The secret place
I can almost hear you think: “If this is a study about the secret place, it will not be very secret anymore after reading this.” Well, in a way you are right about that. But Jesus was also telling about that secret place and He specifically mentioned that that is where the Father is. Since it was and is His aim to reveal the Father to us, we need to know what and where that secret place is. That is our only way to survive as a Christian in these present days. For many Christians, this secret place is a total mystery. That is not a strange thing since most of the Churches do not teach about this subject at all.
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:6
… your Father who is in the secret place…
Matthew 6:18
The problem with translations is that most of the translators did translate the Bible according to their own insights, therefore we often miss some very important details. I’ll try to explain to you what these verses are actually saying. In fact the original Greek translation is not talking about a place at all. When the Father is being described, He is literally mentioned as “The One in the hidden”. That is not a specific place in the first place, however, in verse 6 we do see a more specific description, which is a very important part of the point I’m trying to explain here. That verse starts with: “But you, when you pray, go into your room”. When I read something like that, I immediately assume that I have to go into my prayer room, a physical room in the house, where I have to pray to find the Father. If you can read it in a different way, you’re welcome to share it with me, but I can’t. That was until I saw what the original Greek language was saying. There the term “your room” isn’t mentioned at all. What it says is that we have to go to the “tamieion”, which means “storeroom”. Is Matthew speaking about a physical room here? No, he is not talking about a physical room at all. He is talking about a place in the spiritual world.
Our current translations are suggesting that we have to go to a physical room in the house, lock ourselves in and then pray to the Father Who is in the secret place. So that would mean that you are talking to Someone Who is in a different place, which is called the secret place, while you are in your room. I believe it should say something else. Instead of you praying from your room to a secret place, where the Father is, it should say something else. It was never the aim of the Father that we speak from our place to His. He invites us to come over to His place, to His storeroom. Here’s my free translation of what I believe it should say:
And you, whenever you are going to pray, go and enter into the storeroom (a spiritual place that God prepared for you) and lock your door (as ‘let nothing distract you’). Pray to the Father, Who is your Father as well, the One Who is in the hidden. And your Father, Who is the One looking in the hidden, shall openly (publicly) give/pay you from the storeroom.
The reason why I translate this with give and/or pay, is because the Greek word ‘apodOsei’ is used here. That word means ‘shall give from’ or ‘shall pay from’, which is exactly the intention of Father God, to bless His people.
How to enter the storeroom
As soon as we start to talk about a ‘spiritual place’ instead of a physical place, then many people don’t know how to deal with that. We know how to deal with natural things and how to go to natural place, because we live and see in the natural. But when it comes to a spiritual place, then we have to look and go in the Spirit. Now that is something that many people do not understand, nor that they know how to do that. Yet the Bible does give us clarity about how to do this. In Psalm 100:2, David is saying that we have to come before Gods presence. In this case he isn’t talking about the presence of God on earth, but about the presence of God in heaven. As we all know, heaven is a spiritual place, not a natural one. In fact David tells us to go to a spiritual place as well. But David also gave us the three keys that we need to enter that spiritual place, which can also be found in Psalm 100.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
In the Hebrew language, the part ‘Be thankful to Him’ isn’t mentioned. That part was added by the translators. The fact that we have to be thankful is very true, but is also mentioned at beginning of that same verse. The reason I’m telling you this is to avoid confusion. So the keys that David gave us are:
1. Thanksgiving (Enter into His gates with thanksgiving)
2. Praise (And into His courts with praise)
3. Worship (and bless His name)
Those are the keys to enter the storeroom that Jesus was talking about and to enter before God’s presence. Wait a minute. Jesus came to restore the personal relationship between men and the Father. Then how is it possible that David was able to have that relationship even before Jesus came? That is a very interesting question. It was and is always God’s aim to have a personal relationship with men. It was His aim from the start, when He created Adam and Eve. After the first sin on earth, that kind of relationship was destroyed. Yet David was able to have such a relationship before Jesus came.
