Encouragement

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THE SECRET PLACE - MATTHEW 6:6

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

Friend, there is a “secret place” that you can access at any time. It is the place of God’s presence. Psalm 91:1 talks about dwelling in the “secret place of the Most High”. It is a place that is the habitation of the Almighty, an eternal moment, a pocket of peace! It is a place we find as we step into Him!

This chapter in Matthew contains keys to life and victory. They are the teachings of Jesus about sincerity before God and man in every aspect of our life and walk with Him. He said (verse 5) “When you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” Man tends to focus on the physical aspects of prayer or relationship with God, and seeks the affirmation of other people, but the Father sees the heart and the motives therein. He calls us today to step into a deeper place in Him, a place He has given us permission to come to. I always believed that this scripture was about the importance of having devotional time alone with God, and this is true. Corporate prayer times are wonderful but can never compare to the good times alone in Daddy’s arms. However, these words of Jesus contain much more than advise on the physical requisites for a good prayer life. I saw it differently once I stumbled by chance into the ‘secret place’!

Some years ago, I was traveling with my family, and as our flight from Washington DC to London was delayed, I settled down to read my Bible in the airport lounge. I was reading the book of Job, and read several chapters until I began to read the 36th chapter. I read verse 16, and something happened within my heart. The NIV version reads: “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food”. As the word “wooing” began to resonate within my heart and seep into my spirit, I felt the presence of Jesus surround me and cover me. I felt as though I had stumbled upon a secret door, which appeared out of nowhere! As I opened the door and stepped forward in my spirit, I was picked up and lifted into another place. It was an entry into eternity, as I felt the purest joy, and the delight of just being one with my Lord. There were no hindrances or restrictions, as He truly caused me to float free and enjoy the amazing comfort of a “table laden with choice food” – I fed on His presence, I feasted on His love. I felt and saw colors of radiant light swirling around me, as I felt myself laughing, and experienced ‘joy waves’ rolling through me. It was a weightless, glorious, limitless encounter, although it may well have only been a few moments of time! It was a taste of heaven, a glimpse of glory. There was such joy, such freedom from restriction, such a sense of completeness and wholeness that I could have stayed there forever! Sadly, with a jarring and rather painful ‘landing’ back into the physical realm, I became aware that I was back in my seat in the airport lounge, as the sounds of conversation, television, and airport announcements began to filter into my conscious mind again. I was still holding my Bible open at Job chapter 36, as our flight was being called. There had been a two hour delay in the departure of our flight, and I had probably been reading for about 20 minutes before I stepped into the ‘secret place’. I realized that I had been ‘gone’ for a while, although for me it had been no more than one overwhelmingly beautiful and precious moment in eternity!

This encounter changed my life. It was the beginning of blissful encounters with my Love and my Lord as He taught me to seek the doorway and step up into that place of peace and rest, the place of sweet adventures in the Spirit, accessible anytime, anywhere, because it is a spiritual, heavenly place which does not need a physical door. It is a door within the heart, through which we can tap into the supernatural, and access all the realities of heaven, as we step into it in faith.

Friend, you can enter that secret place at any time, because the door is in you. You can visit there right here and now as you close your eyes and focus on Him! Jesus is the way and the door. He said in John 14:6: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. He said in John 10:7 & 9: “I am the door”. He said to Nathanael (John 1:51): “You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man”. The Son of Man is the corridor between heaven and earth and the way into the secret place. He came to tear the veil that stood between the spirit and the flesh, between heaven and earth, between the inner and outer courts of the temple. Religion separated us from what God intended as the province and privilege of His kids, but the death and resurrection of Jesus broke the barrier into the supernatural. Now we can consciously and naturally access the realms of His presence as we worship Jesus, live in His Word and shut out every distraction (“shut the door”) that stops us finding the shelter of His sweetness. We can access glory while standing in line in a bank, or doing some other mundane thing so long as we focus our hearts on the Door and step into it consciously with sincerity and a worshipful heart. As you make this a way of life, you will know the amazing blessing of abiding in His presence as the sweet Holy Spirit washes into everything that is you and yours. (“….and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly”.) You will “abide in the shadow of the Almighty” and be a recipient of all the powerful promises of Psalm 91, as healing, deliverance, protection, prosperity, and fullness of joy become your daily bread!

As you read this message, I pray that your heart will be stirred to hunger for more, to seek the Door, and to step into that supernatural place in His arms, that place of beauty and power, the place of rest and reward, where nothing is impossible with God! He loves you and longs for you to step into that place where you can truly taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8).

This is a song Daddy gave me about the secret place, and I pray it will bless you and draw you in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzqC049blIw

Minoli Haththotuwa, 06 June 2011
www.risingonwings.org

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