Day 24: The Secret Place (Refuge)
Scripture:
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.
Psalms 91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”, no disaster 3 Surely, He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will ]set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
Song: Secret Place
Happy Twenty Fourth Day of Thanks Everyone!
Today, we give thanks for the secret place in God that is our refuge and where we can run to always be safe.
Several months ago, I did a bible study on Psalms 91 for the people in my prayer community. For most of my life, I have been taught that this is a protective psalm (prayer) that should be prayed daily. Often times, I (and probably many others) pray this psalm daily from memorization. And if I can be honest, sometimes in my rote regurgitation of it, I miss the awesome significance and reminder of the prayer.
As I was preparing for the bible study and breaking down some of the verses in this psalm, God began to reveal several eye-opening things to me that he wanted me to share with the people. The first was that, according to the sixth chapter and sixth verse of Matthew, God lives in the secret place and is always there waiting for us to come and commune with Him. God’s presence is there; His anointing is there; God’s power is there. One can ultimately find the peace and rest of God without having to plan a vacation to get it. The next idea that grabbed my attention was that the person who makes the choice to dwell with God in the secret place is automatically rewarded some benefits without even asking for them. God declares that the person who dwells with Him will:
1. Be protected and covered in safety, while complete chaos is happening around him/her.
2. Be assigned angels to protect, defend, and guard him/her.
3. Be given power to destroy his/her enemies.
4. Be set on high, in Heavenly places with Jesus, to have a different vantage point and be far above one’s enemy.
5. Be answered and given all they request in prayer, when they call on and know the name of the Lord,
6. Be delivered.
7. Be honored.
8. Be given long life.
9. Be satisfied.
As I was reading about all of the benefits and getting excited, I realized that many of the folks in my prayer community were not reaping and would not reap these benefits because they don’t “dwell” in the Secret Place. They are occasional visitors to the Secret Place and visitors don’t get the benefits. Dwelling in the Secret Place would mean that they would have an active prayer life, daily communicating with God on their own, and not depending on someone else to communicate to God on their behalves. Since in previous prayer calls many of the participants shared how they needed strategies in their lives, how they were being tormented by the enemy, and how they were “waiting on God” for certain things, I knew for sure that they weren’t dwelling in the Secret Place. If the first, second, and fifth benefits were protection and God’s guarantee to answer when they called, they exposed just how “cold” their walk with God was.
I had the tasks of re-presenting a familiar psalm and sharing with them the gift of communing with God. I posed questions to them like, “would you want to be protected in the midst of a global epidemic of plague or against the enemy’s plan for your destruction?” “Would you like to have instantaneous healing, peace of mind, safety, security and self-deliverance, if a situation arose when you needed them?” “If you had to walk through a mind-field, would you like guidance on how to get to the other side and be completely covered and protected from every hidden bomb?” “If you were in a battle of war, how beneficial would it be for you to know and see your opponent’s moves before they made them?” “How would you like it if you had direct access to God and your prayers were automatically answered ALL the time?” “How many of you want to grow very old, gracefully, with all your faculties and the movement of your limbs?” What does it look like for you to be completely satisfied in your life? What if you had that bliss all the time?”
If you had to answer those question, would the answers be “no-brainers” for you? Do they make you want to run to your prayer space and start talking to God immediately? If not, think about why you wouldn’t want to have the opportunity to get strategies for your next moves in life, get healing and deliverance, and, as the icing on the cake, hear the voice of God speaking back to you on a regular basis. To me, life doesn’t get any better than having all of those rewards, especially since I plan to live until 120 years old and see at least 4 generations of my family grow.
Today, as we give thanks for the Secret Place, the place where God lives, I pray that you decide to go so often, such that you are dwelling there, to experience the maturation and development of your person to its best self and reap the benefits of every reward that God has promised. Additionally, I invite you donate your financial resources to Quiet Place Ministries (https://www.quietplaceministries.org/donate) which provides a quiet retreat for individuals, couples, and families who serve in ministry free of charge.
Love Ya,
Have a Great Day of Thanks!
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