Little Allen was just six years old, but he listened very carefully every morning as Father read the Bible to the family after breakfast. One day, he heard these words, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:66But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6).
Ever after that, when Allen went to bed at night, he slipped into the closet and there prayed to Jesus, all that his little heart could think of.
A few months later, his father moved to another city to work, and Allen found himself, along with father and mother, looking for a new home. A nice little home was chosen at last, and father and mother were quite pleased about it. But not Allen. His mother could see that there was something wrong, so she turned and asked him the trouble.
“I am so sorry you are choosing that house, Mother.”
“Why, my boy, don’t you like it?”
“No, I don’t like it because there is no closet in it where I can pray to Jesus,” and the dear boy burst into tears.
I am so glad that Jesus hears me pray, wherever I may be, although I do like to get away all alone each day to have a time of quiet prayer. But I was really glad to hear about little Allen and his wish to pray to the Lord Jesus, and I want to tell all the boys and girls who read this paper that the Lord Jesus loves to have you pray to Him. I suppose most of you are more than six years old, but you are never too old to pray. First of all, the Lord Jesus wants you to accept Him as your own Saviour, and then He delights to have you tell Him all the joys and problems of your own heart, and to pray too, for your friends that they also may learn to know Him as their Saviour.
ML 04/18/1954