What is the Secret Place

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares powerful keys of how to pray and see public results. Many people seek to find a formula for success, and they suppose that if they simply pray the Word, then all will be well. Afterall, we are told if we ask anything in accordance with His will:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

1 John 5: 14, 15

The Greek word for “will” is “thelma” and it means what one wishes or has determined shall be done, commands, will, choice, pleasure, inclination, and desire.

To fully understand what John is saying we must read the full letter. This word for will is only used twice in this book.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

1 John 2: 15- 17

Doing the will of God is connected to having a love of the Father and not the world. In other words, it is all about the deep desires of the heart. Now if we go to the Sermon on the Mount we see:

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in Secret Place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Matthew 6: 6

Jesus tells us the key is to go into the Secret Place. If we go to Habakkuk, we see a prophet who has questions for the Lord. He needs to hear from the Lord, so he creates an environment to hear from Heaven.

‘I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.”

Habakkuk 2: 1

The Hebrew here for stand means to present oneself, to attend to, to tarry, to remain. The word for watch means my guard, my charge, or my function. Habakkuk understood the need to get into the Secret Place in his watches so he could hear what the Lord would say, and receive whatever correction the Lord has for him.

Now let’s turn to David in Psalm 17.

“Let my vindication come from Your presence; let Your eyes look on the thigs that are right. You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.”

Psalm 17: 2- 3

We must come into the Secret Place of His Presence if we are to have our prayers answered. But there is a cost which we will talk more about later. In the Old Testament days, the Presence of the Lord was in the Holy of Holies beyond the veil of the Tabernacle or Temple. But no one could enter the Holy of Holies except the High Priest, and he could only do it once when he came with the blood of atonement.

Moses who wrote the 91^st Psalm and understood the Holy of Holies said:

“He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Psalm 91: 1

Moses encourages us to go beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies even though we can’t. So, he was not talking about literally going beyond the veil, but rather in our prayer life. No wonder Jesus tells us the same thing.

If we consider a human relationship like marriage we can get a glimpse of the Secret Place. Paul used marriage as a type of the relationship of Christ and the church, so we can use it in regards our relationship with Him. In a relationship there are levels of communication, and it is important that for a successful marriage that there is rich communication. Intimate fellowship is critical and that means we must learn how to develop rich communication.

Effective communication demands vulnerability just like Habakkuk and David explained.

The word countenance or Presence means standing before the face of the Lord and in a marriage, we must come and spend time face to face with the one we love. Ninety percent of all communication is nonverbal. Therefore we must have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a hearing heart.

If we go back to David and Habakkuk and again consider a marriage, we find that to be an effective communicator we first and foremost must listen. For our prayer life to be effective we must come into the Secret Place.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help.”

Hebrews 4: 16

Here we are told that we are to come boldly before the throne that we might receive grace when we desperately need it. His throne is in the Secret Place of His Presence. Further, we are told:

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

Hebrews 10: 19, 20

Here we are told that we have been given access to the Holy of Holies that is the Secret Place of His Presence by His blood. We are invited to draw near. Everything we need is found in His Presence.

“You will show me the path of life; in Your Presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Psalm 16: 11

In a relationship there is a place where we come and enjoy the sweetest of fellowship that touches us at the deepest levels on the inside of us. It brings us a joy that we can’t describe and yet it means everything to us. It is these moments of intimate fellowship that help define us and make us.

We are told that in His Presence or that place where we come face-to-face with Him and we enter into real fellowship, here we experience and know fullness of joy. The Hebrew word here for fullness means satiety or the quality of being fed or gratified to or beyond capacity.

“Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from you.”

Psalm 16: 1, 2

The Hebrew here for “preserve” here is “shamar” and it means to guard, keep, to observe, to watch over, and to protect.  The word for trust means to flee for refuge. The Lord brings out the real beauty in our lives and gives our lives meaning and value.

Now if we turn to David, we see that he understood the value of the Secret Place.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”

Psalm 27: 1

If we look at the life of David and the trials and battles, he faced, and yet the Lord wonderfully kept him. Instead of David walking depressed and discouraged, he knew the Lord was keeping him. That confidence came out of his relationship he had with the Lord. In the same way, when we have a rich fellowship with our spouse it brings confidence and strength to our marriage, and it also brings the greatest joy.

David considered the Lord the light of his life. The Lord meant everything to Him and His life revolved around the Lord. The confidence he had in the Lord and before the Lord meant that he didn’t fear man. He became a one-man walking army and of course we know he took down the giant, Goliath. How? How could he as a young teenager go to battle not just against a giant but a champion warrior. David had never fought in battle or been trained to fight, yet he stood with confidence before the giant because he stood confidently before the Lord.

When we can come boldly and stand confidently before Him, we know that no matter what we face we are unmoved and always overcome.

“Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.”

Psalm 27: 3

The security of His love comes from the depth of our relationship with Him, and we know He will keep us. Now let’s read what John wrote:

“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

1 John 4: 16

In the Secret Place we come to know Him and truly discover His love. Here where we see His face and hear Him speak from His heart to ours, we come to know His love and as we linger long enough, to believe His love.

The Secret Place is the place of total vulnerability and yet total security. We can finally know we are secure so that we can take down all our walls and yield to Him. In this place no area of our lives is off limits. We are then told he who ABIDES, yes there is that word ABIDES again. As we choose to abide and remain in His love, we find ourselves abiding in Him and then Him in us.

Now remember what eternal life is:

“And this eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

John 17: 3

We were created to know and enjoy this intimate fellowship with Him and through Christ, we are once again invited back to enjoy and know Him. So, when we think of salvation, we must understand that first and foremost it means to be brought back into intimate fellowship with Him.

Now we may enjoy great fellowship with Him when we gather with the saints, but it is essential that we personally develop a deeper walk with Him behind the scenes. In a relationship we want to be wanted. We need to know that the other person desires us an chooses us. The proof of this is not seen when they put on a show for the public to see but rather when no one is looking actively pursue. For many believers their prayer life and Word life is only as deep as their church life. Thank God for church and praying together and for hearing the Word preached. But I must take the time and linger long in His Presence when no one is looking simply because I desire Him.

“One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek…”

Psalm 27: 4a

Is our prayer life as deep as our needs and wants? What is your greatest need even when you are going through the greatest trial? Remember David said this when he was in a trial. So what was that one thing that David had to have from the Lord?

‘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 inquire in His temple. For in the day of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the Secret Place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”

Psalm 27: 4, 5

He desired to be found in the Secret Place of His Presence every day. It was not just a cry when he was in trial, and he was trying to impress the Lord. But to him the Lord was everything. Here in the Presence as he enjoyed intimate fellowship his eyes were opened to all the true beauty and glory of the Lord. He came seeking the Lord. No matter how much he had come to know the Lord, like Paul he cried out for more.