Lately, I have been very focused on building up my confidence in myself, my abilities, and who I am in Christ, but to be honest, I'm not quite the unashamed Christian that I once was. See, I used to be this totally on fire Christian teen who was always seeking God in the word and praying for my friends and family and posting encouraging Christian-y stuff on Facebook (yep, I was one of those guys). But now, I'm more of a closet Christian.
I don't pray all the time like I used to, and when I do, it's half hearted. I don't dig into the scripture in the passionate way that I used to. I don't really connect with a community of believers. I'm not being challenged to teach others. I don't passionately live out my faith in daily life. I don't openly talk about Christ. I don't look at every situation by thinking of God first. I'm growing more and more into the thing I always feared being: lukewarm.
Now, I kind of practice my faith in the closet. I keep my beliefs and life philosophies to myself and don't really speak out like I used to. You want to know what that's done to my faith and my walk with Christ? It's made it grow stale and lukewarm. I've lost so much momentum in my life in God. I'm just kind of sitting here and not growing, not learning, not being the man God made me to be.
But that's all about to change. It's time for me to change the definition of a closet Christian. See, in Matthew 6:6 it talks about going into your inner room, shutting the door, and seeking God in prayer. You may have hear the term prayer closet. While there is absolutely nothing magical about the location that we pray, I do believe that, at times, we need to separate ourselves from the world and spend some quality time with the Lord.
It's in that time - the time in our prayer closets - that we are able to be the most sincere with Christ and participate in some true spiritual warfare (WAR!!!!). I mean, that's where we are! We're at WAR with the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy everything God wants to do in us. We need a generation that is completely and totally on fire for Christ and is spending some major time in their prayer closets doing some major spiritual fighting. There are so many things in this world that are trying to put out that flame. I know, I've experienced a lot of them and they've succeeded in pushing me off of my path, but I won't let that happen anymore.
You know why? Because I'm going to be spending some time in my prayer closet, whether that's my dorm room, the track, the practice field, the trail by campus, or the library study rooms. I'm going to let the devil know that he has no power over me and kick him out of my life and focus on what God can do through me.
We need an army to rise up. But how can I preach at you and tell you what to do if I'm not willing to do it myself? So, I'm going to start making some changes in my life and doing some new things. Stay tuned, I'll keep you updated on what I'm doing and how God is moving through me. I'm so excited to see where He takes me when I completely surrender and submit to Him and then begin to fight on His front lines. It's time for me to be a different kind of Closet Christian: a Prayer Closet Christian.
I send my love and prayers to you all.
Best of luck in the real world and God Bless,
Christopher
P.S. If you've experience similar things or you've seen the power of prayer in your own life please share!! I'm sure we'd all love to be encouraged!
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