In the Secret Place

I want you to Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace. Matt 6:6 The Message

The above quotation is from the Message Bible, and it seems clear about what we should do when we designate a time and place to fellowship with God, the Lord. In the New King James version, we’re invited to join Him behind closed doors: But you, 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.

Secrecy and Prayer

Two major things are going on here:

• Secrecy: We must consciously escape from the demands, voices, and distractions to focus on God and hear what He says.
• Prayer: An interactive conversation with God will result in knowing Him intimately as you learn to hear His voice and speak His language (in His Word). As you call on Him, He will answer you.

Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it – the LORD is His name: “Call to Me, and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things you have not known. Jer 33:2-3 NRSV

Consider These Things

Here are ten things you might want to consider as you enter the Secret Place:

Consider Submitting to God

• Remember all He has done for you and present your body to Him as a living sacrifice

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12:1-2 NKJV

Consider Adoration and Thanksgiving

• Offer a heartfelt word of praise to God for one or more of His attributes and character. Thank Him for the good things in your life.

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100

Consider Examination

• Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any area of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23-24

Consider Your Identity in Christ

• Remember who you are – a child of God. You have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you. Your life is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loves you with everlasting love.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal 2:20

Consider What it Means to be Filled with the Spirit:

• The Holy Spirit controls and fills you daily. Tell Him you want to be filled with the Spirit. He’s a good, good Father and will grant you your desire.

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. Eph 5:17-18.

Consider the Fruit of the Spirit

• Pray the Lord will manifest Himself in your character so that you live in the fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gal 5:22-25 NKJV.

Consider His purpose for life:

• Do you want to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind? Make every effort to focus on the purpose of your life. Allow God to teach you His ways, will, and word.

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones. Prov 3:3-8 NKJV.

Consider Circumstances of the Day

• God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Rom 8:28 NKJV

Consider Protection in Spiritual Warfare.

• Against the World: Renew your mind. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Tell yourself, I will be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, I will let my requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. .
• Against the flesh: Determine to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus ( Be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.
• Against the devil: Put on the whole armor of God. Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. The Lord your God is with you, so submit yourself to God and resist the devil. He will flee from you.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Rom 8:6 NKJV.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Col 3:1-4 NKJV.

… The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil 4:5b-7

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Rom 12:1 NKJV.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, stand. Eph 6:10-13 NKJV

Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-8 NKJV

Consider The Coming of Christ and Your Future with Him.

• Remember, the Lord said he would be coming quickly, and so be it in your soul. Never forget that your citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus! Rev 22:20 NKJV.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Phil 3:20-21 NKJV.

As we consider all these things, let us enter the Secret Place faithfully and let God be God in our lives. Please contact me and let me know how it goes.

May the Lord bless and keep you,