Making a Place to Pray

Following the trail of prayer in the Old Testament leads us to Abraham, the Father of the Faithful. This prophet developed a rich and powerful relationship with Jehovah through prayer. As a young man Abram prayed for deliverance from the hands of pagan priests who were about to sacrifice him to false gods. As a result of his prayer, an angel intervened and saved his life, setting him on a course of faithfulness for the rest of his life. We'll discuss Abraham's first prayer another time. Suffice it to say at this point that Abraham became a master at prayer, so much so that he heard the voice of God regularly. Abraham and Jehovah were on intimate terms.

In their old age, Abraham and Sarah had their only son Isaac. The family settle in a place called Beer-sheba. At this point in Abraham's long life, we encounter this verse:

And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
--Genesis 21:33

Abraham knew a temple was an appropriate place to pray. Lacking the means to build a proper temple, however, Abraham did the next best thing in his mind. He created a pleasant place of natural beauty in which he could approach God regularly. He created an abode that represented what he thought heaven might be like, and there he retired many days to commune with the Lord.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds temples for many reasons, not the least of which is to create houses of prayer. Temples are portals to heaven. The veil between heaven and earth is thin in a temple dedicated to the Holiness of the Lord. If God hears prayers offered anywhere, surely He hears those offered in one of His temples.

Nevertheless, for regular, intense, vocal prayer, we need to create our own place, private and apart, a physical and spiritual place where we can call on God without interruption or interference, a comfortable place where we can stay and linger in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Such a place is a gift to ourselves where we can offer ourselves as a gift to God.

Preparation is an important element of effective prayer, and retiring to a special place is an essential act of preparation. Some refer to such a place as our "prayer closet" (see Matthew 6:6). We will speak more of closets later. Of course, God hears us everywhere and in every circumstance. In a crisis, any foxhole will do. When we have the time and the means, however, turning in our special prayer place can set our minds and hearts in the receptive mode and can open the conduit to heaven, enabling the flow of peace to come. When we can block out the noise of the mortal world, the divine music of the celestial world can the more readily reach our ears and our hearts.

My Beer-sheba is a comfortable chair wrapped a warm blanket to ward off the cool of the morning with the early rays of sun filtering through the open blinds in a southeast-facing window. It's quiet, and my heart reaches out in gratitude and joy and hope. There is some pleading going on these days as well. But especially, in my Beer-sheba I hear the whispers of love. 

Where is your Beer-sheba?