Last issue, we focused on dwelling in the secret place, based on Psalms 91:1-2 which says “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” The secret place is the place of prayer time between you and the Lord, where it is just you and Him. This is where you develop intimacy with the Lord, where you share your heart with Him, pray for others, concentrate on Scripture reading while in His Presence and learn to hear the gentle whisperings and guidance of the Holy Spirit deep within your heart. It is the place where you can draw on God’s grace and God’s strength and learn how to lean on Him in tough times, but also enjoy Him when things are going well. Matthew 6:6 says (NKJV) “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.” The secret place is not necessarily a specific room (it could be), but more just a place of privacy where you can commune with the Lord. Yet many sincere Christians have struggled in this area of prayer and personal time with the Lord. Some struggle with just talking to the Lord while others have a regimental prayer life, where they pray more like reading from a script then a meaningful, heartfelt conversation with Him. Others may have a mindset of God being a very “stern”, hard taskmaster and so they are fearful of how they may approach Him, so, in many cases, they don’t approach Him at all. There are many varied reasons why many struggle with this.
One thing that many do is use Bible studies, prayer team meetings or Cell / Home Groups as a substitute for private prayer. While all of these things are needful and vital for our personal spiritual growth, they can never be a replacement for private time with the Lord. No one can live constantly off of the life of other people’s prayers without praying themselves. We do need other people praying for us, and thanks be to God that other Christians do intercede for us when we are in a crisis or a pivotal time in our lives. But we can never get to a place where we are doing this constantly and spending no personal, private time alone with the Lord. This is something that each of us have to take the initiative to do and be intentional about. So how do we begin?
One barrier that many have is that we have to understand how much God really loves us. Scripture says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to come into this world and die for our sins and give us eternal life (John 3:16). Many Christians, though saved and going to church year after year, struggle with understanding how much God truly loves them.This makes it difficult for them to pray because they may still be struggling with condemnation of some sorts. But the Bible says This: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1 – NKJV) Because of what Jesus has done, in His sacrifice of dying for our sins and rising from the dead, securing eternal salvation for us who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, and we are walking in the power of His Holy Spirit, there is no condemnation. We are told this in Scripture:
Hebrews 4:14-16 – NKJV – Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 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.
Our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ has paid the ultimate price for us by atoning for our sins by dying on the cross, being buried and gloriously resurrected! He understands our weaknesses and shortcomings and has the power to strengthen us. So let us come boldly before the Throne of grace and not be fearful or timid about approaching Him in our personal and private time in the secret place. Never be fearful about approaching your Heavenly Father, knowing what Jesus has done and understanding the great love that God has for us. Don’t let condemnation be a stumbling block to approaching and spending quality time with the Lord.
Next issue, we will continue on developing intimacy with God and learning how to dwell in the secret place. God Bless!
