The precious place of prayer will soon become your most treasured place on earth because it’s here that Heaven breaks in and you get to sup with the Savior.
TRANSCRIPT
Please note: this transcript is auto-generated so forgive any (or many) errors 😲 – click the timestamps to play that section directly in the audio.
00:00:01.810]
There is no subject that moves me, stirs me and grips me more than the subject of prayer. And I was thinking, thinking it actually arose from my time of prayer this morning when I found other things wanting to push their way through the door and Rob the time that I was offering and dedicating to Jesus. Now, when Jesus toured the hillside crowd about prayer, he said this Matthew Six, but thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father, which is in secret, and your Father, which sees in secret, will reward you openly.
00:00:54.670]
Such a magnificent promise. But what I want to bring to your attention today and what was brought to my attention this morning was that we need to shut the door.
00:01:09.130]
Don’t let your closet become crowded. The closet is a picture of the space that you construct for the presence of God to take priority and presidency in your life. It’s the Holy place, sanctified and set apart in a Holy expectation that something special, beautiful and supernatural will occur in your life. Satan absolutely hates that thought. He wants to keep us grounded in the natural.
00:01:39.850]
Your own flesh even will fight against being dethroned. And prayer is the place where the flesh is dethroned and the Spirit comes to take the throne and sit in its proper place, carving out the boundaries of your closet and hammering the pegs into the ground to prepare your spiritual sanctuary takes work and will face resistance both without and within.
00:02:11.590]
That’s just the nature of prayer is as much as it is a playground where we enjoy God and where we jump and splash in the beautiful waters of His presence. It is also at the very same time a battleground that is hard won and hard fought. The ground of your soul that you’re possessing for the practise of prayer may well have been occupied for many years, overrun by the cares and concerns of life, deceitfulness of riches, desire for other things, greedy pursuits, or even devilish trespassers who’ve set up tents on that land.
00:02:55.990]
Brother sister, it’s time to give eviction orders to all of those trespassers, all of those things that have crowded in and have crept upon the ground that belongs to the place and the priority and the practise of prayer, the desire for other things has to go and the door firmly slammed in the face of distraction. And in saying that it doesn’t mean that we neglect our responsibilities, we’re still building our businesses, bringing up our children, loving and tending affectionately to our wives and our husbands.
00:03:39.010]
But the totem pole of priority is radically rearranged. So all of those idols of modernity no longer stand at its head. If the door is not closed to disturbance, then an entourage of concerns, comparisons, and competitive notions will creep into the closet with you. As your clothes in the door, they’ll sneak in and begin to gnaw at your attention. You know what is intended to be a Holy space becomes crowded with personalities other than the one that you’re seeking.
00:04:21.070]
Yesterday’s concerns will bustle in, seeking to fill the atmosphere with worry. Tomorrow’s uncertainties will goad you out of the sanctuary to seek and sort them in your own strength. If you’re not careful, the prayer closet just becomes a thoroughfare for any thought that chances by protect your land and stand your ground, man or woman of God. This kind of distracted atmosphere is not conductive to effective prayer. The heart and mind bouncing around here and there, never landing on any subject long enough to harness it to the will of God and pray it through.
00:05:02.830]
In this age and society of three second attention, the old school practise of praying through is foreign to most men and women. We want answers and we want them now.
00:05:20.570]
Fervency gives way to urgency and pressing present concerns. Relegate real Kingdom priorities in the life of the fierce man or woman of prayer, this tendency to dance around must be subdued. Ferocious focus is what’s needed prayer really in its essence, the very nature of prayer requires your full attention. It’s not a halfhearted thing. There’s no halfhearted approach to God.
00:05:58.070]
He is a consuming fire, and the idea that we can balance worldly ambitions with the Wildlands of the Spirit is foreign to Scripture. The first commandment is to love God unreservedly in mind, body, soul, and spirit. There is no room for maybe or sometime or some day. It is now and it is all encompassing. Jesus is Lord amusements.
00:06:30.470]
Seek to barge into your prayer time. Thoughts will push for your attention. Niggles will rise to the surface. Negative emotions will elbow their way into the closet, attempting to divert your gaze.
00:06:54.690]
Keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus. It’s not easy when your soul has been trained to jump with every Ping and vibration. Dear brother, dear Sister, this is a war that we are involved in and it is a war for your attention. It’s a war of endless distractions.
00:07:25.690]
The life of prayer is not a hurried one. Prayer life is countercultural today’s lifestyle of rush and hurry, consumption, accumulation, competition and comparison conflicts entirely with the pursuit, entertainment of the rich, unhurried and hearty. In a life that you crave to honestly become a man or woman of the Spirit is not something you can conveniently cram into your daytimer prayer.
00:08:02.410]
Yes, prayer is life. It demands change and transformation in every area, not just a small space behind the door of your closet for a few minutes of quiet prayer is not a box that you tick. Fierce focus does not happen by accident. Your inputs throughout the day must change or they’ll crowd into your closet. Even when the door has been closed, priorities and pace must be made subject to the demands of the sanctuary, not the other way around.
00:08:40.150]
Too often, prayer is crammed around our day, not our day shaped around prayer. You know, prayer is really not something that we can fit into our furious over busy schedule. It will take time, attention and costly devotion. Oh, God, it’s so worth it. If you want God’s presence and the voice to be more than just a side dish, you’ve got to sit at the right table.
00:09:10.270]
Jesus is not going to barge into your schedule and force your hand. If your life is crowded with a multitude of minor affairs, he’s not going to push them aside. Demanding your attention. Shoe the crowd from your closet and open the door to the King. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
00:09:31.210]
Jesus said, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and I will SUP with him and he with me. The door that he’s knocking and wants to step through is the door that you shut to the noise and the hurry of the world. This precious place of prayer will soon become your most treasured place on Earth. Because it’s here that heaven breaks in and you get to SUP with the saviour. Well, thanks for listening.
00:10:05.710]
Hopefully, it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website davidleemartin.com have a great day.
