The Secret Place: Prayer & Silence
Our Vision: to elevate and empower sons and daughters to be the place where heaven touches earth.
Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the Secret Place will abide in the shadow of the almighty”
aka be the place where heaven touches earth.
We want to learn to dwell, so we can abide and can remain where He is
The Secret Place: a time and place set apart with the expectation of encountering God
Our goal for this sermon series:
To be seen by God
To connect with God
To enjoy Him
Our focus today will be Prayer and Silence:
I love prayer. That must be thanks to the lineage of mighty female intercessors in my family. I grew up attending all the prayer meetings: The long night vigil ones where you had to bring your own pillow and as a teen the lock-in prayer ones. As I got older, I knew the reason I loved going to them was because inevitably you would get wrecked. Eventually, Holy Spirit would just come like fire and you were gone, for hours on your face in prayer and tears.
You would get up-BRAND NEW. Your face swollen, looking like Rocky Balboa after a fight, but worth every minute.
I remember going to these prayer meetings and praying it would happen again because the reality was though I knew I could encounter Him through prayer, I never really knew how to get to the encounter.
I remember praying and twiddling my thumbs, eventually something would be spoken or sung that would grab my attention, I would start praying it and then wrecked, but I didn’t know what was the catalyst.
What would bring me to the place where I felt I was meeting with Him?
Honestly, I don’t think I would have a real solid answer unless I had begun to attend morning prayer at BCF.
Guys, morning prayer legit changed my prayer life. I remember attending and having that same thought “Maybe I’ll get wrecked”. After attending for days, then weeks, then months I started to realize something. I could guarantee encounters with God daily at morning prayer. Guys, I discovered the secret to encountering God through prayer.
What’s the secret? God loves when we make prayer about Him.
I began to realize that every time I came into this sanctuary with the mindset that He was going to receive what belonged to Him, I’d end up winning. Every time.
I began coming in here:
Shouting His names
Telling Him about His goodness
Telling Him about His faithfulness
Telling Him how worthy He is
Telling Him how holy He is
Declaring His word out loud
Each time, the end result was the same. I would encounter Him.
Prayer is most effective when it is made about Him.
Jesus taught this to His disciples, in fact it is the only thing the disciples asked Jesus to teach them.
Teach us how to pray. Luke 11:1
They could have asked to learn how to raise people from the dead, deliver people from demons or heal the sick, but no, they ask Him to teach them how to pray.
Why?
Jesus’ prayers were different. They were filled with authority. They were just fluffy repetition (Matt 6:7) They were effective.
This is our prayer for you too at BCF. That your prayers would be filled with authority and be effective!
That we would move from all sorts of religiosity and move towards prayers that align with the Kingdom of heaven. When we grasp this, we can become the place where heaven touches earth through prayer.
Effective prayer makes it all about Him
Luke 11:2-5/Matthew 6:9-13
To experience the most effective prayer our mindset must be:
Our Father in heaven, (starts pointing to Him)
Hallowed be Your name. (His name made Holy)
Your kingdom come. (His kingdom come)
Your will be done (His will done)
On earth as it is in heaven. (The way it is done in heaven)
Give us this day our daily bread. (What He knows we need)
And forgive us our debts, (What He does for us)
As we forgive our debtors. (The way He does for us)
And do not lead us into temptation, (Lead us in your ways)
But deliver us from the evil one. (Display your might)
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (IT ALL BELONGS TO YOU!)
Does this mean we can’t be real with God? Absolutely not! We just have to remember to confess all the way (see notes on confession).
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done Phil 4:6 NLT
This is wrapped in a Holy perspective.
Hannah’s request:
1 Samuel 1:9-18
Hannah’s prayer is filled with grief and pain. She poured her heart out to God. However, she didn’t stay there. She vowed, if you give me a son I will give him right back to you.
God can do so much more with what we surrender to Him
He honors a spirit surrendered to His will
Hannah’s prayer still echoed “Your will be done”. It screamed “You can have him and do whatever you want with him”.
2. Effective prayer trusts in the Authority of the Father to intervene
Pray = Palal:A word meaning to intervene, interpose, mediate, or intercede
(First seen in Genesis 20:3-7/The Abraham and Sarah fiasco)
When we pray we are seeking intervention, mediate, intercession...if we make it about ourselves we are practically asking ourselves to intervene.
When we make it about Him we are asking Him to do it: His way, in His time, as He sees fit.
We cannot pray in our own authority. It must be through His authority.
*authority defined: The power or right to give orders, make decisions. The person in control and with the power.
If we choose to pray in His authority, we are also choosing His way.
Your kingdom come. (His kingdom come)
Your will be done (His will done)
On earth as it is in heaven. (The way it is done in heaven)
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (IT ALL BELONGS TO YOU!)
We encounter God through prayer when our prayers shift from “me-focused” prayers to “God-focused” prayers!
This is a process of maturation.
How to improve your prayer life:
Pray with people who’s prayer life you admire
Begin with Confession of truth/End with Confession of truth
Begin to incorporate times of silence
Silence
Silence teaches us how to be a friend to Christ.
You know you are really great friends with someone when you can be silent with them. When their company is just enough. When nothing has to be said and silence doesn’t need to be broken. Silence doesn’t feel awkward, instead it feels warm and safe and inviting.
The friends of God enjoy silence with Jesus.
These are the people who are totally content just sitting in his presence, he doesn’t have to say anything. These are the people who God calls watchmen, and invites to just sit with Him at 3am. These are the intimates like Peter, John and James who were invited to pray and watch with Him. (Matthew 26:36-38)
It is being quiet enough to hear his invitation, to hear his calling, to feel his nudges and responding to Him. Then being still enough to hear and enjoy His whispers or company.
Silence teaches you how to be a friend of Christ.
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Samuel was sleeping in the Holy Place
Near the ark (holy of holies)
We get to abide in the Holy Place if we desire thanks to His sacrifice
He was resting there, in silence
Samuel was content with being as close to the presence of God as possible
There were no strings attached, just a desire to be as close to His presence as possible
This is what it looks like to be a friend of God
He receives an invitation, as God calls His name
His response is “Speak your servant is listening”.
Samuel stayed in the place til morning.
It wasn’t a easy word
It was a hard word
But He trusts His intimates
Those who abide in the Holy Place
He trust His friends
Those who can rest in His presence, with no expectations
His presence is enough
What was the result of Samuel being silent enough to listen? (1 Sam 3:19-21)
The Lord was with Him
He was proven reliable in everything
All of Israel knew that Samuel was confirmed prophet of the Lord
A good friend shares their heart, speaks all the truth, with no expectations of you...
And THE best of friends make time for you to respond, for you to share your thoughts, for you to share what is on your mind, for you to share what is on your heart.
Silence gives us the opportunity to be the best of friends to Christ.
When we exercise the discipline of silence we befriend Jesus. We make it known to Him that it is His heart we want to hear, it is his perspective we want. And even if He says nothing, the comfort of His presence is more than enough.
Can we choose today to embrace prayer and silence and declare:
“Speak Lord, your servant is listening”?
