYY

I can remember as a young girl, hearing older people talk about their "spiritual closets", a place that they would go to pray in secret. I always imagined in my mind, that these people were going into their "actual" bedroom closets. Opening the closet door, scooting the shoes on the floor over, as to make room for them to sit down on the floor of their closet. Once situated inside their closet, covered with clothes hanging down from the closet rod and shoes piled up to the right and to the left, they were ready to pray to God.

In their closet.
In the dark.
With the door closed.

Isn't that a funny imagery for a small child to have?

As I grew older, I found out the real meaning of a "spiritual closet". Usually it did not mean an actual closet with shoes and clothes.

MATTHEW 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."

My spiritual closet is a place that I can get alone with God and shut out all of the interruptions of my world and totally focus on Him and meditate upon His goodness and His truth. Sometimes where I find this place of rest, this place of meditation, can be different depending on my day or my circumstances.

My favorite time to get alone with God is late at night when everyone else in the house is in bed or early in the morning while they are still sleeping. Sometimes, it is really difficult around my house to find a time or a place that it is quiet.

Noises seem to just fill the house. And noise seems to be one of the biggest obstacles that keeps us from spending time in our "closets" with our Father. Many of us wake up to the blare of the radio, then we listen to music on the way to work either on the car radio or the bus, after work or school - we listen to our ipods thru our headphones as we exercise or do our homework. All day long there is a steady stream of noise that takes up space in our heads and it shapes our thoughts. We rarely make mental space for quiet reflection.

My daughter proved this very thing as we rode in the car to Memphis for a Mothers Day outing. I like it to be quiet and still at times, but she wanted the radio on. She could not stand the "quiet", not even for a moment.

We are much like my daughter at times, when things fall quiet, we look for something to fill the silence. Have you ever considered your spirit needing a break from all of the noise that keeps you being filled up with God? Does your mind ever need a break to just ponder on the goodness of God?

David said in Psalms "May my meditation be sweet to Him." (Psalm 104:34) Spending time (on purpose) with God wasn't just an obligation or a duty for David, but it was pleasant for him. That is what I want my time alone with God to be....

Pleasant.

Sometimes in order to find this place of pleasant meditation, I might have to actually clear out my bedroom closet and shimmy my way in between the shoe rack and the dust and make it my "spiritual closet". Wherever I can find quiet, stillness, and no interruptions is the place I might call my "closet". Sometimes it is a room in the house, or out on a rigorous walk, driving in the car, or laying prostate on my bed.

My spiritual closet isn't always the place as much as it is giving my attention, my full attention, to God. How many times have you had one of your children come to you and need to speak to you about something really really important...do you say, "wait a minute...lets go inside this closet and talk" and then the two of you go inside a dark closet, you close the door and then ask "ok I can now listen to you." That sounds absurd, doesn't it?

Well at the same time ... the important thing for listening to God is removing all of the distractions that stand in your way. God is asking us to remove all of the distractions that stand in the way of us communicating with Him and listening for His small still voice. God is ready to listen and speak to us in all kinds of different places. He isn't partial to which room in the house it is ...He just wants to commune with us.

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR SPIRITUAL CLOSET YET?

Please join us over AT THE WELL to hear what others are saying about their spiritual closets. Click HERE!