In the Secret Place by Beth

“When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place…”
Matthew 6:6

Do you have a secret place where you daily meet with Jesus? A place where you put all aside and simply listen, talk, and commune with Jesus? This has been such a vital part of my walk with the Lord. It has changed my prayer life.

God does not hear us because we pray earnestly or in secret. He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. Prayer is not simply getting things from God – prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. For me personally, it is in the secret place. It is a place that it’s just me and Jesus. Psalm 139:3-4 assures me that God is already intimately acquainted with me and all of my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue He KNOWS it! Wow! He knows my every thought. He knows the deepest longings of my heart and my deepest fears. He knows, and cares.

Oswald chambers writes, “Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him.” God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place”. He does not see us as other people do or as we see ourselves. This secret place is where I weep before the Lord and know that as I weep and plead with my Father, Jesus is at His right hand interceding for me. It is in this place He reminds me I am a child of the Most High King–the One whose very breath is in my lungs. It is here He reminds me I am His. It is here He reminds me Jesus is interceding for me and those who are in Him. All the while Satan (whose name is the “accuser”) is accusing us, pointing out our sins and frailties before God. But the accusations fall upon deaf ears in heaven, because ‘Jesus work on the cross paid for our sin debt in full; therefore, God always sees His children in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Amen!

When we enter into “the secret place,” we will find that God was right in the middle of our everyday circumstances all the time. I can remember specifically entering into this secret place with Jesus when I was on my first mission to Maisome Island, Tanzania. The Lord knew my fear of the unknown. I had said “yes” to Jesus way before I knew the details of this particular trip. Fear began to creep in. Let me say here, because I had been dwelling in the secret places with Jesus–sometimes multiple times a day–I knew exactly what to do when fear began to plant itself in my mind. I cried out to the Lord and He heard me! Jesus began to overwhelm me with thoughts of Him doing battle for me. He reminded me that I live from a place of victory already won. He reminded me, “I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind” 2 Timothy 1:7. I praise Him!

Do you have a secret place that you daily meet with Jesus? Let me encourage you to find this place. It does not necessarily have to be a physical place. A secret place can simply mean being still before the Lord. Deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. Cry out to Him; call on His name with the assurance that He hears the prayers of those who seek Him and seek Him with all their heart. (Jeremiah 29:13).