Introduction to the Secret Place

Knowing him whom you have purposed to represent

If we are truly going to be an image, a representative, of the Most High, we need to know whom we are called to represent in prayer.

Webster defines intimacy as: the state of being by inflection mated, or to be made known; familiarity; the quality or state of being familiar; a state of close relationship, an absence of ceremony with one with whom you know well; an informal act or expression; close acquaintance with something or someone, revealing something of a personal or private nature.

I am about to bring you into a place so sweet and treasured with me. A place so intimate that I hesitate at first to do so. I offer you an invitation to my secret chambers with my Father and the lover of my soul. I bring you here not to brag, because he warned us well against that (Matthew 6:5-14). Besides, it would be embarrassing for to me to do so. What I want to do is to show you what my Secret Place looks like so you can create a place of your own for the Father.

You see, you can never be effective as an intercessor until you know him; you can never know him until you have spent time with him; and to spend time with your Lover you need a Secret Place.

Secret Place is used in the Bible seven times...

Psalm 91:1-2 … 

1 He that dwelleth 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 will I trust.

We see two things in this passage. 1) There is a Secret Place. 2) If you dwell there, you will live in the shadow of the Almighty. Therefore you can say, “He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” Have you ever been able to say that of anyone you don't know well?

1.      Secret Place in Hebrew means-cether {say'-ther} or (fem.) cithrah (De 32:38), {sith-raw'} covering, shelter, hiding place, secrecy, hiding place, shelter, secret place.

2.      Shadow in Hebrew is pronounced tsel {tsale}-b) shadow, shade (as protection)

3.      Almighty-Shadday {shad-dah'-ee}-almighty, most powerful Shaddai, the Almighty (of God)

So, the verse could be translated as:

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no foe can withstand].

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust.

Jesus is in the Secret Place

Psalm 18:11 – He made [shiyth -to set and appointed, fixed, and set his mind to] darkness [choshek-darkness and obscurity] his secret place[cether {say'-ther} or (fem.) cithrah (De 32:38), {sith-raw'}-hiding place, shelter, secret place] his pavilion [cukkah-booth (rude or temporary shelter)] round about [cabiyb {saw-beeb'} or (fem.) cabiybah {seb-ee-baw'}-in the circuit, from every side] him [were] dark [cheshkah-darkness, obscure, low] waters [mayim-of danger, violence, transitory things, refreshment (fig.)] [and] thick clouds [`ab {awb} (masc. and fem.)-thicket (as refuge).

This verse bothered me until I studied it! God through prophecy is telling us that he set Jesus in the obscurity. The darkness in his secret place is a temporary shelter that is encircled on every side by danger and obscurity. Inside, there is refreshment and refuge. Praise The Lord!

In that Secret Place, we will find Jesus!

I first learned about the Secret Place from Corrie Ten Boom, about six months before she died. She talked about her own Secret Place, and then laid hands upon me, asking the Lord to set me aside for his work. At age 24, I met the Lord in my Secret Place and turned my life over to him. We've walked more than a decade together, and I can call him my Best Friend, my Confidante, my Prize and my Joy. I strain my ears daily to hear his voice. I desire his heart, his emotions, his compassion, his joy, his anger and his pain. I desire to be his friend. He is so good because, even though I fall short of his calling, he never ceases to share with me his heart and who he is.

Praise God that the Secret Place is so vast and deep that I can come again and again. And so can you. I've committed myself to press in, to refuse to be content with a life that doesn't know him whom I’ve been called to represent. Are you?