Kings, priests and prophets
After Adam and Eve, there were only three categories of people who were able to have an intimate relationship with God. Kings, priests and prophets. As you might know, David had the calling upon his life to become the king of Israel, which he became. That’s why he was able to have that relationship with God. When you are a king, you are always a king for someone else. A king is reigning his nation and his nationals, to bring and maintain justice. When you are a priest, you are always a priest for someone else. A priest is helping others to restore the relationship with God and helping them to receive salvation. When you are a prophet, you are always a prophet for someone else. A prophet is receiving words of God and shares these words with the consignee. When you are in one of those categories, it is never about you. It’s always about someone else, about reaching out, about helping others.
God knew that we needed some sort of salvation plan in order to restore the relationship between men and God. In order to reach the world, He needed a lot of kings, priests and prophets. That’s why His original plan was to start a new nation. A holy nation. A nation of kings, priests and prophets. He wanted Israel to be that nation. When Israel was at the mount Sinai, where they received what we now know as the ‘laws of Moses’, God said some remarkable thing. Just before He gave the law, He said the following.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Exodus 19:5,6
A kingdom of priests? If it was God’s original plan to make the nation of Israel a kingdom of priests, for who would they be priests then? As told before, you are always a priest for someone else. God’s original plan was to make Israel a holy nation of priests for the rest of the world. He wanted to use Israel to reach a world in need of God. That means that in His original plan, all the twelve tribes would become priests. Unfortunately it went different, because of the sins of Israel back then. Just one tribe became a tribe of priests and they needed all their attention for the other eleven tribes. Israel was no longer able to reach out to the rest of the world. Then it was the turn of Jesus. When He came, He continued to salvation plan by revealing the Father to us, by His suffering, by giving His life and by His resurrection. He overcame everything and begat total victory. By doing this, the salvation plan could be continued! God still is searching for people who are willing to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God and who are willing to become a part of the chosen generation, the royal priesthood. The generation that is no longer living for their selves, but who are priests to the nations to represent the living God, the God Who answers by fire.
…you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:9
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:5,6
...and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10
Before we enter the storeroom, we have to realize who and what we are. A son or daughter of God is WHO you are. A part of the royal priesthood is WHAT you are. That is the exact same image of Jesus Christ. The Son of God is WHO He is and our royal high priest is WHAT He is. He was able to communicate with the Father while He was on earth. He was able to enter before His presence while He was on earth. He was able to enter the storeroom, in the spiritual world, and to receive everything He needed, while He was on earth. All the things that He did are available for you as well. You can go to the spiritual place that is called the storeroom. You can enter before His presence. It’s all available.
The keys to the storeroom
Let’s look a little deeper into the three keys that David gave us. Thanksgiving, praise and worship. First let me start to say that it is impossible to come before Him without thanksgiving. When you don’t have a thankful heart, it is impossible to enter the storeroom. So that is the first thing that we need to work on. We have so much to thank Him for. Think about all that Jesus did for you. Think about all the times that He was faithful to you, even when you were not. David also gave an example what you can thank Him for.
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
Psalm 100:5
Take the time to think back to all the times that God was helping you. Think back to the moment of your salvation. Think back to the moments when He provided. Thank Him for all these things. Thank Him that He is good. Thank Him that His mercy is everlasting and that His truth endures to all generations. Thank Him that His thoughts for you are thoughts of peace and a hopeful future. You see, there is more then enough to thank Him for. When you start doing this, the Bible says that you are entering His gates (in the Spirit).
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Praise is the act of using words to celebrate good things, sometimes even before these things happen. It is declaring the truth of the Lord, while we do not let ourselves be distracted by our natural circumstances. In fact it is speaking in faith what the Lord has promised you. In that way you give Him your trust and honor. It is an attitude of dependence. For example, God promised us that His thoughts over us are thoughts of peace and of a hopeful future. When God does a promise, satan will immediately try to create the opposite in your life so that you start to doubt God’s promise. In this example satan will try to create circumstances where your future seems hopeless and where it seems that God has left you on your own. When (not IF) that happens, you have two options:
1. You choose to believe and proclaim the promise of God
2. You choose to believe the circumstances that satan created.
What you believe and proclaim will determine what your future will be. It is not always easy to look beyond your circumstances, but we need to learn to hold on to what God promised us and to look in the Spirit. It starts with a decision of your will, followed by your proclamation. That proclamation becomes like praises. With praises you celebrate and proclaim everything God did and everything He promised He would do. When you do this, the Bible says that you are entering His courts (in the Spirit).
