Behind Closed Doors.

I am always fascinated when I hear that a sports team has had a "closed door" meeting. In this case, "closed door" means that the media is not allowed in the clubhouse. Usually this occurs after a surprising loss or when it looks like the team is going in a wrong direction and probably won't make the playoffs. At the news conference after the "closed door" meeting the first question to the manager is something like "So what did you say to your team... joe, bob, wilt... whatever the coach's name is?" I get frustrated every time I hear a ridiculous reporter ask this assonine queston... because if the manager wanted you to know what he said he would have allowed you to come into the clubhouse in the first. In response to this absurdity the manager usually offers some standard response that generally revolves around what is going on. Or, if the manager has a lot of gusto he/she will respond like this: "That's between me and my team." Of course the reporter takes this response as a personal attack because he/she thinks they are entitled to know everything. The fact of the matter is that the manager gave the truthful answer, it was none of the reporter's business what he said and, thus, the reason the meeting was "closed door."

I have recently been thinking an awful lot about prayer lately and am challenged by Jesus' instructions on prayer in Matthew 6. This is the only place in the Bible where some actually teaches us how to pray. Jesus first tells us not to pray in public like the hypocrites who like to be seen. He goes on to tell us that when we pray, we need to go into our room and close the door (6:6). Before Jesus even teaches his disciples how to pray, he tells them WHERE they should pray. Why? Because Jesus is trying to get across the idea that prayer is a personal thing between us and God. The purpose of prayer is for us to connect in an intimate way with our Creator... the God who loves us. Prayer is a time for us to lay our hearts bare and share the deepest part of ourselves with our God. 

However, so many of us (including myself) don't get this. We still come to God with our long list of needs and problems... expecting God to wave our magic wand and change everything. But that's not how it works. I absolutely believe that God will intercede on our behalf, but he is more concerned with his relationship to us. And if we are not concerned about our relationship with God... he will feel distant, the same way a relationship, friendship, or marriage can become distant when we do not spend time with the other person. 

I think part of the reason we don't fully open up to God is that we like to think we can handle everything on our own. Tim Keller in his book The Prodigal God, said that is the essence of our sin. Sin is not about disobeying a list of rules, the bottom line of sin is that we want to be our own savior. When we are our own savior then we don't need God. When we don't need God the only alternative is for us to save ourselves... and I don't know about you but I don't trust myself that much. Jesus needs to be the hero of our story and he needs to save us from ourselves, as Mark Driscoll would say. 

This is where prayer comes in. When we spend time with our Savior and Lord everyday... behind closed doors... we realize just how much we need him. The things we share with our God behind closed doors are things that we would not share with the public media. They are, as the manger with gusto would say, "Between us and our God." In this Jesus words ring true... when you pray go into your room, close the door, and get real with God.