WhenYouPray

Matthew 6:
6 When you pray,
go to your room and
close the door.
Pray privately to your Father who is with you.
Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.    (God's Word)

The Lord Jesus, in His instructions on prayer in Matthew 6: 6, assures us that when our heavenly Father sees us diligently pursuing the art and habit of meeting with Him in private, our Father's response is to reward us.
The Apostle James lets us know that God rewards anyone who diligently seeks Him out.
Our heavenly Father values greatly our setting aside time for seeking Him out!

Genesis 14:
14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he armed his 318 trained men, born in his own household, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.
15 He split up his men to attack them at night. He defeated them, pursuing them all the way to Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
16 He brought back everything they had, including women and soldiers. He also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions.

17 After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).
18 Then King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High.
19 He blessed Abram, and said,
"Blessed is Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth.
20 Blessed is God Most High, who has handed your enemies over to you."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and keep everything else for yourself."
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I now raise my hand and solemnly swear to the LORD God Most High, maker of heaven and earth,
23 that I won't take a thread or a sandal strap. I won't take anything that is yours so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
24 I won't take one single thing except what my men have eaten. But let my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."
Genesis 15:
1 Later the LORD spoke his word to Abram in a vision. He said, "Abram, don't be afraid. I am your shield. Your very great reward."    (God's Word)

Abram was a man who diligently sought God out. When Abram's nephew was kidnapped by raiding armies, he went after them and rescued his nephew.
It must have been a really scary time in Abram's life. We don't ever read of him going to war before this.

After this great achievement, God sent the High Priest of Salem to bless Abram.
Salem means "peace", and this High Priest shared with Abram bread and wine which are the symbols of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace.
This was a very sacred moment in Abram's life, and he replied by giving one tenth of his plunder to the High Priest. This kind of giving was an act of thanksgiving and worship to God.

Following this time of communion, strengthening and fellowship with the Lord God, Abram was approached by the king of Sodom. This person was king of a scorched, burnt-out area. He wanted Abram to hand over all the people Abram had rescued, and in return he would let Abram keep all the things he had captured.
Abram would have none of that! He understood that it is people who are valuable to God: not things. So he didn't hand them over.

We read that after this, the Lord commended Abram on his choices. God told Abram three things:
Abram, don't be afraid.
I am your shield.
I am your very great reward.

We learn from this incident that times of deep communion, strengthening and fellowship with the Lord in our room, in private, prepare us better than anything else for making wise decisions and also for knowing how to handle difficult people. This was evident in how Abram was able to withstand the king of Sodom's bold demand.

We find the same thing in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 6:
12 At that time Jesus went to a mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
13 When it was day, he called his disciples. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles.
14 They were Simon (whom Jesus named Peter) and Simon's brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot),
16 Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).    (God's Word)

After spending the night with His heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus was strengthened by the communion and fellowship of His Father, and He was able to make wise choices about who His closest apostles were to be.

Wisdom in making decisions - especially long-term decisions - comes when we learn the art and habit of prayer.
This is one of the rewards of fellowship and spending time with our heavenly Father regularly.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
the desire of my heart is to learn how to fellowship with You daily in private.
Teach me how to cultivate a place in my inner person where this fellowship takes place.
I want this to be the place in me from which all my decisions are made, so that I know that I'm pleaseing You and going always in Your direction,
as the Lord Jesus Christ did,    Amen.