Secret Prayer

by Jarvie, G. | Category: General | Dec 1955

"Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee" (Matthew 6.6).

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91.1).

Secret prayer is vital to the spiritual life and growth of the Christian. Without secret prayer his life and service will be superficial, and lacking in power. All unreality and insincerity disappear in the secret place, as the believer bows himself alone before his God. Secret prayer begets honesty and purpose of heart.

The Master has left us an example in the matter of secret prayer. Of Him it is written-" He went out into the mountain to pray; and He continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6.12). On the morrow He chose the twelve apostles. We read again, "In the morning, a great while before day, He rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed" (Mark 1.35). He must go out to the other cities and villages, but before He went, He must needs spend time alone in prayer.

We may attempt to serve the Lord without such seasons of prayer, but if we do so, it will be fruitless service, without power or virtue. The failure to spend time in secret prayer is one of the chief causes of powerlessness in the Lord's service. Nothing can take the place of this. Long ago Isaiah wrote, "The young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40.30, 81). We are doomed to failure if we serve without divine strength, and this can only come through secret prayer. If we take time to wait upon God, we shall feel the power of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, and we shall see the effect of His power in others.

The secret place is a place of communion. "I bow my knees unto the Father," wrote Paul (Ephesians 3.14). What intimacy, what fellowship are in these words! What lofty teaching came from the pen of Paul in the Roman prison, as he wrote by the Spirit of God! There was much secret prayer in his life.

But the secret place is a place of searching of heart, for, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Psalm 66.18). We cannot cover any wrong in our lives if we would spend time alone with God. Secret prayer is not only a time of speaking to God, but a time when God will deal with us. Jacob waited at the ford of Jabbok to plead his cause with God. The fear of Esau drove him to the secret place (Genesis 32.24-82; Hosea 12.8-4). In the secret place we shall learn much about the old nature in us. In the secret place, if we strive in prayer, God will also deal with us, and transform us as He transformed Jacob. He was a different Jacob who met Esau! He was a Jacob who had seen the face of God. That lonely spot at the ford of Jabbok became Peniel (the face of God); and Jacob became Israel (prince with God). No secret place-no power: We may have planning and organizing and these are good and right, but without secret prayer we shall fail.

Secret prayer is costly. It takes time, and by nature we all love to be busy, or to think we are. It costs more than time, it costs searching of heart and humbling ; it may cost tears. It means openness and honesty of heart in all that we say, for the LORD knows all hearts (2 Chronicles 6.80). But from such times of being alone with God we shall come renewed and strengthened, our way made plain before us. Happy are they who have learned the value, and formed the habit of the secret place. Purpose and power will mark our lives if we give attention to secret prayer.

Jarvie, G. | Dec 1955
General