Why A Prayer Corner?

I remember as a young person, having grown up in a Protestant environment, seeing pictures on the television of homes inferred to be Roman Catholic homes, that had tables with pictures of Jesus and/or Saint Mary (the Theotokos) with candles burning, and usually with a crucifixion cross hanging on the wall. I didn’t think much of it one way or the other, but I do remember thinking how different it was from the way I was taught to do things. The thought never entered my mind though, that I would ever have anything like that in my home, and I didn’t, not even a cross hanging on the wall. 

So, what's different now, this late in the game, so to speak? What's different is that I recently graduated to the Orthodox faith, and one of the traditions of Orthodox Church is having a Prayer Corner in your home. I do want to make one thing clear though, my recent graduation to Eastern Orthodoxy was not a spur of the moment decision, as have been many of the decisions I have made in the past, when I would change from one Protestant denomination to another. No, this decision was made very slowly, and with much thought, prayer, and theological study of Orthodox theology. As a matter of fact, it was roughly a four year process. That is another story though, and I will get back to the subject matter of this post.

My study of Orthodox theology exposed me to many traditions of the Church that were new and often contradictory to some things that I had been taught all my life in the Protestant world, and I didn’t swallow them well at first. More information was necessary, so I decided to find out why the Orthodox Church taught and instructed their parishioners to practice each one that I was not familiar with, and for most of them I have. I read the theology and the history behind each tradition, and surprisingly, I never found fault in the theology of any of them.  Specifically, regarding a Prayer Corner, I learned that having a Prayer Corner in your home was a way to reverence Jesus Christ and the Saints that were important to you. In addition, the physical act of maintaining a Prayer Corner, i.e., the daily maintenance of keeping a flame going continuously if you chose to do so, was all done as an act reverence as a small sacrifice of ourselves in remembrance of the great sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. It all seemed so clear and correct to me to bring this into my home and raise my family in a manner consistent with this.

 Consider the following for example. It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit and an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. Here is a familiar example: When you walk into your bedroom you “automatically” reach for the light switch on the left side as you enter. Then you move to a new home where the light switch is located on the right side as you enter. You will find that it will take you about 21 days to stop reaching for that light switch on the left side (that is not there). The simple act of walking through the room where your Prayer Corner is, and seeing it there with the icons and the candle burning immediately brings our mind back to Jesus Christ. If we walk past, it 10 or 20 times a day, and if each time we do, it takes our mind off the things of this life that are bogging us down, and brings it back to the reason for our Salvation and the joy of our life, then it has served its purpose.

When we wake in the morning, and go to our Prayer Corner is suggested by the Church as a routine, say our morning prayer, perform maintenance on the candle, and start our day in the same fashion every day, we begin your day with reverence to and fellowship with God. If we train ourselves to cross ourselves each time we walk by the Prayer Corner during the day, and say a simple prayer as we are walking, how much more does this bring us into the presence of God than if we did not have it there as a reminder. I can easily answer that question! Without a constant visual reminder of our Lord Jesus Christ, I would previously go all day without my faith or even God ever crossing my mind, and I profess this to be true as I have done it for too many years. Now that I have this reminder in my home and my life, along with many other traditions of the Church that I have started utilizing, I can and do have constant fellowship and thoughts of my faith and my Savior. These tools have helped me to grow stronger in my faith, and the practice of my faith.

 The Orthodox Church life is full of actions, events, and traditions that are not dictated in the Bible, the Prayer Corner being just one, and this gives excuse to so many outside of Orthodoxy to discount them as merely outdated or even idolatrous, but why? The traditions of the Orthodox Church are there simply to teach us the theology of the Church and bring more of God into our lives. There are there to train us, through repetition, to constantly be in communion with God. If we chose to implement them all, there are traditions which would keep us busy throughout each day, and they exist for one reason and one reason only, to bring us closer in our spiritual walk to God.

So why would any Christian discount something like a Prayer Corner? Why would anyone suggest that something such as a picture (icon) or a table or a candle, be anything but good if it contributes to our spiritual walk? I personally believe that this tradition should cross every denominational line. If it is your desire to grow closer to God, then a Prayer Corner should be
an integral part of, and a tool in your home, regardless of what denomination you are.