01/11/2021
We spoke yesterday about seeking out quiet places to pray, and this is important if we are to be alone with God, and hear His voice as it speaks to us, but there is one more ingredient that we touched on briefly... a secret place. If we are highly sought out, and can’t find solitude otherwise we need to find a secret, or unknown, place where we will not be disturbed as we pray, a place where we can listen to God, and He can speak openly with us. Jesus wandered into the wilderness in the early morning hours to places that others were not privy to, and met God there.
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,”
Mark 1:35-36 ESV
When Ann and I bought our first little house it was barely 900 square feet, and this didn’t provide much room to get away from one another (which we rarely wanted to do anyway), but it had a rundown garage that sat next to it with a dirt floor, no water or electricity, and missing windows. So I set about working on that garage. I ran water and electricity to it, put plexiglas over the open windows, poured a concrete floor with drains, and built workbenches. This became my escape and a place where I made wooden toys for my nephews, but it was also a place where I could be alone and pray while Ann worked and prayed in the house. I could slip away to this quiet place where she would have to search for me, and yet I could hear her calling to me. She had the house to herself in those hours, and I had my one tiny old garage/workplace for worship and solitary prayer.
“and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.””
Mark 1:37 ESV
Jesus didn’t hide in a place where no one could possibly find Him, no, His secret places were just secret, or unknown, enough, that they provided Him a time of solitude without disruption. Do you have such a place to retreat to? Perhaps your secret place is more of a secret time of the day, or a place in your home, yard, or on the roof, that can serve this purpose.
“The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.”
Acts 10:9 ESV
Going to the rooftop sounds strange to people who live in suburbs, or rural areas, but to people in the city it is one of the few private places still available to them. This is where Peter went, and it afforded him enough privacy that God was able to show him a vision...
“And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.””
Acts 10:10-14 ESV
In this secret place of solitude God could show Peter sights, and speak openly to him... and, in this place Peter could also answer back... with no one near to hear or interrupt them.
So as I described to you I turned a small rundown garage (that by all rights should have been demolished) into a place I met with God. With all the world available to me, and all of creation available to God, this old dilapidated structure became a Holy place... the place I met with God, just as the rooftop became a Holy place to Peter. These are places that we find in our lives that might seem unlikely, but are truly Holy ground where we expect to be commanded to remove our shoes as Moses was...
“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.””
Exodus 3:4-5 ESV
Today I have a quiet time in the wee hours of morning, and a chair in a solitary room of my house in which I sit facing God in prayer. For this period of time each morning this room, and chair, become Holy to me, and I sit without my shoes on... knowing full well the nature of the place in which I am praying, and that God is there with me... my refuge. I hear His voice, and answer.
“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge — no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.”
Psalm 91:9-10 ESV
So do you have a quiet time or place to pray? Do you have somewhere to go that is secret to you where you can meet alone in solitude with God? Do you remove your shoes when you go there because you know that God is with you in that place, and Jesus has made you worthy... thus making this place Holy?
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for allowing us to meet you in quiet places, and in solitude, to pray. Thank you for affirming your presence by allowing us to hear your voice, receive your will, see your visions, and know that you are in this place with us. Guide us to you by calling us to a place unknown to others where we are to remove our shoes on this your Holy ground. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who desires to converse with us, and love us as you children. Praised be your name for meeting us alone, and teaching us your will, and mysteries. You are merciful Father, and have sent your Son Jesus to redeem us, and to teach us how to seek you in quiet solitude, and pray to you in secret. Wash us clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, and call us worthy because He is worthy. Separate us by your grace from the sin that once divided us from you, and speak to us as your children who have been called home to dine at your table... give us eternal life, and quench our thirst with living water... now, and forevermore.
Rich Forbes