“He who dwells in the shelter (Secret Place) of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Psalm 91: 1
As we read Psalm 91, we see it provides many powerful promises and in an hour like now, these promises are critical. We are promised protection, provision, and preservation. But if we are to enjoy these promises we must first learn how to come and dwell in the Secret Place. Smith Wigglesworth explained-
How marvelously He keeps us so that the Wicked One cannot touch us. I see a place in God where Satan cannot come. We are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). He invites us all to come and share this wonderful hidden place. We dwell “in the secret place of the Most High” and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps. 91:1).
- Get Alone With God
Let’s start our journey in Matthew chapter six where Jesus teaches on the subject of prayer. He explained-
“But when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6: 6
The word for “inner room” is “tameion,” and means a secret room. We must get alone with the Lord. Many survive simply on church prayer times or reading a prayer list. But we must learn the need of go after the Lord.
Smith Wigglesworth shared from the account where Jacob is returning to Canaan and has to face his brother Esau. Jacob is carrying the weight of the world and fears for his family. Everything was on the line and Jacob knew he had to connect with the Lord. Smith said-
Jacob knew that his brother Esau had power to take away all that he had, and to execute vengeance upon him. He knew that no one could deliver him but God. And there alone, lean in soul and impoverished in spirit, he met with God. Oh, how we need to get alone with God, to be broken, to be changed, to be transformed! And when we do meet with Him, He interposes, and all care and strife are brought to an end.
So, we must find a place where we can get alone and be free from distractions. A place where we can commit to seeking His face.
“When You said, ‘Seek My face, my heart said to You, ‘You face, O Lord, I shall seek.”
Psalm 27: 8
We are not coming based on what we can get from Him, but for Him. We are not seeking His hands but His face. So, first, we find a place free from distractions, and secondly, a place where our eyes are off of us, our needs, and firmly placed on Him.
- Worship
If we continue with Matthew chapter six, Jesus gives the role model prayer the “Our Father.”
“Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, Your will done…”
Matthew 6: 9, 10
Most of our prayer life is focused on us and our needs. We may not realize it but we are focused on ourselves and not Him. We have to get our eyes off of the earth and on Him in Heaven. Smith explained-
Anything that takes me from a position where I am in an attitude of worship, peace, and joy; where I have a consciousness of the presence of God; where there is an inward moving of the powers of God that makes me able to lift myself up and live in the world as though I were not of it (because I am not of it); anything thing that dethrones me from that attitude is evil, is satanic.
Worship is a lifting of our whole being towards Him. Many people will play worship music, but we must be careful that because our worship touches us does not mean it touches Him. Because the so-called worship music appeals to us emotionally do not mean it is anointed.
“But an hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”
John 4: 23
Jesus qualified what it meant to truly worship the Father. Smith shared-
The church is the body of Christ. Its worship is a heart worship, a longing to come into the presence of God. God sees our hearts and will open our understanding. The Lord delights in His people. He wants us to come to a place of undisturbed rest and peace that is found only in God. Only simplicity will bring us there.
It is a worship that is real and comes from the heart and delights in the Lord. David put it this way-
“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.”
Psalm 27: 4
The Lord had captured David’s heart and so overwhelmed him that He was everything to him. This real worship that we bring is an outflow of our love for Him because we are wrecked by that love.
Smith explained-
Every expression of love is in the heart. When you begin to pour out your heart to God in love, your very being, your whole self, desires Him. Perfect love cannot fear (1 John 4:18).
Many people may find a particular worship song which may vary with the season, that helps them become overwhelmed with the Lord, while others prefer not to play any music. Then for others, it may vary between playing worship music and then at times not playing it, or different approaches at different times. Personally, I rarely play worship music these days when I am taking time with Him in the Secret Place.
The Secret Place is about the place of presenting true worship to the Father and that worship must be our love poured out on Him.
“A woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table…”
Matthew 16: 7
- Make it your Custom
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
Luke 5: 16
And
“And He came out and proceeded at was His custom to the Mount of Olive; and the disciples also followed Him.:
Luke 22: 39
Now if we look at the Garden of Eden we see that the Lord would visit the Garden every evening to meet with Adam and Eve. Jesus in His early ministry understood the importance of making a custom of getting alone with the Lord. He would arise early and spend time with the Father.
Smith explained-
Beloved, don’t forget that every day must be a day of advancement.
Every day we must seek His face knowing we are in a stream and paddling against the current. There is no neutral place, no taking a break but always a pressing forward. Smith added-
We must see these things, because if we live on the same plane day after day, our vision becomes stale; the principles lose their earnestness. But we must be like those who are catching the vision of the Master day by day.
The call is to come daily and obtain the fresh manna from Heaven and the Bread of His Presence for today. We must abide in the Now and the today.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6: 33-34
It is an everyday seeking first and putting first Him.
