A Guide to Private Prayer - The Secret Key to Heaven by Thomas Brooks

The Secret Key to Heaven will inspire you to draw near to God in private prayer.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVATE PRAYER

Over the past few weeks, I have been in a very “high-commitment” season. Namely, seminary work has been figuratively breathing down my neck with final papers and exams around every corner. At many times, I felt like I was just too busy to take a moment and be with God.  Thomas Brooks’s “The Secret Key to Heaven” from @banneroftruth was the perfect book for me to be reading over this last season. 

In “Secret Key”, Brooks begins by unpacking (in the most stereotypical Puritan way possible) twenty reasons why private prayer is essential. They are all great, but the one that stuck out to me the most was when Brooks pointed out just how soul-enriching private prayer is. Brooks writes, “as secret meals make fat bodies, secret prayers make fat souls.” I hope that everyone who reads this gets a couple of extra midnight snacks in this week.

Another part of this book that I thought was especially helpful was the section where Brooks acknowledges some of the reasons we may object to private prayer. The objection that resonated with me the most was “Not enough time to pray”. In response to that objection, Brooks writes this about redeeming time: “The redeeming of time for private prayer is the redeeming of a precious treasure, which, if once lost, can never fully be recovered again.” What a beautiful reminder of how precious our time is, and how there is no better way to redeem it than to bring our spare moments to our heavenly Father. 

Brooks also has some instructions for private prayer for the person who wants to get started but does not know how. His final instruction is to carefully watch what God does after you pray. I find that I often pray repetitive prayers without actually looking for God to answer them, and just assuming that He will not. God is happy to answer our prayers, more often than not we simply do not have our eyes open for it.

I recommend this book to anyone who desires to have their head, heart, and hands equipped for private prayer!

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