WHEN THE LIGHT COMES ON

I know you have seen the famous red telephone box for which Britain is well known; they are now, of course, being totally phased out, but at one time those boxes were on almost every corner and country lane.  These red boxes almost symbolize Britain!

Once I heard of someone standing barely inside one of those red boxes trying to dial a number in the darkness—but he could not see the numbers on the rotator.  A helpful person walked by, who saw the problem the person was having and said to him, “If you will step totally inside the box, and close the door—the light will come on.”

The door had to be shut for the light to come on!  And Jesus once said something that was very much like that, “But when you pray, enter into the closet, and when you have shut the door” (Matthew 6:6).  Jesus is talking about the fact that real prayer is secret prayer!  And He says after we shut the door, “pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.”  We must practice that in prayer.

Now then, ask yourself, how much time have you committed to secret prayer?  In fact, actually found a place, “a closet,” where you can literally shut the door and pray! — Yes, just as He said, shut the door!  I believe, whenever it is possible, we must do this very thing—have a favorite place to go to pray.  I have made in our home a small room (not much bigger than a closet) just for that purpose.  Thank God, when Jan cannot find me in our house, she thinks, “Oh, he is probably there!”  Maybe I am there praying for you.  What do I pray for? — That you will be a person of prayer!

We must not go into ministry without much prayer and then, more prayer.  John Bunyan said, “Pray till you pray!”  He meant not shallow utterances but real, deep, heartfelt prayer.  All of us must remember his words and do it!  In this day, when on Zoom we can very easily journey to a far-off country instantly, does it not illustrate to us the greatest journey is into God’s presence?

But if there is no private room—make your own prayer closet; close your eyes and be before the throne immediately.  Practice the art, even in the noisiest crowd, of going to your secret prayer closet.  Always remember, that’s when the light comes on!

Also, Jesus said “men ought always to pray” and we must live in prayer, and this is the only way.  Yes, pray with your eyes wide open—but talk to God constantly and continually.  Let it be your secret weapon as you prepare.  Let me add one more thing of great value:  Years ago while living in Scotland, I came to believe thoughts can be prayers.  I found that there could be times when I was engaged in other things but my soul was on its knees before the Throne.

It is a great mental discipline and a mark of maturity to learn to turn your thoughts—not all of them, of course, but some of them—into prayers.  You can say as you think—“Now, Lord, please accept those things I have just thought as my prayer, in Jesus’ name, Amen!”  Constantly, pray and think, then think and pray!

Again, never minimize what Jesus said, “sees in secret shall reward you openly.”  You and I can practice that, becoming people of secret prayer.

“My closest friend cannot fully know, When I have crossed the threshold o’er, That He alone has just heard my prayer Because I shut the door.”

That’s when the light comes on—shut the door!