But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

(Matthew 6:6)

 

Jesus shuts the door

Before walking on water, after feeding the 5000:

²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. (Matthew 14:20-24)

Why was he intentionally alone?

Why didn’t he stay with the disciples?

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Luke 5:16)

¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. ¹³ When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles. (Luke 6:12-13)

 

Jacob shuts the door

Genesis 27 – Esau: I will kill my brother Jacob – Jacob flees

Genesis 28 – Dream – Bethel

Genesis 29 & 30 – Laban, Leah and Rachel

Genesis 31 – Leaving Laban, heading home.

Genesis 32 – Preparing to meet Esau

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.

• He had to face his brother. He was probably nervous. He had betrayed him and fled years earlier. They had not made things right together. However long time had passed, reconciliation was still necessary.
• But first he had to meet with God. If you have fallen out with your brother or sister, God’s heart is always for reconciliation. And sometimes you have to make the first move. Go to them. But please go to God first. Ask him for his wisdom. There may be things that need to be said but God says not to say those things. His wisdom is higher than that of humans. There may be things God wants to tell you before you meet with your brother.
• Jacob ‘shut the door’ by sending everyone across the river and remaining alone. He put them out of the room so to speak.
• He also sent all his possessions away. He was on the move and had everything with him. Every conceivable bit of baggage was coming with him. But for this moment, he has put them all aside to be alone. Are there ways we can do the same each day?
• The results were unexpected and life changing.

²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

• The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
• There are several references to the Angel of the Lord in the bible. There are differing views as to who this Angel is, partly because he seems to have particular authority. I believe the man was the Son of God, Jesus. If you prefer, he could be a powerful angel, or even God the Father in temporary human form.
• Go with my view that Jacob is wrestling with none other than Jesus.
• Ever been there? There now? Keep wrestling and imitate Jacob’s prayer, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me’. These are the kind of prayers that are best said alone with the door shut.
• Jacob names the place Peniel, which means Face of God. Can you name a place in your house, or is it your car, or some other place you can get to every day, where you can seek the face of God?
• Go in. Shut the door. Take a breath. Wrestle. Read. Pray.
• Jacob continued his wrestling match all night. He was persistent. God encourages this. He won’t let go of God until he receives a blessing. And this in the context of facing up to his guilt – he’s returning to the victim Esau who he robbed of a most precious gift. However guilty we are, God is gracious enough to allow us to wrestle with him, and even more amazing, he’s willing to bless us if we pursue him relentlessly.
• Jacob came away changed.
  • He had a new name. Spend enough time alone with God and you’ll discover your real identity. Names were significant. They represented something of your character. (Jacob – to come behind (like he did in birth) but also to replace, supplant, implying by trickery or by force. Israel – to contend or wrestle with God.) Changed from wrestling with man to wrestling with God. Bring your cares to him first. Like he was doing in this story. Went to God before Esau. Cast your cares on him because he cares for you. Jacob now knows who he is and who he is not.
  • He had a limp! Maybe God wanted to slow down his walk, to move away from the Face of God reluctantly, slowly. To remember his encounter with God as he walked through life. God could have killed him. No one has seen God and lived. But Jacob got away with just a limp! The limp would be a reminder to Jacob that he was only human. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
• I don’t expect or even want to have such encounters daily, but I do strive to make time for God every day; to put all possessions and people out of the room so to speak and listen to God. He is not obliged to speak, but I will be still for a moment.

 

Shutting the door – a time of preparation

 

January           21 days of prayer

February         “Prepare my heart, Lord”

March             31 days in the Word

 

Pick a time

Pick a place

Make an appointment

Do it daily.

Shut the door and breathe. Read a verse of scripture, or more. Listen. Pray scripture.

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