"Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret" (Matt. 6:6).

A young man used to go up into a hayloft to pray, but he found that sometimes people came up and disturbed him. Therefore, the next time he climbed into the loft he pulled the ladder up after him. The boy thus entered into his closet and shut the door.

The meaning is not so much entering into a closet or shutting the door as getting away from earthly distraction, the pulling up of the ladder after us, and keeping out anything that might come in to hinder our secret devotions.

It would be splendid if we could always pull the ladder up when we retire to pray in private, but many things try to climb that ladder. The enemy himself will come up to disturb us if he can, and he can get into the hayloft without any ladder. But the Lord Jesus is greater than he and will help us if we look to Him.

"My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee" (Psalm 5:3).

Prayer is to the spiritual life what air is to the physical. Make it a rule never to see the face of man until you have seen the face of God. Each day is a new life. Make sure of a good beginning. The devil may be so thoroughly beaten in the morning that his assault may be feeble all the rest of the day. The spirit of prayer should also be cultivated until we form the habit of associating prayer with all we do. Our petitions need not always be uttered in words.