Jesus taught, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen." (Matthew 6)
Go into your room and close the door. How many people in Jesus' time had their own room? How many houses had more than one room? How many rooms had doors?
A typical home in Jesus' time was one or possibly two rooms. Between the rooms was a narrow doorway, with no door. Floors were dirt. A family unit sharing a home would consist of parents, their children until they were married, and their married sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren by those sons. They did not have their own bedroom, or even their own bed. They threw mats on a dirt floor and slept on them. When it was hot, the entire family climbed onto the roof to sleep.
They lived in small villages. Homes were built close together, often in a square or rectangle, with a courtyard in the middle of the homes. Neighbors shared the courtyard, which served as a common place for cooking and washing.
Doesn't it seem a bit strange then that Jesus taught his followers to "go into your room, close the door and pray"? Jesus didn't say go into a room. He instructed to go into your room, and close the door. What room? What door?
Father Thomas Keating of Contemplative Outreach says Jesus is referring to the private room of your mind and is inviting you to enter into contemplative prayer.
Eugene Peterson translates Jesus' teaching as "Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God."
Jesus said, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men."
Prayer is an internal event, not external. Jesus said to pray for show is hypocritical.
"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans," Jesus added.
Jesus is advocating fewer words, and more silence. He wants us to talk less when we pray. According to Jesus, babbling is the practice of pagans.
"Your Father knows what you need before you ask him," Jesus said. Then, he taught The Lord's Prayer.
God knows what you need.
Go inward. Enter into relationship with God. Don't worry so much about external appearances.
Talk less. Listen more.
God knows what you need. When you are struggling with a problem or questioning which path to take, "go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father." In the silence, you will hear answers.
Chris Karcher is the author of Relationships of Grace and Amazing Things I Know About You, available from www.relationshipsofgrace.com and 1-877-GET-GRACE (toll free). Chris can be reached at www.relationshipsofgrace.com.
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