Do you find it difficult to spend time with the Lord in the secret place?
Psalm 91:1 depicts the secret place as place to abide in Him through intimacy: He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (KJV). The secret place is your invitation to cultivate a secret history with God. However, oftentimes we stumble our way to the secret place. Hence, it feels as if no progress is being made. Doubts start to creep in: Is this really going to work for me?
As we seek Him in the secret place, the process of maturation shifts the central focus from us to Him. We learn to bow low in humility, born out of true revelation of His character—and not from a veneer of religiosity.
Can I share with you what I’ve learned in the secret place before the audience of One?
- If needed, confess any known sins, and receive cleansing from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9)—plead the Blood over your mind, emotions and will.
- Take authority over your own mind, emotions and will as you submit them to the Father (James 4:7)—do so verbally, aloud!
- Tell the Father, “I can’t seek You as You so deserve unless You help me!”—allow the Holy Spirit to cause a groundswell of holy desperation to well up within your heart.
- Thank the Father for the struggles you have in pursuing Him in the secret place as you think of every hindrance you’ve experienced in this pursuit—and thank Him for the breakthroughs that will come!
- Surrender your own agenda—my needs, desires, self-obsession, and wants, as you receive His grace to focus on Him. (These are often legit needs that the Father does want to meet, but we become so fixated upon ourselves that we’re unable to set our gaze steadily upon the Father.)
- As a son or daughter of God, exercise faith in the promise of Hebrews 4:16, that we can come confidently to His throne to receive what we need in the secret place—Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
- Meditate on a passage centered upon worship (such as Revelation 4)—use the text to gaze upon the Father through the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit; and allow it to give you language to express to the Father in worship.
As followers of Christ, we’re all called to the secret place. There’s no exception. This is where we learn to delight in Him above all else in life. Consistently seeking His face in the secret place ensures that we cultivate one of life’s most valuable assets, if not the most important—a secret history with God.
