Whenever you pray it is important to first have a place picked out—a place where you will experience His presence and get a glimpse of heaven. A place such as this would be a quiet, lonely place, away from worldly distractions.  It can be inside or outside.  I usually pray in my study at my desk.  But once in a while I will go outside for a walk.  I especially enjoy praying by a quiet stream.  The movement of the water always invigorates my spirit.  When I see and hear the flowing water I sense His Spirit moving through me.  I am often reminded of what Jesus said: “He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:38).

Every Christian needs to have a special place to pray where he believes God will visit him and manifest Himself to him. In New Testament times most Jewish believers had a special room (like a porch) built on the top of their flat roof house, which they used for prayer.  They no doubt were convinced of the importance of private prayer.  Perhaps this “Upper Room” is what Jesus was referring to when He taught about prayer in Matthew 6:6: “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, who is in the secret place….”

Nonetheless, the idea of finding a private place to pray is important if we want to have a quality prayer time. Even Jesus needed time alone with His Father.  Scripture indicates that He was often found praying alone in a certain place (Lu. 11:1).

I can imagine that He had all kinds of special places where He prayed. The Bible tells us that He prayed at night on mountain tops (Lu. 6:12); He prayed in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-2); He prayed in lonely places (Matt. 14:13); and one of His favorite places, while He was in Jerusalem, was in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives (Lu. 22:39; Matt. 26:36).

Now I can just hear someone saying, “God is always with me. Why do I need to have a special place to pray?  I pray to God all the time wherever I go.”

This, I know, is the attitude of some people. But I want to correct that thinking.  Yes, we can and we should pray wherever we go.  But there is great value in finding a certain place to pray in.