Prayer in the Inner Room with closed Doors

Gospel Thoughts

*Ordinary Season : 11th Week -  Wednesday*

*GOSPEL - Mt 6:1-6, 16-18*

*First Reading - 2 Cor 9:6-11*

*Prayer in the Inner Room with closed Doors*

*When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret*

*1) Jesus teaching on the place of prayer*

In the sermon on the mount Jesus says, how to pray and where to pray. 

He says that we need to go to inner room and need to close the doors, and then we need to pray secretly with our heavenly Father. 

So the question is where is this room and what are the doors which we need to close 

*2) Inner room and closed doors - may be a physical place*

The moment we hear about inner room and closed doors, we get the idea of the room and a door which we have in our houses 

So it is a practical or physical place where we can enter into a room, where everything empty, and then we can close the door in order to avoid all the disturbances, so that we can concentrate better in prayer 

This is the ordinary and fist level of understanding of the inner room and closing of the door. 

Is there any other deeper meaning in this particular verse? 

*3) Inner Room can be our own inner self*

Going to the inner room means going inside of ourselves 

In other words it is a inward journey of the self to know what we are 

The best example for this is the tax collecter who went to the temple to pray. 

The tax collector standing far, not even raising his head, beat his breast and said *Lord have mercy on me*

The Gospel says, his prayer was heard by God, and he went home blessed by God. 

This is exactly going inside the room to pray. 

Going inside the room means - seeing what we are, how we are in our spiritual journey, being sincere in our  commitments, and so on 

Going inside the room means seeing our own unworthiness, and accepting it before God with humility. 

Such an attitude definitely, puts us in the right posture to make a sincere prayer and such prayers are heard by God 

*4) Closing of the Doors - How to understand it?*

In the first level we understand as we close the doors of our private rooms in our houses. 

More than this, there is a deeper meaning which is found in this phrase 

The moment we get into the inner room, that is our own inner self, we need to close the doors of our external senses 

We have five senses, through which we come into outside world. Unless we disconnect ourselves from this external world we can't pray 

So the doors of our external senses we need to close. So that is the real meaning of closing the doors of our life's room 

*5) Closed inside the Room of our life we experience God*

Look at any sainsts, whose life show us that they experienced God as they went inside of themselves. 

Conscience, which is the core of our being, and the place of God's dwelling can be reached only with the inward journey. 

The voice of the conscience, can be heard only by those who are ready to go to the inner room of the life, by closing the external doors of our senses. 

*6) Am I ready to go to inner room by closing the external doors of my life?*

Unless we go to inner room we can't find God

Unless we close the doors of our senses we can't remain in the inner room

If so Am I ready to do this? 

Going to the inner room and closing of the doors of our senses is not an easy task. Its a challenging and continuous work 

It is not one time work. Continuous efforts, real dedication and self discipline is very much necessary

*7) Where I am in my life?*

Have I tried to go to the inner room of my life? 

How often I go to my inner room? 

What methods I use to close the external doors of my senses? 

Is it so difficult for me to close the doors of my external senses?

*Think about it*

*God bless you and your family. Praying for you and your dear ones*

*Fr Maxim Dsouza*

*Jeppu Seminary*

*Mangalore*