Prayer: At Home in the Prayer Chamber

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.—Daniel 6:10

Thomas a' Kempis wrote that the man of God ought to be more at home in his prayer chamber than before the public....

No man should stand before an audience who has not first stood before God. Many hours of communion should precede one hour in the pulpit. The prayer chamber should be more familiar than the public platform. Prayer should be continuous, preaching but intermittent.

It is significant that the schools teach everything about preaching except the important part, praying. For this weakness the schools are not to be blamed, for the reason that prayer cannot be taught; it can only be done. The best any school or any book (or any article) can do is to recommend prayer and exhort to its practice. Praying itself must be the work of the individual. That it is the one religious work which gets done with the least enthusiasm cannot but be one of the tragedies of our times. God Tells the Man Who Cares, 70-71.

"Lord, I pray today that I might more and more be at home in my prayer chamber. It's exciting to be in the pulpit; it's vital to be in the closet. Let me do this work with deeper commitment and greater enthusiasm. Amen."