“Your Inner Room”

 

For a few weeks now, I’ve been feeling particularly stressed. This feeling is not a vague, wispy mist but more of a heavy, dense fog, a tangible pulsation in my head that comes and goes.

I have been guessing as to what could possibly be the cause, but I haven’t pinpointed any specific reason, and I imagine that my restless thoughts and disquieted soul are adding to this stress that I already feel.

Pray. Yes, that’s what I need to do. Pray and keep on praying, without ceasing is what Apostle Paul says to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. So, I sat alone on the balcony, early in the morning as I often do and, looking toward the heavens, let loose a barrage of prayers – asking and pleading, declaring and proclaiming, talking and talking and talking incessantly without ceasing.

Daylight…time for a cup of tea; I put the kettle on, got my cup, threw in an assortment of leaves, a flower, butterfly pea they call it, then I went back to sit, sip and be silent.

Then, a whisper, “I taught you how to pray.”

“Our Father who art in heaven…” I started but before I could continue, a whisper, “I taught you how to pray.”

Now at a loss, I thought, “What does that mean?”

Matthew chapter six! What did Jesus say in Matthew chapter six? Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. Not long after the Beatitudes, Jesus spoke of examining our motives and about giving with pure motives, not for showing off but secretly, then He taught us how to pray.

Reading verses 5 to 8, it dawned on me that Jesus gave very specific instructions before He gave the ultimate prayer sample which we fondly refer to as The Lord’s Prayer.

And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Motives.

But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Secrecy.

And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 

Hypocrisy.

So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Psalm 139:4 says of God,

Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. (GNT)

If those four verses are the preamble to instructions on how to pray, then why do we recite what Jesus says in the next five verses together in public out loud?

Jesus, it appears, is teaching His audience and us how to prepare to connect to our Creator, the living Source of our lives.

when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret

As I read Matthew 6, more than anything else, your inner room piqued my interest and I wondered: Could there be more to The Lord’s Prayer than meets the eye? Has something been lost in our English translation?

What was I to understand but wasn’t getting? This deserved a deep dive.

The Greek word that would have been used in this verse is tameion – a hidden, private and very secure room in the centre of a house – the inner room, a room that’s located furthest from the street. In most cases, there were no windows in this room, so inside this inner room would be pitch black.

The inner room was reserved for the things you valued most but Jesus wasn’t giving a lecture on architecture or home construction, He was giving a direction; Jesus is telling us of a place where we must go if we are to achieve the deepest communion with God, the Father.

Your inner room is not a physical place but an internal space, somewhere within yourself. So, what is Jesus referring to?

Hearing that whisper, “I taught you how to pray.”, twice, made me think of the occasions in the bible when Jesus says “Verily, verily” – a call to pay attention because what comes next is important. I knew that I had to do some digging.

Digging deeper I came across a word that is used in English which was derived from a Greek word for “bridal bed” and by extension the “inner room” in a house for the bed; the word is thalamus. You must have heard this word before.

A thalamus is in the very centre of each of our brains; it serves as the main relay station for incoming sensory and motor signals; simply put it controls behaviour and is described as the brain's "inner room".

I almost fell to the floor. “Your inner room” that Jesus is referring to, is in your brain?

Beloved, this was a lot to digest, so I’m leaving it here for now, as there’s much more digging to be done, then I’ll be sure to share my findings with you.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Your inner room” ©2026 June 17, 2026