Are You Taking Time to Close the Door?

Are You Taking Time to Close the Door?

By Daniel Amstutz

Matthew 6:6 says, “But 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.”

Notice it doesn’t say if you pray—but when you pray. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself, Why am I praying?

When you spend time with God, that’s “close-the-door time.” It’s time to say goodbye to the distractions and shut everything else out. In other words: close the door!

It’s never a “have to,” a ritual, or a routine. It’s about fellowship that flows from relationship. That’s how you learn what to say yes to in your life. Sometimes, you have to learn how to say no to the good in order to say yes to the best. That’s how you give out from the overflow of a heart that’s filled—rather than a heart that’s overloaded and stressed out.

I’ll never forget the day I heard the Lord ask me, “Do you want to know a secret?” Then He said, “Go to 2 Corinthians 13:14,” which says:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”

These were the closing words of the apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. These words carry weight!

What would be the last thing you’d say to someone if you knew you might never see them again?

Paul emphasized the grace of the Lord, the love of God, and the communion—or fellowship, or intimacy—of the Holy Spirit. In other words, joint participation: what the Holy Spirit has for you, and what you offer Him in return from your heart. That is fellowship in relationship.

Have you been feeling distracted or disconnected lately?

How much time are you spending on social media and all the other voices speaking into your life?

God told us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the other things would be added to us. And yet, so often it’s what we do last instead of first—and often from a place of desperation instead of a place of communion and fellowship.

Romans 12:1–2 tells us that we are the ones who must present ourselves as a living offering. God can’t do that for us. If we’re alive, we’re responsible to present who we are and all that we are to Him—as a yielded disciple.

There’s power in yielding!

When we yield our “right of way,” we’ll yield—right away.

Instead of clinging to our rights, we learn to surrender them to the One we know truly loves us: God.

Blessings.

Daniel