The Secret Place, Part 8

By Amy Stoehr
I want to keep encouraging you in Matthew 6:6. Jesus charged His disciples, "But you, when you pray, go into your room (or closet, or secret place) and close the door, and pray to your Father Who is in secret. And your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you openly." David said in Psalm 17:8. "When You said, 'Seek My face, my heart said to You, Your face Lord I will seek." Do you sense the Lord is beckoning you to meet with Him often in secret?

Jeremiah 29 contains God's declaration to Israel, inspired by the Holy Spirit through Jeremiah. This was a very devastating time as they had been taken into captivity and sent into exile to Babylon. The passage contains a promise of hope that, after a season of time, although the Israelites had disobeyed God, He would be faithful to fulfill His covenant promises to them. Jeremiah 29:11 is a very familiar verse that God knows the thoughts He has for us, to give us a future and a hope, to do us good and not evil. Although these words in context were given specifically to Israel at a specific time. I believe that through them the Lord reveals His character and His commitment to His Word to His people today. His unchanging redemptive nature, steadfast love and His promise to respond to His people who will seek Him are expressed in Jer. 29:12:

"Then you will call I upon Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find me when you search for Me with all of your heart. And I will be found by you, declares the Lord."

I believe the Holy Spirit wants to ignite these Words in our hearts now, Jesus taught, Ask and you will receive, SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND, Knock and the door will be opened. With steadfast love He invites us urgently:

Dear one, Call upon Me in prayer, come to Me! Seek for Me now, Search for Me in My Word WITH ALL YOUR HEART! Seek for Me in your worship! Seek for Me in the stillness! Seek for me as you obey my Word. Search for me with all your heart and I will be found you.

When we truly begin to find Him in His Word and prayer, and live in Him and in the reality of His presence, He will not only reveal Himself to us but He will reveal Himself to the world through us. In our secret time with Him, He will consume us with His love, transform us by His Word and strengthen us in our journey. He reveals His secrets to those who choose to seek after Him and who are close enough to be familiar with His voice.

You are His beloved one and I am praying for YOU, Amy