Matthew 6:6 English Standard Version (ESV) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

A primary truth that is required but does not affect our eternal salvation is prayer. Prayer in this sense is meant to be a personal conversation. So often we assume the position of talking and spend very little time listening. What kind of relationship do you have with anyone if only one party speaks and when they are through, they get up and leave? This is about relationship and what you make of your prayer time sets the tenor of the relationship.

The issue of privacy is one of not allowing distractions to interrupt the conversation. Most of us see anything that makes noise is a distraction, like family, television, radio, traffic and such. What if the greatest distraction is your inability to calm your fears, doubts, pains and worrisome troubles? You will often see the necessity for prayer to be any or all of those internal distractions. How can you listen for that still small voice if you cannot quiet your mind after you have talked about them?

At this point I could give you a list of things I do or do not do during my quiet time. This is your relationship and not mine. God wants a relationship not a set of rules to be followed. Any formula for success in any relationship has to be sincerity. Be honest with yourself and develop a relationship with God that is personal.

Just as an added note because it is important, that secret place is in your heart.

Ephesians 2:22 English Standard Version (ESV) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by (in) the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 8:2 English Standard Version (ESV) If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

The KJV uses thinks rather than imagines but imagines gives a clearer understanding of what is going on here. Over the past two days I have been trying to listen to the Holy Spirit for direction with this series. I have listed the essential truths surrounding our primary salvation concern, eternal life. Those were things which we must believe to be true in order to have eternal salvation.

The next logical step would be to address beliefs that do not affect our eternal salvation but rather enhances our daily salvation and makes for a happier life in the here and now. Logic, the mystery of the imagination. Logic is what I calculate to be next. That is not listening to God.

What I discovered in myself is a propensity to overthink issues. My writing began to take on a meandering through a barren place, much like the Exodus experience. Only God was not leading, my imagination took over. I have been writing these blog devotionals for almost six years now. My hope has always been to present God’s good intentions towards the reader. I am not perfect and if I am not careful I will infect the conversation with human traits. Overthinking issues serves no value to the reader and will only lead to confusion. We know who the author of confusion is, the devil.

God has given us curious minds to seek out and discover Him. We should not do that apart from the bible. Within all that is written by learned men about a wide variety of subjects you will discover various opinions. Every effort to cover all the uses of words and translations places an enormous wealth of information at our disposal.

Disposal, a place to destroy what doesn’t taste good to you.

That is my imagination making something out of an innocent word. It may be funny or not. It might be relevant or not. Is it necessary to a teaching? No. It can hinder hearing the Holy Spirit.