Why Do We Struggle?
The promises of the Bible are powerful and true, so why do we struggle to receive from God? The Bible itself provides the answer. Jesus told us clearly that organized religion has no power and that it cannot, by itself, provide anything from God. True power requires that we pray and act from the secret place of our inner faith. If we make that small change then God will reward us openly.
We read the story in Matthew, chapter 13. The disciples of Jesus asked why he speaks to His the general public in mysteries and puzzles. Jesus answered simply that it’s not for them to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, then He quoted Isaiah chapter 6 where God told the prophet: seeing, they shall not see and hearing, they shall not hear.
It’s critical to understand that the secret things of God are available to those who want a spiritual connection with Him, but they are not available to those who simply want to exercise religion. There is a secret place where God can be found and it’s open to any and all people who have a clear intention. During the sermon on the mount, Jesus explained “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8. You get it if you want it. This was at the heart of Jesus entire message.
Religion is the Problem
The religious people of Jesus’ day believed that they were favored by God as a race of people, not for their spirituality. Although their hearts were far from God, they followed all of the rules of the religion in order to cleanse their sins. It’s an attitude common to the human experience: ignore God all week long and get forgiveness on Sunday. We must seek God as our close ally and friend if we expect to receive from Him. Jesus explained that the pure in heart will see God, others simply will not. Isaiah 6 says, “seeing, they do not see.”
God will openly reward those who come to the secret place. So, what is the secret place? How do we enter into this powerful place of prayer? Where can God be found? In Genesis, Chapter 28, we read the epic tale of “Jacob’s Ladder.”
Jacob’s Ladder and The Secret Place
Jacob was in great distress as he laid his head upon a stone to sleep. He was in solitude in the wilderness, expecting to meet his brother Esau the next day, in what he expected to be a bloody battle. As Jacob slept, he had a vision of the angels ascending and descending a ladder that reached the heavens. He received a promise from God of great blessing. When Jacob awoke, he said “surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” The next day, Jacob was astonished to find that his brother Esau was not angry but proud of his success and the two were reconciled.
It’s a powerful statement: “surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.” The secret place is in the heart of every person; we find it when we meditate and when we sleep. We sleep every night, so why was this different than any other night? Why did Jacob’s ladder appear in this particular place? Jacob was in distress, so he laid his head on the stone and slept. The stone represents Christ and Christ represents the presence of God in man. When Jacob laid his head upon the stone, he rested his mind on the power of God in man. It is written in Isaiah 65: “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” There’s a deeper meaning that is too complex to explain in detail. Jacob was not the first born, he was not the chosen one but the last shall be first and the first shall be last. God passes over the pious, religious people who will not visit the secret place to elevate the downcast of society who weep for the hand of God to help them in their infirmities. Jesus repeats this in His sermon on the mount saying “blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” When we give ourselves to God in the secret place, He shall answer before we ask because it was He who called us there.
Find the Secret Place
Organized religion is an earthly invention; we’ve already discussed the fact that Jesus promised that it will bare no fruit. True religion is in the heart, or the secret place. In the secret place, we commune with God and our petitions are heard. When we pray to God in secret, he shall reward us openly. If you believe this, then you have “the faith.”
In Mark chapter 5 and Luke chapter 8, Jesus was sought by a prominent religious man to come heal his daughter. As they spoke, a servant came to say that it was too late, the girl had died. Jesus boldly said “Be not afraid, only believe.” When Jesus arrived at the home where the girl lay dead, he put out all of the mourners and presumably closed the door. He took her by the hand and she rose to life. Afterward, he admonished them all to “tell no one.”
The key element in this verse, for our discussion, is that Jesus put out all of the people and closed the door against them. This is the same symbolism that he shared in His instruction on prayer. Go into the prayer closet (and close the door.)
These Bible stories reveal the secret place. A person who sees but cannot see, and hears but cannot hear, will only recognize these stories as fun accounts of the life and times of Jesus. Even if a person is able to perceive that there’s some sort of metaphoric, instructive value in them, that’s a long way from finding the secret place.
Close the Door of Your Senses
The symbol of the closed door, when the mourners and mockers are cast out, is a symbol for the mystical practice of meditation. A person who has fostered a deep and powerful inner focus can cast out all of the unbelief that comes from life in this harsh and discouraging world. Believing in the truth of the power of the “stone,” or Christ in man, requires that we believe and doubt not in hour hearts, even when the realities of life seem overwhelming.
There was just such a time when Jesus’ disciples were overwhelmed and suffered a public humiliation; all because they neglected the secret place. The story is found in Mark chapter 9 that details what is probably the most insightful story to help all of us who have struggled to manifest by faith.
The Disciples Strayed From Jesus
This story develops in Mark chapter 9 and Matthew chapter 17 when Jesus was away from His disciples. A gaggle of religious leaders descended upon the disciples, bringing a man and his ailing son to them for healing. A crowd formed as they demanded the disciples to heal the boy as everyone watched. Jesus returned as the spectacle unfolded.
The man’s son was vexed with a devil, foaming from the mouth and crying out in pain, sometimes falling into seizures. With hostile detractors encircling them, the man complained about the failure of Christ’s disciples to help his boy. The boy’s father turned to Jesus in desperation. Jesus, in great impatience replied “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The man cried out with tears “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” With that response, Jesus healed the boy, to the astonishment of all who watched.
Later, the disciples asked Jesus in secret, what they had done wrong. Jesus plainly answered that this was a particularly difficult case and could only be resolved with prayer. In this simple answer, we find a powerful and life-changing truth. The disciples could not heal the troubled boy because they had neglected the secret place, true prayer.
The Bible explicitly reveals that the boy was vexed with a devil. The Bible definition of “devil” or “satan” is a person or entity that serves to tempt or obstruct. The disciples came upon a demonic stronghold and they were unprepared to drive it out because they had not spent time in the secret place. Jesus often contrasted great faith, small faith and unbelief. The secret place builds us up to great faith. If the disciples had spent more time in the secret place, they would have been rewarded openly as they healed the boy from his infirmities to the gasp and acclaim of the on-looking crowd.
Learning to Do What Jesus Did
Recall that Jesus taught us that when we pray to the Father in secret, we shall be rewarded openly. To be rewarded openly means that we are vindicated in the plain light of day. In this example, the disciples should have spent some overnight meditation time to enter the secret place to create and reinforce their healing powers. When they were confronted with a “devil” in the plain light of day, they would have had confidence in their healing gift and would have banked enough favor or “reward” with God to cast out that doubt and temptation.
So, what did the disciples do wrong? They did not spend enough time in the secret place. Don’t overlook the importance of this simple fact. They were trusting Jesus to do the miracles instead of taking ownership of their own inner power and relationship with God. Listen. Trusting your religious leaders to interface with God qualifies as religious activity, not spiritual activity. In this regard, the disciples were in no way better than the religious leaders who cornered them with the man and his son. They were tested and failed because their faith was not strong; they had not banked their reward because they had not spent time in the secret place.
The secret place is a Biblical metaphor that helps us understand how to contact the inner power of God in man. Religion offers the temptation of physical activity in place of the deep meditative attention needed to seek God effectively but, if learned properly, the secret place holds the promise of great manifestation according to the words of Christ “When you pray to the Father in secret, He will reward you openly.”
So, stop looking for systems to compel your wishes into reality and begin today learning how to enter the secret place. From there, you will learn to be a trusted Son of God, operating in the power that is yours; transforming deserts into gardens and raising dead dreams to life. “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28