This process is something we see in a lot of Churches, and as you see, it is completely Biblical. They go all the way through the gates with thanksgiving and through His courts with praises. Sadly enough this is the point where the majority of the Churches stop. They sing songs of thanksgiving and loud praises, but having that done, they stop and continue with the sermon. It’s like traveling from one place to another, and then returning immediately after arrival. Why would you go all the way, thought the gates and through the courts, to arrive at His throne, at His storeroom, and to return immediately after you arrived there? What should we do then and what happens at His throne, in the storeroom?
What happens in the storeroom
When you arrived at the throne of God (in the Spirit), there is only one appropriate response: worship. You don’t worship God for your own benefits. When we worship God, we come to offer ourselves to Him. We offer everything we are and everything we will ever be to Him. Jesus Christ purchased our lives and paid the highest price for it. So everything you are, everything you do and everything you own is His. He paid for it. That is what you offer in worship. Yourself. In worship we bless our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We give Him the honor that He deserves. The most beautiful example of what worship is can be found in the book of Revelation 5:8-14.
Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 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, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
There is no better example of worship then what’s described in this part of the Bible. When we start to worship Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s the moment where we offer ourselves to Him and where we give Him everything we have. By doing that that leaves us empty handed. When we give all glory and honor and blessing to Jesus Christ, the anointing starts to flow and brings us to the final destination. As we all know Jesus Christ is the way, the way to the Father. When we worship Jesus, He will lead us to the Father, the One in the hidden. When that happens, we are in the storeroom: in the arms of our Father. That’s the place and moment where ‘things’ start to happen. Our loving Father never lets us leave empty handed. That’s why He is called Yahweh Jireh, the Provider.
Being in His presence
Now let me try to help you understand this better. When you separate yourself from the world and go to be alone with God, then you can use these keys to enter not only before His presence, but also in His presence. Most of the time you will just be in your room (or wherever you are at that moment), worshiping our God. But when you start to do that, the further you come, the more you start to experience His rest, His peace, His presence in the place where you are at that moment. When you finished worshiping Him, is when you offered everything you have to offer. At that moment, the moment that you are in the arms of the Father (the Provider, in the storeroom), that’s when you can start to tell Him everything you want to tell Him and to ask Him whatever you need. When you told Him everything, then be still and wait upon the Lord. This can be the hardest part for some people, especially since many people cannot stand silence. It is in that silence that He will speak to you. Just be still and wait.
While you are in the silence, in His presence, all sorts of things can happen. Some receive visions during that time, others receive thoughts, others actually hear a voice speak, others receive ideas etc. Every person is different and the beautiful thing is that the Father treats all of us differently, all very personal and in a way that we are able to understand it. I heard testimonies of people who received complete business plans while just sitting in His presence. I also heard of people receiving healing of the soul, while being in His presence. Another thing that almost always happens is that the Holy Spirit starts to reveal the truth of God during that time in the silence, most of the time using parts of the Scripture. Parts that we’ve known for many years and then suddenly… we start to see what God wanted to say to us through these verses. Whatever it is that happens during your time in His presence, let Him be the One to decide what you need at that moment. This study is only to help you on your way, but you have to understand that God sometimes can work differently, do things different then what you expected etc. So don’t see this as “the formula”, but become sensitive to what He wants to do in your life and to how He wants to do it. That is the way to have a personal relationship with God.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.
Deuteronomy 29:29
The keys of thanksgiving, praise and worship are very important in our personal time with God, but it’s just a moment on the day. What about the time that you’re not able to be still and do nothing but wait upon the Lord? What about the times you have to work or do others things that need to be done in life? Is it possible to be in Gods presence wherever you are?
Being in His presence is the best time of the day. Every time when you’ve been in His presence, you change a little (or sometimes a lot). Nothing we have on earth has any value in eternity, except our character. Our character is where our motivation comes from. It is our character that will change when we spent time in His presence. The more time we spent with God, the more we become like Him, in line with His character. That means that we learn to be thankful under all circumstances, that we learn to only speak in faith (and bringing God praises in that way) and that everything we do in life we do for the glory of God (which is worship). The more our character becomes in line with His character, the more it will influence our words and deeds, the more His presence will be all around us wherever we go. That “secret place” a.k.a. “the storeroom” is a place we can be at wherever we are, depending on our attitude and our will to change.
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27
