Psalm 51:10-13 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You. Then I will teach Your ways to rebels, and they will return to You.

Yesterday's devotion touched on the importance of establishing a quiet and private place to be with the Lord each and every day. Many individuals refer to this place as their "Prayer Closets."

The entire point of this special spot is that it should be an area that remains free from interruption, distraction, and listening ears. It should be the place where we are able to go to God as described in today's verses - to ask Him to create a clean heart and loyal spirit in us, to keep us in His presence, to restore the joy of our salvation, and to make us willing to obey Him in order to bring others back to Him.

Just as our physical closet can become cluttered and cease to be functional, our spiritual closet can become filled with thoughts of pride, bitterness, resentment, fear, doubt, etc. We begin to stay away from this "private" place because it is just too crowded - we just can't seem to find what we need .... God's presence.

My challenge to you is to evaluate the special place that you seek God. Is it a spot that has easy access to His presence? If not, it is vital for you to go to your prayer haven --- to clean it out --- to make it a welcoming place for God to visit you.

Then, and only then, will you be positioned to bring others to His saving grace. You will be able to fulfill the Great Commission given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 "So you must go and make disciples of all nations....Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end."

Dear Lord, You tell us in Matthew 16:27 that You "will reward each person according to what they have done." I pray that as I spend time with You each day in my "Quiet Place" that you will equip me to fulfill my part of the Great Commission that You left for us. I desire to be used by You. Help me to always realize that my eternal reward will be a reflection of the time that I seek Your presence.

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.