John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This only confirmed the dream I had before going to Bible study. That day, I reorganized my everyday schedule so that I could go to my secret place first thing in the morning. I wanted to give the Lord the first fruit of my time. I thought of some of the things the main character in the War Room movie did in her prayer closet. She used sticky notes to remind herself of prayer topics and requests. She also used scriptures to help guide her in her prayers. I took the same visual references home, and I did the same thing she did. I now schedule a time for me to get up and pray, I stick sticky notes all over my wall so that I can pray for them daily, and I use scripture to help guide me with strength in my prayers.
One day, as I was jotting down my sticky notes of prayer requests, Luke 11: 5-13 flashed in my mind. It reads: “Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You fathers—if your children ask[e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
This verse shows how important it is to be persistent in prayer. Another verse, Matthew 6: 7-8, reminded me that I don’t have to talk too much when praying: “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”
However, there is a need to be persistent in prayer. So for the first seven days, I got up daily and prayed to the Lord. I prayed about everything that I could think to pray about; small things, big things, simple things, and some complicated things. I dedicated my mornings to laying every single concern of mine at his feet and spending time with Him.
Though I have been a Christian for a while now, I had never prayed like this. I would pray in the evening here and there but never consistently as I do now every morning. Within the first six days, I saw and felt such a difference in my relationship with God. He had been waiting for me in The Secret Place I dedicated to us. So when I got there, He was already there, ready. I was the one who made Him wait. Nonetheless, the Lord’s grace and love showed up in my heart in a way I’ve never felt before.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve done a whole lot of ministering, a whole lot of praying, a whole lot of “church” but I had never experienced such stability in my relationship with the Lord before. By doing this, I realized how important it is to have a solid foundation in the Lord.
I used to battle the enemy constantly and always felt the need to repent even when it was not necessary at times. Due to my rambunctious personality, I always questioned who I was as a Christian. I did not know how I could love God despite my being a spunky woman. The enemy would continuously taunt me on a day-to-day basis when it came to my personality and who I was as a person. He would condemn certain things about me that just would not change.
Within the six days of communing with Father God in The Secret Place, all of that stopped. The enemy has nothing in my emotions. The battles that I used to face every day are no longer coming from within. Although the enemy may wait for an opportune time, using the things of this world to attack me with, he can no longer operate the way he used to. The storm no longer enters my house; it just stays on the outside. My house no longer shakes as it stands on the Rock.
The Secret Place is such a conduit for intimacy with the Father. I’m learning how to abide in the Lord, how to depend on Him; and how to keep my eyes on Him. I get to carry my cross daily as He requires of me. All this time, I thought that ministering and praying for people, living a disciplined and righteous life were the things that believers did to be established in Christ. I did not understand that these disciplines were only a byproduct of my relationship with Him. Without an authentic, intimate relationship with God, all these things become mere tasks. I thank God that despite this lack of understanding He moved through me so that things could get done.
One of the incredible benefits of The Secret Place is the satisfaction of knowing that the enemy cannot hear my conversation with the Lord. He cannot interfere because it is sacred ground. Being in my secret place has built up my relationship with the Lord and protected it the enemy’s attempts to use my prayers against me.
We all have to go to the Secret Place to pray by literally shutting the door and shutting down the world around us. The Secret Place is the place where we can tell God everything and expect to Him to talk back. So many times, we pray with many distractions around us, and we allow the enemy to listen in and edge in on our personal conversations with the Lord. But The Secret Place guarantees that the enemy will not be there, so there will be no confusion as to who you are talking to and what you hear. The Lord has the floor so when He speaks, there is nothing left for you to do but listen, and there is no reason to question Who is talking to you.
The way a husband and wife go into a private room to explore intimacy between one another is the same way we go into our secret place to explore intimacy with the Lord. It is a private matter which I believe no one else is supposed to know about. It is sacred. The good news is whatever needs to be exposed He will expose. He knows you will be in agreement with it.
I’d encourage you to first and foremost build a solid relationship with the Lord. Before going out there making disciples, ministering in His name, doing anything on behalf of His Kingdom, one has to nurture a solid relationship with the Lord. He has to be the Rock upon which we build our house, or it will fall! I thank God that He came to me in a time where I could get it together before it was too late because I know storms are bound to happen. It comes with the territory. How amazing is my God? So humbled that He would come to me in a dream just to let me know I was far and I needed to be closer! I implore you to go to your secret place and build your house upon the rock.
Everything else you want to do for the Kingdom will come in due time. The top priority for the people of God, for the church, should be centered around having a vibrant and solid foundation in the Lord. And the way to get it is in your secret place!
