Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Crema Chaj podcast.
[00:00:11] That sounds way too old.
[00:00:13] Okay, grab a seat, Grab a seat.
[00:00:17] You know, when Juliet became a Christian at our church in Southend, And I just remember when she was telling that story. I remember our first date, and I handed her a tithing form before we left, just to make sure, because we were talking about it last week. I said, what's the point in going out on a date if she isn't going to go the whole way with Jesus?
[00:00:45] So I gave her the form. Do you remember that?
[00:00:51] You see, if you're going to follow Jesus, you might as well follow him the whole way.
[00:00:57] You would.
[00:00:59] You were giving, though. Yes, you were. I was just making sure.
[00:01:05] Oh, God is good.
[00:01:09] I love. I love.
[00:01:13] I just love hearing the testimonies. You know, sometimes, you know, on Monday morning, we hear a few stories of what God is doing. And, you know, and I heard someone's tongue got healed and didn't think much of it, but, you know, when you hear the whole story, and it's like when we do baptisms, and week in, week out, we see people coming forward and giving their lives to Jesus, but when we baptize them, they tell a little bit of their story.
[00:01:39] It's so, so precious. So precious. So.
[00:01:44] Whoa. Okay. Right.
[00:01:47] Focus. Don't know why. For some reason, just my notes just want to go to the end and not come back.
[00:01:53] That's really weird there. Stay.
[00:01:59] That's bizarre.
[00:02:01] Help.
[00:02:07] I'm just going to hold my finger on just so I can start.
[00:02:10] All right. But whenever I take my finger off, they go back.
[00:02:16] It's the Holy Spirit. He wants a quick talk.
[00:02:20] Okay. So he can get on with everything else he wants to do. So anyway, we've been.
[00:02:25] We've been looking at the teachings of Jesus, and what I want to do this morning is talk a little bit about prayer.
[00:02:35] Prayer is the basis of our relationship with God. You can't have a relationship unless you have a conversation.
[00:02:46] And prayer is the boiler room, if you like, of this church.
[00:02:53] Nothing happens here that isn't birthed in prayer.
[00:02:57] My favorite thing we do in all of the world by far is Tuesday nights revival prayer.
[00:03:04] It's my favorite thing because we get to pray and worship and come before the Lord.
[00:03:12] The clock doesn't really matter apart from when there's a football match and we want to get out that day. But apart from that, we just worship and we pray. And I'm also incredibly grateful for the intercession in this church.
[00:03:25] They don't have badges or anything like that. I know who you are. And I also know that you for night and day pray for us and call out to the Lord. And I'm so grateful.
[00:03:38] And the truth is, from the moment I became a Christian, I've always been led by the Holy Spirit. I've always loved the Holy Spirit.
[00:03:47] But honestly, it's really in the last 10 years that I've really realized that and come to love his presence.
[00:03:57] You see, I always loved what he did and I always wanted to see what he did.
[00:04:04] But it would be in the last 10 years that just really enjoying him.
[00:04:10] He is a person.
[00:04:12] He becomes our best friend. He makes his home in our life.
[00:04:16] He's not an it.
[00:04:18] He's not a breath, he's not a power. He is the third person of the Godhead.
[00:04:24] He is the person of the Holy Spirit who comes and makes his home in our life. We can offend him. We can sometimes he's joyful.
[00:04:36] He has a personality and the realization that we can enjoy his presence. That's what we were just doing. If he's in the room, I don't know if what service we sang that song. Everything changes when his presence comes. That is the main event.
[00:04:54] And that's been something that I've really treasured over this last 10 years as I've learned to really enjoy Him.
[00:05:03] So Jesus says when you pray.
[00:05:09] So in Jesus mind, this is a regular thing. So find. Matthew 6, verse 5.
[00:05:16] My iPad has calmed down now. It seems to be staying where it should, right? Matthew 6. 5. Why don't you all stand and we're going to read the Word of God.
[00:05:28] I say this every week, but I know it's up, down, up, down. But most of us need the exercise, so it's very good for you. But the reason we stand when we read the Bible is to show reverence to God's word. Okay? So Matthew 6. 5. Jesus says, when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward.
[00:06:00] But when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, who is in the secret place.
[00:06:09] And when your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.
[00:06:16] And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do, for they think they will be heard of their many words.
[00:06:25] Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him.
[00:06:33] In this manner, therefore, pray.
[00:06:37] So why don't we just do what Jesus says? If you've got your Bibles, it should come up on the screen. Say this with me.
[00:06:43] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[00:07:13] Amen. Take a seat.
[00:07:16] It's always funny when our Bibles have just slightly different translations, but it's all the same prayer. It's okay.
[00:07:25] So the first thing I want to talk to you about is the secret place that Jesus talks about.
[00:07:32] A place where God can be found.
