If I bow before him in my inner chamber, then I am in contact with the eternal, unchanging power of God...Oh, if we would only take time for the inner chamber so that we might experience in full reality the presence of this almighty Jesus! What a blessedness would be ours through faith! An unbroken fellowship with an Omnipresent and Almighty Lord.            Andrew Murray   The Prayer Life

One of the greatest lies foisted upon the modern church is that worship can only take place between 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday mornings. Much of the church seems to think that true worship transpires only behind stained glass windows in beautifully decorated buildings. However, the beauty of biblical worship is that it knows nothing of time and space limitations. The place to worship Jesus Christ is only as far away as the inner chamber of the heart.

The chamber of prayer is capable of bringing the child of God directly to the throne of God. The Christian may find himself worshipping Jesus in a beautiful church sanctuary or in a lonely hospital room. He can worship in a modern office complex or in the solitude of his own home. The worship of God is only a prayer away.

Much that has been discussed in this book will be practically worked out in the prayer life of the believer. I first learned to worship in the school of prayer. The entire purpose of prayer is to lead God's people to the worship of Jesus Christ. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He opened and closed the door of prayer with the focus upon God. The door was opened with the petition, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name" (Matt. 6:9). He then closed the door of prayer with the ascription, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." (Matt. 6:13).

The entire aim of prayer, according to Jesus, was the recognition that all of the kingdom, and all of the power, and all of the glory belonged only to God; the true goal of prayer is worship.

Jesus not only taught the disciples to acknowledge God's glory in prayer, but His own prayer life was an example of seeking the glory of God as well. The greatest biblical record of the intercessory prayer life of Jesus is His high priestly prayer. In John 17, He prays for His disciples and those who would come to a knowledge of God through their witness.

One word seems to consume the thoughts of Jesus as he prays. It is the word glory. In verse 5, Jesus prays for the glorification of God, crying out, "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." Then He prays for the specific needs of the disciples. But He asks the Father to meet all of those needs for one purpose: "That they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that Thou didst send me" (v 21). In the beginning of the conclusion of prayer, Jesus expresses His desire that "they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me" (v. 24).

My entire prayer life has been radically changed by understanding and practicing this principle of prayer. The deepest man of prayer I have ever met is a medical doctor in Romania. We have become the best of friends. Much of that friendship was brought into being through our prayer together. There is nothing that will bring a deeper fellowship of friends than the true worship of Jesus Christ.

When I first met this friend, he was interpreting for me as I preached evangelistic crusades. As we traveled together throughout Romania, we prayed. Most of his time of prayer was spent in worship. And when he did pray for the crusade or for other individuals, it was ultimately for the glory of God that he prayed. I have never been so challenged in all of my life about the true nature of prayer. I ceased praying for multitudes to come to Christ so I could feel we were accomplishing a part of the task of world evangelization. Instead, I began praying for people to come to Christ solely for the glory of God. I finally began to realize that the ultimate purpose of world evangelization rests solely in the glory of God.

Since I began to pray in such a manner, my entire ministry has been completely transformed. We have seen more people come to Christ than ever in our ministry. But more importantly, my motivation has been changed. I've begun to understand that the purpose of prayer is not to build my ministry or my own little empire. The purpose of prayer is to bring me to a genuine understanding that the kingdom, the power, and the glory belong only to Him. It is when I really understand that principle that I find myself worshipping Jesus.

Quite often after leading a seminar on prayer, I'm approached by Christian leaders who express frustration about their prayer lives. They speak of dryness in prayer or a sense of simply "going through the motions" of prayer. The question people most often ask me is, "How can I know the joy of prayer?" The answer to that question is simply, "Joy in prayer is the fruit of the worship of Jesus Christ."

Many Christians are like the American boxer who trained for years to make the Olympic team. He worked, sweated, and suffered pain all for one goal - the glory of the Olympics. Yet after reaching the city of the Olympics, he missed the bus to his fight. He was so close to experiencing the Olympic glory, but he left empty handed without even having come near it.

Many of us know there is a battle for the minds and hearts of men and women. We know that the arena for the battle is the place of prayer. It is in that place that God's glory dwells. However, some of us never get on the bus. We neglect the life of prayer and consequently we miss the glory of God.

Others catch the wrong bus and end up in the wrong place. We end up on a street called "self-glory." However, the address of true prayer is "the worship and glory of Jesus Christ."