Have you found that special room within yourself? I do not go to mine often enough, but when I do, it is a precious experience—a special gift. You may be far ahead of me.
A room within? What are we talking about? Jesus says, “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret” (Mt 6:6). The inner room is a figure of speech for your innermost self, your deepest self where you are alone with God. We believe that God dwells within us. At the Last Supper, Jesus said that he and the Father will come and make our home with us.
God is everywhere. We can find God in the vast array of colors in a sunset, the smile of a baby, the majesty of a cascading waterfall, the graceful flight and song of the wren. We can find God in human love and friendship. But we see God not only outside us, but also within us—in our inner room.
Prayer from the Heart
When people “are drawn to think about their real selves,” as it reads in a Vatican II document, “they turn to those deep recesses of their being where God who probes the heart awaits them” (Church in the Modern World 14). God is there awaiting us. The same document describes conscience as “the most secret core and the sanctuary of the human person. There they are alone with God whose voice echoes in their depths” (16). Is that the room within?
Let me back up and acknowledge that there are many kinds of prayer. God is ready to talk to us anytime, anywhere: kneeling before a crucifix, worshiping with our sisters and brothers, or in Holy Communion when Jesus in present within us. In a variety of ways, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray. One way is in our inner room: talking to our Father in secret.
“Contemplation is a mystery in which God reveals himself to us at the very Center of our most intimate self,” Thomas Merton wrote. Some may think that type of prayer is only for monks or nuns or special people. But talking to God in your heart is for everyone. You may be doing it without calling it by a special name.
Opened to Grace
God takes the initiative and is there before us. We need to show up and listen. How we open ourselves may be different for each person. Personally, I need to turn off all the external stimuli—to quiet down and concentrate. I need to be alone and undisturbed. I like silence. There are different methods: asking help of the Holy Spirit, prayerfully reading the Scriptures, repeating the Jesus prayer, paying attention to our breathing.
It is not a selfish prayer. We emerge from our inner room full of love, ready to reach out to others with a visit or phone call, an apology or a prayer. Have you found your inner room? What steps do you take to get there?
God is always waiting.
4 thoughts on “Notes from a Friar: Finding the Room Within”
Thank you for putting into words the the special times my wife and I pray. I’ve found that the more deeply I pray in that special way the more able I am to boldly I proclaim my faith openly and appropriately.
For me — Centering Prayer is that special inner place of silence, decluttering — to be still, quiet, present to the Divine Love voicing within me beyond words.
May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love. (Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi,1181-1226 AD)
Jeremy:
Thanks for your message. I appreciate your reminder on the special room within
and have thought several times as to what to call it. A friend suggested: space,
maybe a small space? Sometimes what we find there, which will take us to God
needs not too many words.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Ruby M. Shelton