The Secret Place
So many times when I heard of The Secret Place in the Bible, I felt as if it was a state of mind or a state of heart. I did not realize that this was a particular place that you go to, to pray to the Lord. One night, I experienced an intense dream where the Lord spoke to me saying: “You are far from My kingdom.” I woke up praying and asking Him to show me how to get closer because I knew that was something He wanted. Later that week, I attended Bible study. The topic centered around The Secret Place. The women who were there described it as a physical location: a private place one goes to pray to the Lord. They referred to the movie War Room for illustration purposes and explained how The Secret Place was meant to be replicated.
This only confirmed the dream I had before going to Bible study. That day, I reorganized my everyday schedule so that I could go to my secret place first thing in the morning. I wanted to give the Lord the first fruit of my time. I thought of some of the things the main character in the War Room movie did in her prayer closet. She used sticky notes to remind herself of prayer topics and requests. She also used scriptures to help guide her in her prayers. I took the same visual references home, and I did the same thing she did. I now schedule a time for me to get up and pray, I stick sticky notes all over my wall so that I can pray for them daily, and I use scripture to help guide me with strength in my prayers.
One day, as I was jotting down my sticky notes of prayer requests, Luke 11: 5-13 flashed in my mind. It reads: “Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You fathers—if your children ask[e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
This verse shows how important it is to be persistent in prayer. Another verse, Matthew 6: 7-8, reminded me that I don’t have to talk too much when praying: “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”
However, there is a need to be persistent in prayer. So for the first seven days, I got up daily and prayed to the Lord. I prayed about everything that I could think to pray about; small things, big things, simple things, and some complicated things. I dedicated my mornings to laying every single concern of mine at his feet and spending time with Him.
Though I have been a Christian for a while now, I had never prayed like this. I would pray in the evening here and there but never consistently as I do now every morning. Within the first six days, I saw and felt such a difference in my relationship with God. He had been waiting for me in The Secret Place I dedicated to us. So when I got there, He was already there, ready. I was the one who made Him wait. Nonetheless, the Lord’s grace and love showed up in my heart in a way I’ve never felt before.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve done a whole lot of ministering, a whole lot of praying, a whole lot of “church” but I had never experienced such stability in my relationship with the Lord before. By doing this, I realized how important it is to have a solid foundation in the Lord.
I used to battle the enemy constantly and always felt the need to repent even when it was not necessary at times. Due to my rambunctious personality, I always questioned who I was as a Christian. I did not know how I could love God despite my being a spunky woman. The enemy would continuously taunt me on a day-to-day basis when it came to my personality and who I was as a person. He would condemn certain things about me that just would not change.
Within the six days of communing with Father God in The Secret Place, all of that stopped. The enemy has nothing in my emotions. The battles that I used to face every day are no longer coming from within. Although the enemy may wait for an opportune time, using the things of this world to attack me with, he can no longer operate the way he used to. The storm no longer enters my house; it just stays on the outside. My house no longer shakes as it stands on the Rock.
The Secret Place is such a conduit for intimacy with the Father. I’m learning how to abide in the Lord, how to depend on Him; and how to keep my eyes on Him. I get to carry my cross daily as He requires of me. All this time, I thought that ministering and praying for people, living a disciplined and righteous life were the things that believers did to be established in Christ. I did not understand that these disciplines were only a byproduct of my relationship with Him. Without an authentic, intimate relationship with God, all these things become mere tasks. I thank God that despite this lack of understanding He moved through me so that things could get done.
One of the incredible benefits of The Secret Place is the satisfaction of knowing that the enemy cannot hear my conversation with the Lord. He cannot interfere because it is sacred ground. Being in my secret place has built up my relationship with the Lord and protected it the enemy’s attempts to use my prayers against me.
We all have to go to the Secret Place to pray by literally shutting the door and shutting down the world around us. The Secret Place is the place where we can tell God everything and expect to Him to talk back. So many times, we pray with many distractions around us, and we allow the enemy to listen in and edge in on our personal conversations with the Lord. But The Secret Place guarantees that the enemy will not be there, so there will be no confusion as to who you are talking to and what you hear. The Lord has the floor so when He speaks, there is nothing left for you to do but listen, and there is no reason to question Who is talking to you.
The way a husband and wife go into a private room to explore intimacy between one another is the same way we go into our secret place to explore intimacy with the Lord. It is a private matter which I believe no one else is supposed to know about. It is sacred. The good news is whatever needs to be exposed He will expose. He knows you will be in agreement with it.
I’d encourage you to first and foremost build a solid relationship with the Lord. Before going out there making disciples, ministering in His name, doing anything on behalf of His Kingdom, one has to nurture a solid relationship with the Lord. He has to be the Rock upon which we build our house, or it will fall! I thank God that He came to me in a time where I could get it together before it was too late because I know storms are bound to happen. It comes with the territory. How amazing is my God? So humbled that He would come to me in a dream just to let me know I was far and I needed to be closer! I implore you to go to your secret place and build your house upon the rock.
Everything else you want to do for the Kingdom will come in due time. The top priority for the people of God, for the church, should be centered around having a vibrant and solid foundation in the Lord. And the way to get it is in your secret place!