The Secret Place

Do you struggle to sense God's presence when you pray?

Does He often seem distant?

Do you long to know that He's really with you?

There's a guaranteed way to be in God's presence and know that He's with you.

Matthew 6:6

'When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.'

'But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.'

'Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.'

Jesus told us that the Father is in the secret place. The good news is that our Father is already waiting there. When we go to the secret place we are in God’s presence.

Jesus gave us the key – 'go into your room, and when you have shut your door…'
When we enter, and shut the door, we are in God’s presence. He's waiting.

It doesn’t matter how we feel, the truth is that God is waiting and when we enter in and shut the door we are in His presence, whether we feel it or not.

When we let this truth sink in, take hold of it and believe it, we are free to connect with God and to walk with Him as we long to.

Remember the secret. Shut the door. He’s waiting.

The secret place is where God speaks to us and answers us. We close the door to the secret place to shut out distractions and tune into God.

Everything depends on whether or not we hear God. When we know that we have heard from God it is easier to have confidence and push through regardless.
So, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' Matt 13:19

The power of prayer is in waiting on God to hear His agenda. Our role is to listen and act on what we hear.

It’s good that we get to talk to God but it’s even better that He talks to us.

'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.' John 10:27

We can hear God’s voice, we just need to stop and listen.

And when we hear, we need to make sure that we act on what we hear.

'Be hearers of the word and not hearers only…' James 1:22

Sit at His feet, hear His word and then go and do what He tells you to.

We save ourselves a lot of grief when we take time to listen for His direction and only move into action when He has spoken.

God is delighted when we draw near to Him and explore His vastness.

Moses didn’t settle for the assurance of God’s presence, he longed to understand His ways. That's what opened the door for a great friendship between God and Moses. That same kind of friendship with God is open to each one of us.

God counsels us, 'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know'. Jeremiah 33:3

God tells us to call and tells us that when we do, He will answer us and tell us things we don't know.

God wants us to call on Him from a humble and sincere heart and ask Him for a deeper knowledge of Him, for wisdom and insight and understanding.

Human striving and zeal won’t get us what we want, sitting at His feet and waiting for Him is the key. God is looking for people who long for intimacy and fellowship with Him.

Some of us find it difficult to listen when we've entered our secret place and shut the door. We can't seem to get our minds to co-operate, we have to fight wandering thoughts.

Yet it is possible to learn to discipline our minds and listen.

It helps to have a special place for listening prayer, but just being there doesn't stop the wandering thoughts. Jesus tells us, 'shut your door.'

Being still before God in the secret place, means deliberately shutting the door on our thoughts and emotions and focusing on Him.

When we live in the secret place, and get to know God more intimately, it becomes impossible to doubt Him. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else.

When we enter into the secret place, we find that God was in our circumstances all the time. Actually, He's always with us, it's just that we become more conscious of His presence when we draw aside and meet Him in the secret place.

As we build the habit of talking with God about everything and allow God in from the first moment of each day, it transforms our life. Everything we touch and that touches us is marked with God's presence.

Are you ready to shut yourself away and wait to hear what God has to say to you?

It will only happen if you plan to do it.
Decide exactly how and when you will shut yourself away to listen to God.

Consider putting an entry in your diary to make sure that time with God doesn't get squeezed out.

It's time to venture deep into the heart of God and discover the mind of Christ.

Enjoy the adventure.

Some of the ideas for this article came from 'Secrets of the Secret Place' by Bob Sorge.

Bob wrote this book 'with a passion to empower and inspire your secret relationship with God.' He said, 'My prayer as you read this book, is that you get a glimpse of the living relationship God has purposed to have with us. What Jesus had with His Father when He walked this earth is available to you.

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Thank you for joining me on the journey.

Lynne