Jesus often went off to a lonely place to pray.
Yet the same Jesus who prayed in lonely places said,
“When you pray, go into your room,
and pray to your Father in secret.”
This means that the lonely place
is not necessarily a place far away,
or that by “room” he means four walls
that separate us physically from others.
The room is the room of our innermost heart.
This room is with us at all times.
We should make it a place to which we can go
to find rest and spiritual recovery
when the world is too much with us.
Then we will discover that the inner room
is not empty after all, but is occupied
by the God of love who dwells in us all.