“And the LORD shut him in.” Gen 7:16. What a precious truth! The invitation was from God, v.1, “Come into the ark,” not ‘go into the ark.’ The invitation is such that God was already in the ark and was inviting Noah and his family to join Him inside for the voyage, “And the LORD shut him in!” We too need to be shut in with the LORD! How can a man like Noah, who walked with God, be shut up with Him and not pray? Impossible! Oh, the sweet communion the two of them must have had, the fellowship on the ship alone with God. The world’s clamor, noise, pull, filth and sin, shut out by God! Imagine if you can, the sweetness of being shut up alone with the Creator of everything for a year. Just you and Him, alone on a ship together! Oh that’s right, he had those animals and his three sons and their wives and his wife but I’m sure they all got along hunky-dory or is it donky-hory, anyway back to Noah. The word shut (sawgar) means ‘to be shut up’ but figuratively it means ‘to surrender, to give over, to inclose, to shut in oneself, to shut out something or to be shut up together.’

Oh, to be shut up alone with God in prayer, what ecstasy, what joy, what fellowship, isn’t that what Elisha did with the Shunammite’s son in II Kings 4:33? “He went in…shut the door…and prayed to the LORD.” And he was brought back to life! What a precious promise of prayer came to Jeremiah when he was ‘Shut up’ in the court of the prison in Jer. 33:1 and because of that we have the promise of verses 2&3, “Call unto Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not!” Our part is to call, His part is to answer!  Our highest form of service is the ministry of prayer, the ministry of intercession, the ministry of the interior for our fellow man! Jeremiah was shut up alone with Jehovah, Yahweh, The YHWH, the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it, the LORD who established it, the LORD is His name. He is the One that gave us that promise, go ahead, call on His name, I dare you, I double dare you and see what great and mighty things He will do. “Shut Up With The LORD!” What greater joy could their be this side of heaven?

In Acts 9:40 Peter went to Dorcas in an upper-room, maybe the upper-room, put everyone out, shut the door, knelt down and prayed, and Dorcas was brought back from the dead! “Shut Up Alone With God!” I challenge you to take a Bible, a canteen, a blanket, find a cabin, shut the door and wait on God, alone! Our own Lord and Savior Jesus Christ many times was shut up, or shut out alone with His heavenly Father; The Mount of Temptation; The Garden of Gethsemane; The Cross of Calvary; The Garden Tomb. In fact in Matt. 6:6 Jesus Himself gave us instruction concerning prayer, listen to His words, “But you, when you pray, enter into your room (closet, secret chamber, storage pantry) and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is already in the secret place…” The word for closet (tamion) means a chamber on the ground floor of a home generally used for storage or privacy, a secret chamber. And when you have entered your secret chamber, shut the door and pray to your heavenly Father who is already in the secret place waiting for you, to reward you openly.

Noah was a just man and a perfect man who walked humbly with his God and was shut in with his God on a ship for a year and I’m sure he prayed much with Him and had continual, habitual communion with his Creator. How’s yours? “Oh LORD God, Creator of heaven and earth, help us to find a secret place, a private place, a storage chamber to fill our hearts and minds with your power and presence. And after entering into it may we shut the door and lock it from the inside shutting You in alone with us and may we enter into that sweet, sweet communion with You.” In The Sweet and Holy Name of Your Son Jesus We Pray, Amen!     ‘Between The Lines’

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  (Noah – Part #2)