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

The Secret Place, Part 7

By Amy Stoehr
Giving Thanks in the Secret Place.

Good morning! This is the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. For the Lord is good and His mercy endures forever! Today I would like to share about a daily practice that has transformed my prayer life and my journey.....

Thanksgiving! As prayer time in the “secret place” is the priority, let’s understand both the necessity and power of thanksgiving.....having a thankful heart and expressing our thanks to the Lord, especially as we come to our prayer time with Him. In Psalm 100:4, the Holy Spirit through David instructs us in how to approach the Lord in prayer. We are to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and come into His courts with praise.” This was the instruction to the Israelites as they came into the Tabernacle area and this is our instruction today as we come into our “secret place”.

I love to thank the Lord for His overwhelming faithfulness, goodness and love. Just think about it.....His amazing creation, His plan for our redemption, His great love for mankind and for us personally, the power of His blood, the power of His resurrection.

Lord thank you for Your forgiveness! Thank you we are Your children! You will never leave us or forsake us.

I’m so thankful for God’s Word and I tell Him often. I’m so thankful for the precious Holy Spirit who lives in us moment by moment and guides us into all truth. I’m thankful for His great love and mercy and grace. I’m thankful for another breath to breathe today and for His amazing provision. I’m thankful for my precious family and the blessing of being in the family of God. I’m thankful to live in a free land and for my freedom in Christ. I’m thankful the sun came up again today and He is Lord over all. As we come into the secret place of prayer we should come like David expressed in Psalm 95:2:

“Oh come let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with THANKSGIVING.”

Remember the Holy Spirit’s instructions through Paul in Philippians 4:6:

“DON’T BE ANXIOUS about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, WITH THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God.”

Thanksgiving is such a key to answered prayer and to living in God’s presence and favor. Thankful people are joyful people, the presence of God surrounds their life and they cause others to been encouraged and look to the Lord!

Having a continual expression of thanksgiving is a very good thing! Psalm 42:1:

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your Name Oh Most High, to declare your lovingkindness in the morning and your faithfulness by night.”

Thanksgiving should saturate our prayer time and our lives moment by moment. Thanksgiving squelches selfishness and apathy. It is a remedy for depression and fear. It pleases God and get’s our eyes on His greatness. Regarding prayer, thank Him for answers before you see the manifestation .Let’s come into our prayer closet thanking Him, then continue to saturate our praying with thanksgiving and leave our prayer closet thanking Him, determined to continue in expressing our thanks to God. Remember, moment by moment, His great love for you and be thankful! Express your heart of thanks out loud, that is what thanksgiving is! Thanksgiving will keep your faith airborne, cause heaviness to flee, and will change the way you live your days! Thank you Lord!

The Secret Place, Part 6

By Amy Stoehr
“In the day I called, You answered, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:8. In the secret place of prayer are springs of refreshing, strength and victory.

One of the first things the Lord taught His disciples about the Kingdom is that God is not only our King but He is our Father. We know that we are to learn to live in continual abiding prayer relationship with the Lord, and how wonderful that is! But Jesus emphasizes that we must have a secret place, a special time of meeting with the Father if we are to live the life of the branch abiding in the vine. In that private place, shut out from people, shut out from the clamor and business of our life, shut in with the Father, Jesus will teach us how to pray. That spot may be anywhere; it may change from day to day, but find a consistent place for quiet time in the Master’s presence.

Remember Jesus’ Words. “But you, when you pray, go into your room and close the door, and pray to your Father Who is in secret. And the Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.” Matthew 6:6.

He mentions the Father four times in these few verses regarding prayer:

1. Pray to the Father in secret
2. Your Father sees in secret
3. Your Father will reward you openly
4. Your Father knows what you need.

In the secret place is where we begin to know our Father intimately. Our amazing Father of love, who is in secret, wants to meet with us! He sees us, He will reward us openly. He will teach us to TRUST HIM with childlike faith and expectation. The secret place is our school of prayer and Jesus is our Teacher. He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”Ask, and you shall receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

I’m praying for YOU now!

The Secret Place, Part 5

By Amy Stoehr
It’s no secret that life is besieged with battles. As believers, we understand we are in a daily spiritual warfare and many enemies line our path on the right and left. But, our Lord is our Refuge, our Strength, our Commander in Chief, our Victory! He has given us spiritual weaponry to wage war. God’s Word and Prayer are two of our essential weapons we must become skilled in daily, and we will see great victory. Still, these battles and trials can take their toll on us. At times we feel weakened, exhausted and overwhelmed. Oh how important it is that we find our rest in the secret place of God’s presence. Are you weary, tired or just plain exhausted?

Today I want to remind you about Samson in Judges 15. Having slain a thousand of the enemy with the jawbone of a donkey, he is exhausted from the battle. Though God supernaturally helped him to defeat the enemy, he exerted all of his natural strength in the process. He was physically, mentally and emotionally spent. And that is often our condition isn’t it? There in that place, Samson appealed to the throne of grace for supply. He called upon God in prayer. And in response, God struck the hollow place of the rocky ground and water gushed out. Samson was refreshed and rejuvenated. As Samson called, God responded by creating a naturally impossible gusher of refreshing water. We cry out to God in prayers of petition. The greater your need, the greater your petition to God. God will respond and will send refreshing and strength. In answer to Samson’s cry for help, God did the impossible. He made water come out of a rock. He named the place En-Hakkor, in Lehi until this day. It means “the Caller’s Spring.” Whenever we read “Until this day” it means this principle is still for us today.

Lord, teach us to call upon You! Thank you for sending supplies of Your refreshing, rejuvenating us today.

Don’t get stuck in your weariness, get to the Secret Place. Call upon the Lord in prayer often! He will bring waters of refreshing even in impossible situations. He will strengthen you! Psalm 138:3 says “In the day I called, You answered, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” In the secret place of prayer are springs of refreshing, strength and victory.