THE SECRET/SACRED PLACE, PART 6

But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. Matthew 6:6 (Amp)

This instruction from Jesus is specific, to wit:

1. Make yourself available(WHEN you pray).

2. Go into a place away by yourself.

3. Shut off the things of this world.

4. Pray.

These are all active verbs and not ancient history like the Exodus! This is going into the physical realm of the most "Secret Place". Abba Father in Heaven, sees all and knows all and Jesus said that the Father will bless and reward us in obvious ways.

The Pharisees and many in today's "religious" templates LOVE to go make a public spectacle of themselves by being seen to be, well, religious or blatant in their "intercession". The Pharisees were in a class by themselves. They stood on street corners and kneeled down to make their prayer offering. That self-gratification in itself, was its own reward!

For us, who are called to be away from the world - physically and metaphorically - our reward will be transparent and apparent to all! We are rewarded with a life of true peace, joy and contentment. This is the "open" reward Jesus talks about. Many times, God blesses us in the material realm with the good things of the temporal.

The key in the so-called "prayer closet" is not to go in expecting anything except to fellowship with Christ and the Father and Him alone.

Next time: PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT

(by Bernie Lutchman)

FREQUENT GUEST BLOGGER: MAKE YOUR DEFENSES STRONG, BY NIKKI HAHN

(Nikki writes for the Nikki Hahn Journal)

I did not question your faith or whether you believe when I challenged you on Thursday. What I did was to challenge you to think about your real motivations. The Bible is not a coffee table book. It is not something to show how ‘good’ you are as a Christian. It does not matter the size of the Bible. Are you reading your Bible?

Every morning I have a schedule. I get up, have coffee with my husband, and work out for 30 minutes to an hour. In this schedule I try to remember God. I try to sit down with my Bible, pick out a Psalm or favorite chapter to read, and follow it up by praying. I try to remember those in need of prayer naming them and their concern. I also try to copy our Pastor’s way of praying, thanking God first, confessing my sins, and praying for the people on my Oikos list. He has really made me think about how I pray every day.

This morning on Christian radio, a speaker spoke about addictions. He is addicted to frappacino’s (the kind you buy in the store). He is so addicted he will run to another store if the first store doesn’t have any left. His point being that he is so passionate about Starbucks, he wonders why it is so hard to be passionate about God. Anything you put first before God is an idol. All ready you can see we have broken another commandment. Angry thoughts are also the same as murder. I’m glad Jesus went willingly to the cross for me. Without Him, I would have been judged by the Ten Commandments. The Bible is consistent. The Old and New Testament are not contradicting each other. Jesus spoke about our behavior in Romans 13:8-10, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,”^[a] and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Dr. Ron Carlson says, “If you do not believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, if you do not believe that the Bible is of a supernatural origin, than I challenge you to a test.”

I said to the student, “I challenge you to go to any library in the world; you can choose any library you like, and find 66 books which match the characteristics of the 66 books in the Bible. You must choose 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, written on 3 different continents. However, they must share a common storyline, a common theme, and a common message, with no historical errors or contradictions.” I went on to say, “If you can produce such a collection of books, I will admit that the Bible is not the inspired word of God.” The student’s reply was almost instantaneous, he emphatically stated, “But that’s impossible!””

I am a believer that Christ died on the cross for my sins and yours, but my life will not exude safety and joy because of it. Bad things happen to good people. I live in a fallen world full of sin and evil. I walk this path home enduring temptations and sometimes, falling into temptation. Christ enables me to walk this path enjoying life in spite of the hard times, finding joy in His work, and knowing I will receive the consequences of a bad and good decision in this lifetime.

I am His child and I welcome His discipline. I know He loves me and I know my Father will only do what is best for me. If you do not know the Bible, but claim you love Christ, read the Bible. A Christian unarmed in the world is susceptible to fall to the ploys and temptations the world offers—riches, a great life, fame, cults and your every want. There is only one way as described in John 3:16 to get to Heaven, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” But that is not the end of the story. Read your Bible.

