The Secret Place, Part 12

By Amy Stoehr
As we make time to meet with the Lord in prayer and in His Word each day, in response to Matthew 6:6, He promises to instruct us in His will, guide us on His path and direct our steps according to His purposes. Wow! The precious Holy Spirit will meet with us there in that secret place with the Father and Jesus! In Psalm 16, David speaks of setting the Lord continually before him, taking refuge in the Lord. I love the truth of verse 11, “You will make known to me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of Joy.”

In verse 12, the Holy Spirit reminds us that as we worship the Lord, He will instruct us in the way we should choose. ”The secret of the Lord is for those who worship Him and He will make then know His covenant.” In Psalm 32, David speaks of the Lord being His hiding place, and He is our Hiding Place today. The Word promises in verse 8 that ”He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go. He will counsel us with His eye upon us.”

Jesus spent much time alone with the Father, receiving from the Father all that which was necessary for the day at hand. When He told the disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” He was telling them that each day would require a fresh supply from the Father, of grace, wisdom, strength and direction. He will instruct us in His path for our life each day! I am praying Colossians 1:9-14 for you right now with much faith and excitement.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.”

We can be filled with the knowledge of God’s will for us and have spiritual wisdom and understanding from Him, we can know how to please Him and increase in our knowledge of God as we spend time meeting with Him. He will strengthen us and give us all we need for the day. He is our All in All. He is the Light of the world and in Him is no darkness! Thank You Lord!

The Secret Place, Part 11

By Amy Stoehr
I’m praying for you this day that as you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength in the secret place of prayer and His Word, that you will begin to experience His manifested presence in an unprecedented way. As you Pray in secret, He promises to reward you openly. God’s rewards are good! Here are some rewards that I am praying in agreement with you for your life. Receive these promises regarding His will for you. I pray that in the secret place today you would be:

• Strengthened in your inner man (Eph. 3:16)
• Rooted deep in love and founded securely in love (Eph. 3:17)
• Able to grasp God’s love - the breadth and length and height and depth of it. (Eph 3:18)
• That you would be filled through all your being with the fullness of God.(Eph 3:19)
• That you may “know” Him and the power of His resurrection. (Phil 3:10)
• That He would might grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation. (Eph. 1:17)
• That the eyes of your heart be flooded with light. (Eph 1:18)
• That you might know the greatness of His power in you. (Eph 1:19)
• That you may learn to sense what is vital and of real value.(Eph 1:10)
• That you may be filled with the fruits of righteousness. (Phil 1:11)
• That He will protect you from the evil one. (Jn 17:12) (Jesus’ prayer)
• That you may know God’s will. (Col. 1:9) and walk in His light ( John 8:12)
• That His joy would be in you (John 15:11)
• That you may be strengthened with all power, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks. (Col 1:11-12)
• That you would receive His wisdom (James 1:5), being transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might know the will of God, (Romans 12:2)
• That HE would instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. (Ps. 32:8)
• That you would be on the alert, standing firm in your faith, acting like a man or woman of God, strong in Him and that all you do would be done in love. (1 Cor 16:13)
• That you would be ignited with His love and power to do what He has commissioned you to do......pray, share His love, speak His Word, minister to the hurting, preach the gospel, set the captives free, make disciples, do the works of Jesus, destroy the works of the enemy, (Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15-18), 1 Jn 3:8) and live for His glory.
• In Jesus’ Name!

The Secret Place, Part 10

By Amy Stoehr
Mark 1:35 “And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”

Our Savior, perfect, sinless and magnificent as He was, knew that His time meeting alone with the Father was the most important. He knew that the demands of the day that He would encounter would require the strength and power that even His sinless humanity could not provide. He is our example, and He shows us how essential our alone time with the Father is! For there in secret, the Father would speak to Him of the day. Jesus knew the truth of where His strength came from. He heard the instructions of the Father. He only spoke what He heard the Father speak. He did the works the Father showed Him. He demonstrated to us the life of the branch connected to the Vine that He speaks about in John 15. From this daily practice, He instructs the disciples to do the same in Matthew 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your room and close the door, and pray to Your Father in secret. And the Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you openly.”

As we have this daily practice in common with our Jesus, I believe we will begin to look like Him and do what He did. There we can meet with the Father. There, the Holy Spirit will reveal Truth to us and fill us afresh with His presence. There, in the secret place are infusions of grace, love, courage, wisdom. There, we become familiar with His voice. We will decrease, He will increase. Like the recharging of a battery, we receive what we need for the day. Each day needs grace of its own. Today let us delight in following our Lord into that secret place of prayer with the Father, where we will know Him, receive of His fullness, and go forth to do His will and works. All for His glory!

The Secret Place, Part 9

By Amy Stoehr
Good morning!
In today’s “lifewords" I would like to share with you a powerful quote from Charles Trumball. In the secret place of prayer, Christ will become our life, and it will be no longer we that live, but Christ living in us. Colossians 3:3 says “For you died,and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

“Jesus Christ does not want to be only our Helper, He wants to be our LIFE. He does not want us to work for Him. He wants to let Him do His work through us. When our life is not only Christ's but Christ, our life will be a winning life, for He cannot fail. And a winning life is a fruit bearing life, a serving life. We must bear fruit in character and in service. If Christ is our life, surrender absolutely and unconditionally to Christ as Master of all that we are and all that we have, telling God that we are now ready to have His whole will done in our entire life at every point, no matter what it cost. We may have Christ, yielding to Him in such completeness and surrender of self that it is no longer we that live, but Christ that lives in us.”