My Prayer Space Is My Closet

Margaret Rash offers encouragement to create a private space for prayer, even when privacy is hard to come by.

Prayer can be difficult in a family with small children. It seems impossible to go to my inner room and pray in secret when I can't even use the bathroom without little hands under the door and someone yelling, “Mom!!”  

I've heard all kinds of positive fruit from creating some type of prayer space in your home. This sounds great, but everything in my house eventually gets sticky or broken. 

The “Things All Over the House” Approach 

I have various images of Jesus, the Holy Family, and the saints all over my house. I hung a crucifix in every room. I have statues up high, to avoid grabbing by little hands, and I wear a Rosary bracelet at all times.  

I figured that private prayer spaces were for other people and that praying in private was just for someone else. I would make do and be fine.  

But I wanted to do better. 

I Found Space in my Closet  

Yup, my closet, where the clothes are. I have a small walk-in closet off my bedroom and one day I realized that one of the shelves that was behind some hanging clothes didn't have anything on it that absolutely needed to be there.  

At first I thought it was silly to set up a prayer space inside my closet, but I supposed I was literally going to the most inner room I had in the house, and I proceeded to clear off the shelf and push apart the hanging clothes.  

I put a small statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the center of the shelf, a prayer card with an image of the Sacred Heart on the front and a Morning Offering prayer on the back, a small hand cross, a rosary, a journaling Bible, and my current book for spiritual reading on the shelf and attempted to arrange it neatly.  

I wasn't sure how it would work out. The things are low enough to the floor to be grabbed by the kids, clothes would probably knock something over, and I didn't know how I was going to be in there praying privately at any point during my day. But I made the space and let God do the rest. And something amazing happened. 

I Pray in the Closet Every Day 

Every morning, I go in to get my clothes, and I kneel down in front of the low shelf and pray the Morning Offering on the back of the holy card. It's short and can be done privately before the kids find me, looking for their breakfast!  

But I also pop in routinely throughout my day. When I'm gathering up the laundry, I can kneel down and hold my hand cross and do a brief examen of my day so far and ask for strength for what's left in my day.  When I'm getting ready for night, I can sit on the floor and read a quick passage in my Bible and spend just a few minutes journaling or meditating, if the kids are already in bed. Before I go to sleep, I can stop in and pray a Rosary before I turn in for the night.  

The other truly miraculous thing that has happened is my kids noticed it and asked me why I did that. I told them I wanted a private prayer space and then they wanted one too. My older kids (ages 9, 8, and 6) went around the house finding small pictures and prayer cards and their rosaries and set them up on a corner of a kitchen countertop, all by themselves! Now they go stand at the countertop when they want to stop and say a small prayer. 

God Works with Any Effort You Give Him 

I didn't know how this private prayer space thing would work out. It's certainly not “Pinterest-worthy” and I still have interruptions. But God took my small “yes,” my tiniest bit of effort to do something more to be close to Him, and I'm already blown away by the graces He has given me. 

Do you have a private prayer area?

Have you wanted one, but aren't sure how to do it? What do you/would you keep in your space? 

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 Margaret Rash
Images: Canva