We have read in the words of the Master that we ate to close ourselves into our closet, alone, and there to offer up to Him the prayers that are due Him.
By a closet is meant any room where we can be alone with the creator. For in being alone, with no body or nothing to distract our attention, it is easier to turn ourselves entirely over to the duty of prayer.
Note:-I said `Duty’ and I mean `Duty ‘. For the seemingly simple matter of prayer is a Duty that all of us owe to our Supreme Creator.
When we are alone, we can say the things that spill out of our hearts. There are no restraining influences. There is no one else around us. We are alone with our God.
We are closed in the privacy of our closet.
Don`t think that by getting into a room by yourself that you are trying to hide from God. That is impossible. He sees through every wall. You are not getting away from Him. You are COMING closer to Him.
Sit quietly, make yourself comfortable. Do not strain. Keep the room slightly darkened. Too much light might prove a distraction.
Get everything out of your mind. Try to make it perfect blank. Don`t think of things you have already done. They are the past. The past belongs to the past. That is wiped out. If we have sinned or erred and we came to God with repentence in our hearts, He will take us close to Him, comfort us and make us anew.
Don`t think of the things that you are going to do. That`s all in the future. Live only in the present. The now. The moment that is here
If there are any sounds coming into the room, shut your ears to them. Hear nothing, see nothing, think nothing.
You may think this simple, but let me assure you that it is moat difficult. It requires practice and application, lots of it, before you can really control the thoughts that enter your mind.
Try it for a few minutes each morning and evening. After you have attained that mastery for a few minutes, extend the period. Keep concentrating for longer and longer periods.
This is called, developing your receptiveness.
After you have developed yourself to a stage where you can clear all matter from your mind for a length of time, you are ready to go into the silence.
Somebody once asked, whether a tree falling in a primeval forest makes any noise. One wise man said that it does. Because the crash disturbs the air and sends sound waves moving in all directions. Another wise man said that here was no noise, because there was no one to hear it. He claimed that noise only existed in the ears of the hearer.
But we, who know that God exists, can say that so long as there was a tree, God was there-He heard it. For He hears our unspoken words and knows our unspoken thoughts.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden tried to hide from God after they have eaten the apple of life. But try as they might, they could not get away from Him. He was everywhere even in their thoughts.
So you, too, will find God everywhere. When learn to look for him everywhere. Wherever you are. He will be at your side. Whatever you do, He will help you. If you let him help you.
You are closet maybe a room of your own. It maybe quit place in the fields. It may be on some deserted shore. To the world, you may be alone. But you will know that God is with you.
Develop your receptiveness. You will find yourself capable of being alone in crowd. Capable of making the contact with your God wherever you are and whenever you will it.
There is no person who cannot practice going into the silence. And there is no person who cannot be alone if he wants to alone.
So we come to the answer to the question: “Where to pray?” It is-Pray wherever you can make your contact with your God, which should be at all times, anywhere and everywhere, when you know how.
