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THE SECRET PLACE CULTIVATE FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD
Psalms 27:4 NKJV
(4) One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I 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 inquire in His temple. Three things happen as we pray. First, we become friends with Almighty God.
I’m talking about real friendship; not some imaginary exercise of reciting religious phrases toward some divine place in the sky. No. David said we would behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in His temple. This is not some abstract thought about a make-believe world, nor merely a poetic license for things that are not literally real. I’m talking about actually talking with God….and having Him talk back with you.
Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV
(3) ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
The New Living Bible says, “Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”
Jesus invited us to pray to “Our Father, who is in heaven.” This is a bond greater than any other relational connection we know. He has even placed His Spirit deep within our heart, whereby we call out, “Abba, Father.”
From infancy to our elder years, God’s Fatherhood is the undergirding and over-riding truth of our lives. And it is the single, most compelling factor in how we are to pray –
Matthew 7:7-11 TLB
(7) “Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.
(8) For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open.
(9) If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead?
(10) If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not!
(11) And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?
The purpose of prayer and us cultivating the Secret Place with God is to strengthen, deepen, broaden, and lengthen our fellowship with God, our Father.
Have to talked to God as your Father lately? There is a clear demand for us to walk in Obedience
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THE SECRET PLACE ENABLES AND EMPOWERS US IN WORKING TOGETHER WITH GOD IN THIS WORLD
Luke 11:2 NKJV
(2) So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Three things happen as we pray. First, is that we have fellowship with God. The second thing that happens is that we cooperate in bringing God’s Kingdom to Earth.
What exactly does this mean? Simply stated, it means doing our part to see God’s will plan and purpose happen in our sphere of influence.
Practically speaking, it means you should never pray a prayer that is not already God’s will. This is what the Bible is talking about when it says:
James 4:3 NKJV
(3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
In other words, our prayers are not answered when we pray for selfish reasons, wanting to indulge our own desires.
“THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Whenever we pray what God has already decided to do, our prayers cannot miss!
1 John 5:14-15 NKJV
(14) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
(15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
But this not only means we are never to pray a prayer that is not already God’s will; it also means that you should never pray a prayer that you are not willing to be the answer to. In other words, don’t ask God to bless the poor if you are not ready to do your part in becoming the means whereby He does it.
This attitude demands a life of Brokenness. 
Don’t pray for change in the courts, in the schools, in the marketplace, or in the church — if you’re going to sit passively by the side to see if any change comes. Otherwise you are praying empty prayers — mere religious words that have no meaning….and no power.
You must pray your passion — for it is in such prayers that God’s answers come; and they come through you. He gives you wisdom, opportunity, patience, resource and power from on high to actually effect the answers for which you cry out to heaven.
“Thy Kingdom come,” we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Pray as though it depended totally upon God; work as though it depends totally upon you.
What are you prepared to do today to become the answer to the prayers you have been praying?
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THE SECRET PLACE ENABLES AND EMPOWERS US IN OUR DESTINATION FOR THE THRONE
Revelation 3:21 NKJV
(21) To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Three things happen as we pray. First, we become friends with God. Second, we work together with God bringing His will to Earth. And, third, we are being prepared for Eternity. In other words — we are destined for the Throne!
One thing is certain about Heaven — we will not sit around on fluffy clouds strumming harps and eating yogurt, preening our wings and polishing our halos. No; nothing like that at all. Instead, we will reign with Christ, for that’s what the Bible tells us.
Revelation 3:21 NKJV
(21) To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
John gave us a glimpse into this exalted place, and we hear a mighty host of ransomed men and women from all nations singing:
Revelation 5:9-10 NKJV
(9) And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
(10) And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
And the standing promise of the Ages, which fills our hearts with unshakable faith — the kind that overcomes the world — says it in perfect clarity:
Revelation 22:4-5 NKJV
(4) They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
(5) There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Our struggles here on earth, which intensify our resolve in prayer and pursuit of the Secret Place, become the very means whereby God is readying us for that place where we shall reign with Jesus. One old preacher called prayer, “reigning training.” It is the process whereby God
deepens our faith, broadens our vision, sharpens our discernment, awakens our passion, and unleashes His power.
The purpose of prayer and living from the Secret Place is to train you to reign with Jesus. So when you bow your head to pray, remember — every king kneels in order to be crowned. You, are destined for the Throne!
GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU