The Secret Place

Many banks have a secure inner room that can only be accessed through a large vault. This inner room holds valuables that people entrust to the bank for safety like jewellery, bonds, cash, gold and silver and important documents. The public cannot access this space without a specific bank employee who holds the authority, keys, or passcode to enter the vault.

This is the kind of inner room that Jesus was referring to as He taught His disciples about prayer. “Go into your room” (tameion: meaning secret chamber or inner chamber). In a first century house this was a set apart space often walled off and serving as a safe place for valuables, grain or intimate family affairs, a private room usually without windows and reached by a narrow passage.

When a thief enters a bank with the intention to rob it the first thing they look for is the person who has access to the inner chamber where all the valuables are.

“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10a).

How is your prayer life these days? Are you able to find your way to the inner room of your heart where the Spirit of God dwells in order to meet with your heavenly Father? I hope so, but if not, there are three little words of instruction from Jesus in this verse that can help. He tells us to, “shut the door.”

The bank employee who has been entrusted with the keys to the vault would be seriously disciplined if they ever left the vault unlocked; the valuables inside would no longer be secure.

If we fail to shut the door when we pray, the thief will use all sorts of distractions to rob us of precious time with our Father: the world news, family and health problems, financial challenges, a simple shopping list, or even a basic car repair all have the ability to influence treasured time and space that is set apart for us and God.

Early one morning years ago, I was spending time in the secret place when a very strong thought came into my mind to go and check something on a specific social media platform. I got up, walked into another room, opened up my computer and then suddenly woke up as from a daze realizing that I had just been robbed by the thief! I have had to put strict safeguards in place to guard and protect this valuable time and space with my Father. I learned that morning what Jesus meant when He taught His disciples to ‘shut the door’!