The Prayer Closet

(A Post By Monica)
Follow @KeeperofGodsWrd I want to address & stress to you how important prayer is and will always be.

I find that church has become a hindrance to MANY people. Yes, I just made that statement & I stand by it. 

Because of church, many believe their prayer, bible study and any other work of God BEGINS & STOPS THERE. 

I constantly hear "Oh I believe in Jesus... I go to church" - As we are fully aware, church has little to do with a personal relationship with Christ. 

Church is often thought of as a meeting place with/for God. But Jesus Christ told us "Behold I stand at the door & knock; If any man hear my voice & open the door; I will come into him & sup with him & he with me" - Rev 3:20

What "door" does Christ speak of? It certainly is NOT the doors of a church building. But rather, our hearts that He knocks at & if we let Him into the heart, he will reside within us.

The end is near & although I say this often, I cannot say it enough! Matthew 24 is rapidly happening & there is not much time left to decide rather or not to accept, form a personal relationship with and follow the commandments of Jesus Christ. 

Romans 12:2 tells us to "continue instant in prayer" - 1 Thess 5:17 " says to "Pray without ceasing" - 1 Tim 2:1 tells us to give an offering of prayer, intercession (prayer for others), & giving thanks be done by all. -

The request that we worship The Most High God by ALWAYS praying for ourselves & for others & that we thank God (praise Him) is urgent within the Word because the time of tribulation is near & God needs to know WHO we are. He will not know those that have turned their face from Him, his statutes (commandments) & His overall Will for their lives. 

Christ tells us on that day of judgment, He will have the righteous in His right hand & the wicked in His left as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats 

At that time, He will say to the righteous Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"

And to the wicked, Christ will say "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"

Why is Christ going to say this? Well the answer lies within the rest of this text (Matt 25:31-46) - He explains to both the righteous & the wicked that the way they treated others was the way they treated Him. When we claim to love our spouse, we form a relationship with them. We get to know them & they get to know us. We spend time with them regularly - or at the minimum - we speak to them often. In doing this, we learn of their likes, dislikes & how to efficiently please them. We are also better equip to handle even the worse situations with that person because we have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with them. Our work does not stop once we say "I Do" ... If anything, that is when the real work begins! 

The same holds true to our relationship with Christ. When we accept Him into our hearts, we do not rest on that action. If we did, we would know no further of Him, His character, His promises, What He needs for us to do... Nothing! The relationship would never progress & their would be NO growth. 

So yes, the church often makes people lazy of having a personal relationship with Christ. There is no urgency to pray to Jesus Christ outside of that building because many believe that they are covered by Him merely because of service attendance. But do you receive A's simply by showing up to class?! NEVER! SO please, Pray to Christ in your secret place. You need to be strong for the time of tribulation & more importantly, Christ is the one that grants that strength. But He won't if you do not know Him & He does not know you!