May 2023

Dear Church,  

​Let us have a “Retreat at our Inner Room” 

When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 [NASB) 

Every day, Jesus invites us to come into his presence and have communion with him. This is a special private intimate communion with God. Good to have corporate prayer and pray with our fellow believers. But this inner room experience is very required for every believer. Jesus is inviting us to have a personal communication with him. This “inner room” is not a physical place. It is an interior place in our hearts, the deepest part of who we are. It’s a place of quiet, where we can meet the Lord personally. Pope Benedict XVI quoted, “The source of Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God, loved personally by our Creator, by the one who holds the entire universe in his hands.” 

I have always been refreshed from this inner room retreat. In this meeting space, only two are present – God and us. Such a safe place and not to worry about how my friends would see me. Such a confidential place to submit all of ourselves - just as we are. Such a place to open all our concerns to our master. Such a place to meet with our friend sharing all our troubles. Such a place we can shed our tears, we can cry, Such a place free from all worldly noises.

The world is filled with noise: cell phones equipped for voice, e-mail, and texting; social networks like Facebook and Myspace; and countless Web sites that offer us many ways to communicate, stay informed, or just waste time. As valuable as these tools may be, they have also created a situation in which external stimulation can come to us all day and preoccupy us. All this information, all this noise, can make it very hard for us to “be still” and know that Jesus is with us (Psalm 46:11). 
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When we go to the movies, the show captures our attention. All the concerns of our lives dissipate as we enter into another world for two hours. In a similar way, we need to learn how to leave the world behind, enter our “inner room,” and be with Jesus for a time every day. We need to learn how to remove the obstacles and quiet the noise of the world for a while so that we can hear Jesus and sense his love and presence. 

God Bless,
Amutha 

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