Prayer closet
A prayer closet is a closet or small room where individuals pray or meditate in private. The purpose of this room or closet is to create a space in which the person is surrounded in a spiritual aura. To achieve this, users generally adorn the walls with inspirational quotes, Proverbs, or physical pages from the Bible. There are several Biblical references directly regarding and encouraging the practice of a prayer closet. This practice can also be seen in a few pop-culture films.
Bible references[edit]
Matthew 6:5-6[edit]
5 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[1]
2 Kings 4:33[edit]
33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord.[2]
Daniel 6:10[edit]
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.[3]
As seen in pop culture[edit]
War Room (2015)[edit]
The movie War Room (directed by Alex Kendrick and released by Sony Pictures Releasing) is a direct example of a Christian prayer closet. A character named Miss Clara (played by Karen Abercrombie) shows the title character, Elizabeth (played by Priscilla Shirer), a special closet she has dedicated to praying. Miss Clara titles this her "War Room", saying, "in order to stand up and fight the enemy, you need to get on your knees and pray."[4] Elizabeth then creates her own prayer closet, where she rekindles a faith in God and is able to face her conflicts.
Carrie (1976, 2013)[edit]
The original 1976 movie Carrie (directed by Brian de Palma, adapted from Stephen King's epistolary novel of the same name) is a supernatural horror film in which a timid 16-year-old lives with her religiously fanatic mother. The mother's main mode of punishment is to lock her daughter in a prayer closet, with the walls covered in Crucifixes and pages from the Bible. She believes that spending time in this closet will "cleanse the sin" from her daughter.
The 2013 reboot of Carrie (directed by Kimberly Peirce), which is a supernatural horror drama film, features the same prayer closet method.
Annabelle: Creation[edit]
Although more difficult to spot, the 2017 American supernatural horror film, Annabelle: Creation (directed and produced by James Wan), features an inactive prayer closet. When dollmaker Samuel Millins (played by Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife, Esther (played by Miranda Otto), lose their seven-year-old daughter in a horrific car accident, they involuntarily invite a demon into their home that poses as their lost daughter in the form of a porcelain doll. Upon discovering the demon's trick, the couple enlist the help of priests, who lock the doll in a closet in their late daughter's room. The priests then cover the closet in pages ripped from the Bible, specifically pages from the book of Leviticus. This was done in the belief that the closet would keep the demon's spirit contained.
References[edit]
- ↑ Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. 2011. p. 880. ISBN 978-2010939334. Search this book on
- ↑ Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. 2011. p. 336. ISBN 978-2010939334. Search this book on
- ↑ Holy Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. 2011. p. 809. ISBN 978-2010939334. Search this book on
- ↑ "War Room (2015) - IMDb". IMDb. Unknown parameter
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