42-year-old Sefa Cebeci was with her husband in a seven-story building in Duzce, Turkey, when on November 12, 1999, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the city. The building collapsed, and when all was said and done nearly 1,000 people were dead—including Sefa’s husband who was right beside her.
Despite rescue team leaders from some countries calling off the search for survivors after three days, an Israeli team pulled her from the rubble after nearly 5 days without food and water. She would have to have an arm amputated, and kidney failure from dehydration nearly killed her.
How was she able to survive in freezing temperatures for 105 hours under tons of concrete? A closet fell on top of her, and protected her from her collapsed house. Her closet became her refuge.
It has been said, that our deliverance is found in the time we spend in our prayer closets. In your times of trial, in times of challenge, you can go to the Lord in prayer seeking refuge in your prayer closet. You can hide yourself there in His presence, and find comfort, safety, and deliverance.
For many of us, prayer is like the spare tire in your car. It’s there if you need it, but you really don’t plan to use it very much. That is, unless you’re in an emergency.
Many of us struggle with this thing call prayer. We are talking to somebody we can’t see can’t touch and who doesn’t answer back in an audible sound, leaving us to feel like we are speaking into thin air.
The comforting thing is we’re not the only ones to struggle with prayer. Jesus’ disciples struggled with prayer. They wanted to know what it is, and how it works, and how to do it.
I find it amazing that they did not ask Jesus Christ how to heal the sick. They did not inquire about how to raise the dead. They were not interested in Jesus’ secret for walking on the water, or in His recipe for multiplying the loaves and the fishes. They asked Jesus Christ for a very simple, elementary thing in Luke 11:1. They said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
The Bible says that when Jesus Christ was facing His own horrible death by Crucifixion, He went to the Mount of Olives. This was His prayer-closet, where He poured out His heart to the Father God.
Times of conversation with God, especially when the going gets tough, is what we all need to keep from falling apart. We need a time and place undisturbed by the rush of the day’s traffic. Cell phones, emails, text messages and televisions, are all wonderful tools, but they’re a poor help for sincere, concentrated times of prayer.
So here’s a question for you: Where is your “Prayer Closet”? Where can you go and have uninterrupted time with God? Is it when you’re walking in the woods, or quietly meditating by a lake? Perhaps it’s in your car on your daily commute or bowing down by your bedside.
My friend; if you have such a place, enjoy it and protect it. If not, make whatever arrangements necessary to find one. Jesus needed it, and so do you.
by Corville Peters
