Someone once told me about going into a telephone booth in America after dark and not being able to read the telephone directory because the light wasn’t on. Fortunately someone saw his predicament and said to him: ‘If you want the light to come on, you have to shut the door.’ So he closed the door behind him and suddenly the booth was bathed with light and he was able to find the telephone number he wanted.
It reminds me of something Jesus once said about prayer. He said, ‘When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to God in secret…and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.’ We often find ourselves groping in the darkness for some direction for our lives but are unable to see it. Well, Jesus said the light won’t come on until we close the door behind us – the door to that private place of prayer where there’s only us and God.