Matthew 6:6 "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." When an individual prays or praises or spends time alone with The LORD, it is their own private moments of personal communication and fellowship. There is nothing that says that this cannot be done nor is there anything that says that this must be done. Personal time with The LORD is an individual choice and desire. I knew of a person who had his home spied upon. And he was a Christian. Everytime he would pray or spend time alone, somehow, he told me, many outsiders were able to retell to him what he did. In the privacy of his own place, he was not alone. His prayers were heard. His sleeping habits were known. His personal 'sexual' encounters also. Even though he had his 'prayer' closet, he was not alone. So therefore his personal relationship with The LORD started to deteriorate. He hung on for as long as he could but because of certain restrictions that were upon his life, he was unable to do more than what he did. He told me that it was very very frightening for him and he told me that the only thing he did have was his prayer closet, which was being spied upon and intruded upon and harassed upon. I'm sure not too many can understand this and many will probably find this odd, but he did actually go through this. His health diminished, the 'hatred' towards him increased, and he was left alone.. Sometimes with God, sometimes without. He had lost that personal relationship that he and The LORD were in for years and years and years. And so, when a person prays or give thanks or praises or rejoices in The LORD, early in the morning or in the afternoon or in the evening, or even all through out the day, for some odd reason the elements of 'life' itself seems to turn against all of that and soon you are left feeling that 'death' is out to get you. It could be the location of the person... it has to be the location..
I don't pray to God just in private, I do but not usually. I pray all the time, usually when I am driving because I guess my mind is wandering between activities. I guess that's sad and something I should work on. I also cry a lot when I pray...….so its probably better I don't drive, I often have to pull over. What can I say, its when I connect to God.
Sounds like a classic case of psychosis for which there is medication for. I find many who fall prey to Charismatic, Fundamentalist Christianity often have mental problems, sometimes serious mental problems. As for praying in the closet, I don't know which version of the bible you read, but the one I do research in also say something about not standing on the corner, or in the synagogues (or churches and mosques) and praying like the hypocrites. The bible also tells us to pray the Lord's Prayer when we pray, and not for things we need because our Father in heaven knows what we need before we do. As for going to church on Sunday all dressed up in your Sunday best: 'God does not dwell in a temple made of hands, because the Spirit of God dwells within our bodies'. My sister who is involved in the Charismatic movement lays hands on people when they are sick, but she herself is dying from hypochondria-induced maladies. My sister was vivacious and a beauty when she was young. Ever since she was baptized in a horse trough 35 years ago, I have watched her morph into a dour, bitter, and unhappy recluse who can't wait for Armageddon to come. Just venting. Apologies.
I think its important to remember that even though we are Christians we are still humans. I know where I'm going when I die but all be damned if I'm not afraid of it. Becoming a Christian doesn't really remove anything from you, in fact, I think it might even make it worse. There is no great growing here that we go through and suddenly get a halo over our head, not yet anyways. Its a daily struggle, every single day and its not easy. If it were then everyone would be doing it. I saw someone stealing a tip the other day at work and it was complicated if I told. I knew the person, the money was something she earned but it wasn't technically hers. I knew she would get fired and she was a friend. I prayed to God and asked what I should do. I am at the point in my walk where I can fully rely on God. I turned her in and she got fired and she knew it was me. The hate in her eyes is probably something I will never forget. But it was the right thing to do because that's what the God teaches us. If I weren't a Christian I would have looked the other way.
I don't know, I never got an answer back. Could I been wrong? It wouldn't be the first time nor the last but I also base my decisions from my values and morals. Being conservative doesn't allow me the luxury of doing things just because they feel good. Liberals do that.
