The Secret Place

As you passionately and intentionally pursue spending time with the Lord in the "secret place" of prayer and in His Word, Jesus will teach you how to pray and you will begin to understand more clearly why you can pray with great faith and confidence and joy in believing. In that place of meeting with Him, we will discover that He is our All in All!  Because He lives in us and we live in Him, He is our sufficiency in all things and He is always more than enough. 

In this hour it is crucial we understand who He has made us to be in Him and that He has given us all things because He lives in us. Did you ever truly think about this verse?

 

"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" John 1:16

Oh if we could just understand the fullness of Christ that is already ours as believers!  We are not trying to obtain this, we already possess it.  I see so many believers striving to obtain what is already freely theirs in Christ. When you invited Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord, He not only forgave you but He made you a new creation in Christ. Then, He actually came to live in you. He lives in You.  Thank You Lord! Let us thank Him every moment for this miracle! This is the mystery that once was hidden but now revealed.....Christ in Us the Hope of Glory.  If you understand He lives in You, then you will surely understand He is your All in All and you are lacking nothing! It will change how you live life.  You will discover this in the "secret place" of His presence.  Love lives in you.  Victory lives in you. Truth lives in You.   The living God has chosen to abide in YOU and invites you to abide in Him. As an act of our will, daily, we yield to Him, we submit all to Him, we allow the daily infilling of His presence

 

One of the most important verses we must understand and walk in is in Galatians 2:20.  It is the most accurate picture of being filled with His fullness. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." 

 

When we receive Christ and He comes to live in us, we don't receive part of Him.  He lives in us and becomes our life. He lives in us in His fullness. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He has made us a new creation and now lives in us.  We are lacking nothing!  Now, to the degree we yield to Him and to His Word and renew our minds to the Truth of His living Word, and obey His Word is the degree this fullness will be manifested in our life.  It is in the secret place of prayer and the Word that we understand that He is our All in All and because of what is already ours in Him, we can begin to pray with much faith!  Our lives become a conduit of His love, life, truth and victory to this world.   Of His fullness we have received, grace upon grace. Lord, help us to live in the reality of this Truth! 

The Secret Place, Part 13

By Amy Stoehr
We have been talking about the instructions Jesus has given to us to Meet with the Father, in secret and pray to our Father, in secret (Matthew 6:6) It’s so awesome to think the Father wants to meet with us! And He will hear us and He will answer us. Hebrews 4:16 says that we can “come to the Throne of Grace with confidence, to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” I love 1 John 5:14-5 that says we have assurance, we can be sure, that when we approach God and pray according to His will, He hears us. And because He hears us, we can know that we can receive His answers! It’s so amazing!

I want to continue to encourage you to make a time and a place to meet with the Father in prayer, in worship, in hearing from Him as you read His Word. It is His will for you!

A also want to encourage you that you can abide in this “secret place” throughout your day. You can take moments to step away from the activities of your day and meet with the Lord in secret every hour! You can stop wherever you are, in all that you are doing and meet with the Father in prayer and worship. This is having a “pray without ceasing” lifestyle. Jesus says in John 15 that the Father wants us to learn to live our lives as a branch abiding in the Vine , in continual fellowship with Him. He says that if we “abide in Him, and His Word abides in us, we can ask whatever we will and it shall be done.”

I love Psalm 91:1, “He that dwells (remains in) the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He is our Refuge and our Fortress, a very present Help throughout every moment. The Holy Spirit will guide our praying, moment by moment, as we practice listening to Him. This is how we can “Trust in the Lord with all our hearts, not leaning on our own understanding. In all our ways we can acknowledge Him and He will make our path straight.” Prov. 3:3,4

As we spend time in the secret place of prayer in the mornings, we will be able to continue abiding in Him throughout the day and recognize His leading. We can stop and listen. We can stop and give thanks. We can stop and worship. We can stop and pray. We can develop a lifestyle of continually walking with the Lord, not worrying about anything, but praying about everything. In Luke 18:1 Jesus said we should pray always and never give up. We can cultivate a secret life of prayer that will result in His manifested presence in our lives, His love demonstrated through us and powerful prayers that bring His will to this earth. Lord, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, in us and through us. We thank You, We praise You, and we love You!

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.”

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