Kathryn Kuhlman’s Insight into Pressing into the Deeper Waters of the Secret Place
I love to quote Psalm ninety-one, verse one when talking about the Secret Place. But let us press into deeper waters today.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; and I will set him on high because he has known My Name.”
Psalm 91: 14
Those who set their heart delight on Him live to please Him. They desire to have hearts soft towards Him and they have a deep cry to be found pleasing to the Lord. Kathryn Kuhlman said:
I am very well aware that there is great joy in unbroken communion with our Lord and often a glorious consciousness of the indwelling Christ’s power and presence.
This is Secret Place dwelling- a constant holy communion with Him and a growing consciousness of His indwelling. It is a relationship that brings our greatest source of joy and lifts us. The afterglow of the abiding in His Presence is seen of all. It is a mighty power operating in our lives, transforming us and bringing us into His greater purpose. It takes that which was ordinary and makes it extraordinary. Kuhlman said:
But it is not our power, it is His; and I want you to see that there is a danger of our supposing that we always know God’s will in any matter. Therefore, we may think that we are always right.
To press deeper into the Secret Place we must come to the place of understanding our absolute dependence on Him. In this place of absolute vulnerability and dependence there is a confidence that comes from knowing Him. For we know with all surety that He will not fail us but His power will keep us.
It is a spiritual dependence on the One who is greater. The higher and deeper we seek to go, the lower and more dependent we must become. But for many the initial fruits of dwelling cause them to see the greatness of themselves. Kuhlman said:
Have you ever met folk who are so spiritual that they are dead sure they can never make a mistake? Of course you have! They are so sure of the indwelling presence of Christ, they are so sure of their knowledge of the Word of God, they are so sure of their relationship with Him, they are so sure that they are infallible in making any decision that it becomes a danger.
Power demands humility! I look back and see how for many years I was stuck, never moving forward. It was a difficult season because what was in me was bigger than what I saw around me. We look outward instead of inward and never see our pride. Kathryn explained it this way:
He consistently spent long hours alone in prayer; and he, therefore, assumed that in all things and situations he had the mind of Christ. He was also of the opinion that any proposals which conflicted with his ideas must certainly be wrong. He was confident that he had to be right at all times because he spent so much time in prayer with the Father.
Been there and done that! When people challenged you there was a sense of shock because they had to be wrong, and you had to be perfectly right. After all you had spent hours and hours seeking the Lord. Kuhlman said:
He took for granted that he was a little more spiritual than the others. And it is true that sometimes he was right, but sometimes he was wrong! We need to remember that no matter how spiritual any of us might be, there are times when we can be wrong for we are still human and nobody is right all the time.
Looking at the account of Jacob you see a genuine man who thought he was doing the right thing. I don’t think Jacob saw his bad behavior. It took a long journey for Jacob to finally come to the place of being broken and when it came that night before he faced Esau, he was utterly broken.
“Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel…”
Hosea 12: 4
Oh, that night was a night like no other. That night he remembered all the Lord had said and all that he did. He was a runner and everything he ran from. He ran back into the same thing. But tonight, the running was over, and he would finally discover what he sought and never found. Have you hunger and thirsted for more of Him but never experienced what you sought? Paul was zealous and sought to show the Lord that he loved Him more than anyone else, but one day he met Him just like Jacob and like Jacob they never walked the same. May we too be knocked off the horse of our pride and stubbornness. Oh, for eyes to see and ears to hear.
Kathryn said:
Remember, we all can be wrong because, as human beings, we are fallible. There is only One who is infallible and that is Jesus Christ.”
Kathryn as well:
That particular man always assumed that he was absolutely guided by God in all his proposals. But that is not always the case nor is it true. I have learned through the years that all of us are sometimes a little ‘deaf spiritually, and we do not always clearly hear God’s message, just as the physically deaf person does not always hear perfectly over the telephone.
There is a place we must come to where we cry out for ears to hear and eyes to see.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Matthew 13: 9
And
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion in the day of trial in the wilderness.”
Hebrews 3: 7, 8
We all will face our trials in the wilderness where our hearts will be tested and exposed. May we cry out for ears to hear! I have spent many years going around the same mountain, doing the same thing and expecting different results. But one day I was so broken I cried out and asked for His help. His response surprised me and to be honestly disappointed me at the time. He said, “Ask for ears to hear and eyes to see.” Today, I am so grateful because that simple prayer changed my life. We need ears to hear and eyes to see!
Kuhlman said:
So it is also true that we are a little deaf spiritually at times.
My heart has been forever captured by the King and I find the deeper I want to go and the closer and I want to draw, the more I must place myself on the altar. We must be soft and quick to hear and quick to do. There is a place that we come to through taking time with Him to truly know Him, where we seek not just to be obedient but to delight in Him, just as Psalm ninety-one says in verse fourteen.
When we delight in Him, we desire never to grieve Him or bring injury to His Name. As a result, we seek eyes to see and ears to hear. For we know our weaknesses and we don’t trust ourselves.
Kuhlman said:
There must be a perfect doing of God’s Will before there is a perfect knowing of His doctrine. We need to recognize that we are all fallible, that we may be mistaken sometimes.
When you walk delighting in Him, you do hear His report and not the voice of the flesh, the world or the devil. Kuhlman referenced the account of the 12 spies sent to the Land. Two came back declaring that it was exactly as the Lord said it would be and they should go forward. But the ten others saw things from their perspective and their insufficiencies. Kuhlman said:
Remember the Thirteenth Chapter of Numbers regarding the twelve leaders that Moses sent into Kadesh-barnea to spy out the Promised Land. Only two brought back a favorable report while ten men said, ”We are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we” (Verse 31). If the majority is always right then the ten spies would have been right. They were the majority. No, only two were confident of success and said, ”Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it” (Verse 30). Unfortunately, the people sided with the ten, and forty years of wandering, of misery and rebellion ensued because they did not heed the advice of the two who had the mind of God and were right. But again I remind you and I say to myself as well: do not assume infallibility. Any one of us can be wrong regardless of how spiritual we may be.
Listening to the wrong voice will impact your today and your future. If we receive the report of Heaven and we spent time seeking His face then we know He will not leave nor forsake us. What you are facing is not a surprise to the Lord. He already has a solution prepared, just move forward listening to Him. Keep your heart soft to Him and hardened against the world, the flesh and the devil. It is always about who we say yes to and who we say no to that determines our success. If you want to go deeper in the Secret Place and know Him more, then say no to your flesh and yes to Him.
Kuhlman said:
I guarantee that what I am sharing with you is very practical, for I am dealing with everyday problems, the things we must all face and the trials that help us to grow to spiritual maturity.
In this life we will have trials and tribulations and where we abide will determine whether we come out victorious or not. If we abide in Him, then we must always seek to go deeper and further. This means a daily yielding and surrendering that comes from hearing and seeing.
Kuhlman said:
All of us like messages regarding the Holy Spirit who is our Helper and our Strengthener. But remember, even after a wonderful mountain-top experience such as Peter, James and John had when they saw Jesus transfigured before their very eyes, and Moses and Elijah stood before them . . . they had to come down the mountain, down to good practical everyday living.
There is a mighty anointing that comes upon us when we serve the people according to the call. But we can’t abide in that anointing. We must abide in Him and grow up spiritually. It is not the hours of our Bible study and prayer but the depth of our hearing and seeing. If we spent hours in Bible study and prayer with ears that hear and eyes that see, we will always be taking new ground. Our lives will truly be going from one level of glory to another.
