THE SECRET PLACE
2 Corinthians 13:5 Msg Bible
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.
It is said that you can deceive everybody else except God and yourself. The scripture here is calling us to sincerely and honesty appraise ourselves. Are we living behind a facade? Are we just going through the motions? Are we satisfied with the state of affairs in our lives?
As believers, we often get caught up in the flow of things. We go to every meeting, fellowship, pay tithes, give offerings, pray in tongues and understanding, we’re doing all we have been taught at church to do, to the extent of even mimicking what we see or perceive people we consider ‘up there’ in the faith, do.
This is mostly good but question is, am I really experiencing the power, presence and manifestation of the life of the believer as it is in the scriptures? If you are, then praise the Lord, you are doing something right, keep it up but if you are not and I believe the larger percentage of people who go to church are not, don’t despair, God has not finished with you yet. Let’s delve into the Word of God.
In Luke 11:1, one of Jesus’ disciples asked Him, after He had finished praying, to teach them to pray. This resulted in the famous prayer which is recited in most churches… THE LORD’S PRAYER…. upon closer examination, it turns out to be a pattern, a model, rather than a prayer to be recited. He starts it this way;
Luke 11:2 KJV
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
The New Living Translation throws even more light on it,
Luke 11:2 NLT
Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon.
In the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches us a very important truth, the import of which is lost on most believers in these contemporary times. The place of personal prayer.
When you read through the scriptures, you might come to the conclusion that this privilege is only for a certain class of people, prophets, priests etc. However, the accounts of Hannah,
1 Samuel 1:10,13,15 KJV
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore. [13] Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. [15] And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.
And Jabez,
1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.,
tell us that this privilege works for whoever knows it and wants to take advantage of it. This is what Jesus taught His disciples in
Matthew 6:6 KJV
[6]But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Consider this; in a prayer meeting, the person who is leading may bring out prayer points which may not touch on your personal or private needs. In a service, be it a revival, prophetic or you name it, the minister may have revelations or words of knowledge about people’s conditions and situations but nicely miss yours or maybe fantastic prophesies were made over you or in a service where everyone including you, as in a December 31st night crossover service, were led to make proclamations and declarations into the future and yet, you sadly realize after some time that honestly, you are no better off than you were before.
Does that mean God is not answering your prayers, not responding to your sacrifices, your work for the church and so on and so forth?
Wait a minute! Before you make that conclusion, may I ask, have you in all sincerity had a one on one with God, in the private place of prayer which Jesus refers to as the ‘closet’?
In this same place, Gideon had the chance to ask God,
Judges 6:13 KJV
And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Jesus intimated that if we do venture into this one on one place of prayer, then we can pour out our hearts to God, even things that are so private and personal, which we won’t dare to utter or speak of in public for even a fly to hear.
Jesus taught that when we come to this place, we shouldn’t come to impress God how well we can pray, we shouldn’t come somersaulting and doing gymnastics, some even put on a special prayer tone of voice and adopt other ‘prayer nuances’. He says we should come simply before Him and have our discourse with Him, bearing in mind that;
[7] But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. [8] Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
God already knows what we need so in reverence, in sincerity, with fervency and by faith, we should ask of Him, make our request known unto Him;
Jeremiah 29:12 KJV
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Philippians 4:6 KJV
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Mark 11:24 KJV
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
In our anchor scripture, Jesus admonishes us to access this place of prayer and He promises that our Father who sees in secret will reward us openly, He will answer us and it will be a testimony for all to see.
Matthew 6:6-8 KJV
[6]But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
In summary, I encourage us all in addition to all we are doing as believers, to regularly enter into the Secret Place of Prayer, we will also experience the Father’s promise of answered prayer. I have experienced it and I am convinced that God, who is no respecter of persons, will give you wonderful encounters in the secret place of prayer.
God bless you.
A re-revaluation is in place. I agree, we put ourselves on “auto-pilot” As believers, we often get caught up in the flow of things. We go to every meeting, fellowship, pay tithes, give offerings, pray in tongues and understanding, we’re doing all we have been taught at church to do, to the extent of even mimicking what we see or perceive people we consider ‘up there’ in the faith, do.”
It’s time for self examination, to fill ourselves in establishing a one in one connection with the Lord