NIKKI IS OUR FAVORITE GUEST BLOGGER. HER WEBSITE IS www.thehahnhuntinglodge.com

COMING IN 2010 FROM THE MAKERS OF "FIREPROOF"... FOR MEN OF GOD!

God has called men to be leaders in the home and community since Creation. Men have abdicated their responsibility. As a leader in Men's Ministry and the Prayer Movement, I feel a burden to get this message out, as time for Judgment grows closer.
The makers of the awesome movies: Flywheel, Facing the Giants and Fireproof - Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, have done it again! Here is senior pastor Michael Catt introducing the most famous youth pastors in the world - the Kendrick Brothers!
The new movie is called COURAGEOUS!

TWO MINUTE WARNING BOOK REVIEWS

Happy Monday and another great day that the LORD has made! We will certainly all rejoice and be glad in it! AMEN!

The Lord has taken up my cause just when I thought my first book had run its course, which began in July 2007. For the first time in almost three years, the two major Christian bookstore chains in America - Family Christian Stores and LIFEWAY Stores.com of the Southern Baptist Convention have picked up the books on their well - travelled websites. We are praying for many to see the value of this complete manual to strengthening the Walk of the maturing Christian. I am also still stunningly blessed that a columnist Debra Sartelle from Tulsa, Ok. would write a column on Baby Boomer Christians and then recommend TWO MINUTE WARNING as a resource for our maturing boomers(notice I, a boomer myself @ 53 yrs old did not say aging!!)

Click on the links below, to read some of the reviews from folks who have both read the book and taken the time to write a review on it. I thank them immensely for this.

FAMILY CHRISTIAN STORES.COM BOOK REVIEW

LIFEWAY STORES.COM (SBC) BOOK REVIEW

CONFIRMATION/AFFIRMATION/REVELATION!

"BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, to be envied) is he who has forgiveness of his transgression continually exercised upon him, whose sin is covered. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit."....Psalm 32: 1-2 (AMP)

THE SECRET PLACE

PART 5...'Revelation'

Now that January 2010 has literally flew into a new month, I can look back in amazement at what transpired over the past 31 plus days. As a part of the national intercessory prayer movement, the Lord called me to a Nightwatch daily, from midnight to 6am EDT which required total commitment, focus and energy...alongside everything else.

Am not called, by Him, to reveal the Heart of God or the Fruit therein, of such a powerful "prayer-a-digm" as Watchmen on the Wall, but believe it to be true, that strategic shifts are being effected in the Heavenlies.

Why? Because we are called to so do, for such a time as this. How? Being cleansed daily by the renewing of your mind, body and soul. When? When He calls. What? Repentance is the high octane fuel that fires the engine. Who? Christ...and Christ Alone.

So what does any of this have to do with the "Secret Place", Well, while intercessors can open portals through prayer, we can only be effective if what is done, seen, observed in the Secret Place, can be mirrored outside of it. Also, trust me on this, things are going on in the Spiritual realm that 98% of American Christians and their leaders have no clue of and therefore, most pewsitters live outside the Will of God.

One major revelation came during Worship Time at the recent B.M.I.C. retreat on Friday night, where we all went off to focus our minds and hearts on God. Coming off battle after battle and many victories in spiritual warfare for months on end, the LORD revealed to me headon - the entire reason I should rest and it happened in a Secret Place at the retreat center.

Read those two verses above from Psalm 32. They hit me like a cool wind on a hot summer day. They jumped out at the page so forcefully, I had to sit to down, stand up, walk around, and run over to Dr. Earl Powell and metaphorically 'shout it from the mountaintop': "LOOK AT THIS!!!!" LOOK AT THIS!!!"

With all the deep theology, church history story, praying the Scriptures, bible study etc etc...my God and my King had one comforting, substantive, real, plain as day message for me - Verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 32!!! Hallelujah! The rest of the psalm fleshes it out, but this Revelation was more than just Confirmation, it was/is a Promise to you, me and everyone out there of what awaits the man or woman of God, in the Secret Place.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
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