The secret key to heaven

The Lord Jesus directs us to exercise ourselves in private prayer (Matthew 6.6). But many will be ready to object and say, ‘We have much business upon our hands, and we cannot spare time for private prayer.’

Now to this objection I shall give these eight answers, so that this objection may never have a resurrection more in any of your hearts.

How important?

First, what are all those businesses that are upon your hands, to those businesses and weighty affairs that lay upon the hands of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Elijah, Nehemiah, Peter, Cornelius?

And yet you find all these worthies exercising themselves in private prayers. And the king is commanded every day to read some part of God’s word, notwithstanding all his great and weighty employments (Deuteronomy 17.18-20). Now certainly, sirs, your great businesses are little more than zeros compared with theirs. And if there were any on earth that might have pleaded exemption from private prayer, upon account of business, these might have done it; but they were more honest and more noble than to neglect so choice a duty on account of such business. These brave hearts made all their public employments stoop to private prayer; they would never suffer their public employments to tread private prayer under foot. But,

True prosperity

Secondly, I answer, No men’s outward affairs did ever more prosper than theirs did, who devoted themselves to private prayer, notwithstanding their many and great worldly employments.

Witness the prosperity and outward flourishing estates of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc. These were much with God behind closed doors and God blessed their blessings to them (Genesis 22.17). What signal favours God heaped upon them and theirs! No families have been so prospered, protected, and graced as theirs who have maintained secret communion with God in a corner (1 Chronicles 11.9). Private prayer best expedites our temporal affairs. He that prays well in his room, shall be sure to speed well in his shop, or at his plough, or whatever else he turns his hand to (1 Timothy 4.8). It is true that Abimelech was rich as well as Abraham, and so was Laban rich as well as Jacob, and Saul was a king as well as David. But it was only Abraham, Jacob and David who had their blessings blessed to them; all the rest had their blessings cursed to them (Proverbs 3.33; Malachi 2.2).

Time frittered away?

Thirdly, I answer, it is ten to one but that the objector every day fools away, or idles away, or sins away, one hour in a day, and why then should he complain of lack of time?

Why then should not these men redeem an hour’s time in a day for private prayer, out of that time which they usually spend so vainly and idly? There were three faults of which Cato (Roman statesman 95-46 BC, renowned for his principled life), professed to have seriously repented. The main one was spending an hour unprofitably. This heathen will one day rise up in judgement against them who, notwithstanding their great employments, spend hours in a week unprofitably.

Judgement day

Fourthly, I answer, no man dares plead this objection before the Lord Jesus in the great day of account.

And why should any man be so childish and foolish, so ignorant and impudent to plead that before men which is not pleadable before the judgement seat of Christ? There will not be a man or woman found, that dare to stand up and say, ‘Lord, I would have waited upon you in private, but I had so much business to do in the world that I had no time for you.’ It is the greatest wisdom in the world, to plead nothing by way of excuse in this our day, that we dare not plead on the great day. But,

Redeem the time

Fifthly, I answer, that it is our duty to redeem time from all secular businesses for private prayer.

All sorts of Christians, whether bond or free, rich or poor, high or low, superiors or inferiors, are expressly charged by God to redeem time for prayer, for private prayer, as well as for other holy exercises: ‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains’ (Colossians 4.2,3).

But here some may object and say, We have so much business to do in the world that we have no time for prayer. So Ephesians 5.16, ‘Redeeming the time, because the days are evil’ — or buying out, or gaining the time. The words are a metaphor taken from merchants, who prefer the least profit that may be gained before their pleasures or delights, closely following their business whilst markets are at their best. So the primitive Christians would redeem some time from their sleep, that they might be with God in private. I have read of the emperor Theodosius that after a variety of worldly employments relating to his civil affairs in the day time were over, he was wont to consecrate the greatest part of the night to the studying of the Scriptures and private prayer; to which end he had a lamp so cleverly made, that it supplied itself with oil, so that he might not be interrupted in his private retirements. O sirs! We should redeem time for private prayer out of our eating time, our drinking time, our sleeping time, our buying time, our selling time, our sinning time, our sporting time, rather than neglect our private communion with God. But,

Duty must be done

Sixthly, I answer, private prayer is either a duty or it is no duty.

Now that it is a duty, I have so strongly proved (previously). And therefore, why do men cry out of their great business? Duty must be done whatever business is left undone.

For a man to glorify God, to save his own soul, and to further his own everlasting happiness, is a work of the greatest necessity. Now private prayer is such a work; and therefore why should any man plead business, great business, when a work of such absolute necessity is before him? If a man’s wife or child were dangerously sick, or wounded, or near to death, he would never plead, ‘I have business, I have a great deal of business to do, and therefore cannot stay with my child, my wife; and I have no time to go or send for a physician, etc. Oh no! O sirs, your souls are of greater concern to you even than the lives of all the wives and children in the world.

No conflict

Seventhly, I answer, that God did never appoint or design any person’s ordinary or particular calling to throw private prayer out of doors.

That it is a great sin for any professing Christian to neglect his particular calling under any religious pretence is evident from many Scriptures. ‘For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy, they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus to settle down and earn the bread they eat’ (2 Thessalonians 3.10-12).

But for a man to evade or neglect private prayer under a pretence of his particular calling, is agreeable to no Scripture. No man’s calling is a calling away from God and godliness. Look, as our general calling (to Christ) must not eat up our particular calling (work), so our particular calling must not eat up our general calling. Did not the woman of Samaria leave her water-pot, and run into the city and say, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ (John 4.28, 29). Did not the shepherds leave their flocks in the field, and go to Bethlehem, and declare the good tidings of great joy that they had heard from the angel (Luke 2.8-21)? And did not Christ commend Mary for that holy neglect of her particular calling, when she sat at his feet (Luke 10.38ff)? And what do all these instances show, but that our particular callings must give the right hand to the general calling of Christianity.

More prayer, not less

Eighthly, and lastly, I answer, the more worldly business lies upon your hand, the more need you have to give yourself to prayer.

Much business lays a man open to many sins, and to many snares, and to many temptations. Now the more sins, snares and temptations a man’s business lays him open to, the more need that man has to be much in private prayer that he may stand fast in the hour of temptation.

No man knows what may be the emergencies, or the occurrences of a day (Proverbs 27.1). Therefore, a man had need be every day in his closet with God, that he may be prepared and fitted to entertain and improve all occurrences, successes, and emergencies that attend him in the course of his life.

And let thus much suffice for answer to this objection to private prayer.

This article is a much abridged extract from The Secret Key to Heaven by the Puritan Thomas Brooks, recently republished by Banner of Truth, £7.99, 288 pages, ISBN 0 85151 924 5 and is used with permission of the publishers.