[00:07:38] And what this word means is it means like an inner room or a storehouse, a place where you store things up, where you keep things. You know, if you've got a.
[00:07:49] I don't know if women have these, but, you know, you have a man drawer of all the. Your treasures that you kind of store up.
[00:07:57] And this is the word. That's what that word means, a place where you store up.
[00:08:03] And it's a place where you do business with God.
[00:08:11] It's where you build up your relationship with him.
[00:08:15] It is your heavenly bank account. It's a place, this secret place, that you go and you call out to God and you meet with God because you know he'll be there.
[00:08:29] And it could be a literal prayer closet, you know, just, you know, you pray under the stairs or something. It could be a place where you walk. It's just a place where you always go.
[00:08:41] The deal is it's, you know, God is there.
[00:08:46] I believe that a secret place should be a place of encountering the Lord.
[00:08:52] And that's what I want to talk to you a little bit about. You see, where you meet with God is an important place.
[00:09:01] You see, many of you have met with God here. You've given your lives to Jesus and you've had an encounter with the living God. And I hope this becomes an important place to you. But Jesus says you need your own space where you can encounter the Lord.
[00:09:17] For Moses, it was. Do you remember the burning bush? The story of the burning bush, right at the beginning of Exodus, at a place called Horeb.
[00:09:24] And the interesting thing is he returns to that place on numerous occasions. So he has his first encounter with the Lord, with the bush that isn't burning, that's burning, but isn't being consumed. And the Lord speaks to him, but he returns there. He returns there with the Israelites. He returns there for the commandments.
[00:09:44] That's where he strikes the rock and water comes out. At Horeb, you see, it was a significant place to Moses. Why?
[00:09:54] Because God was there.
[00:09:56] He knew if he went there, the Lord would be there.
[00:10:02] And you see, I think our prayer life should be so important that we have these special places where we know that the Lord is a place where that's free from interruptions, you know, and some of you, I know we're having a little baby boom at the moment, and some of you are producing babies, and you go, well, where would that be?
[00:10:25] But they. They are those places. You sneak them out. Place where there's no mobile. Mobile phones or social media. Yeah, you know, I was, all right, confession time. I was praying. It's Friday, because I was in with the encounter here next. And I'm.
[00:10:40] I'm praying on Friday morning and reading my phone, and I suddenly realized, and I went, oh, Lord, I'm so sorry. And I don't normally do that, but I just found myself doing it. And so your secret place kind of needs to be a place where that's phone free, the social media free, so free from distractions so that you can have time with God. You know, it's interesting that it's at Horeb that Elijah meets God outside the cave. Remember, when he's running away from Jezebel and the Lord calls him out of the cave. That's at Horeb, just where Moses met God. You see, there are places where God is. Now listen, all the theologians here be going, yes, but God is everywhere.
[00:11:25] You are absolutely right.
[00:11:28] But there are also places where he manifests his presence, and I believe here is one of them. We've seen that again and again. And why here? Well, because there is prayer and worship here every day.
[00:11:41] It's not just Sunday.
[00:11:43] We pray and worship all day Sunday, but it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
[00:11:49] And then we're back into it on Sunday. The presence of the Lord rests here, but you need your own place.
[00:11:57] And the way you get it is you keep going to a place.
[00:12:02] James says, draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. So you have a place where you draw near to the Lord. This is our place, Lord, just me and you. And as we draw near to the Lord, he draws near to us. James says, you know, I have a route. I always walk around our village. I have a room where I pray and worship at home. And I have a song that I always sing.
[00:12:30] And you know what? Sometimes when I'm worshiping, there are angels in the room. And you go, well, how do you know there are angels in the room? Do you see them? And I go, no, but my dog is barking at them. And sometimes, and it's not every time, but he'll just start barking. He's, like, in the corner of the room barking. See, he can sometimes see more than I can. And I'm going, shush, shush. Don't frighten. We want those ones in. We don't want the other ones. We want those ones. You know, it's okay. But spiritually aware, it's a place where the presence of God comes and that we know we will meet with him. I have a song, and it's that song Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
[00:13:10] It's just Hallelujah. I can't forget the words. No, no, no, no, no. And I know it because sometimes I nearly did it this morning, but I knew I was talking to her about this, and they'd all laugh, but I said, oh, can we do Hallelujah? And their eyes roll. What? Again?
[00:13:25] No, you don't understand. The Holy Spirit likes that song.
[00:13:29] I sing it when I'm walking.
[00:13:31] And part of the journey we went on 10 years ago is let's write some songs the Holy Spirit likes.
[00:13:37] Now, I know he likes every song, right?
[00:13:40] He loves it all. But there are some songs we sing and, whoa. His presence is there.
[00:13:45] You've experienced it. He really likes those songs.
[00:13:49] And so Hallelujah is one of those songs I know he likes. And so all I'm doing is when we're praying for people, I'm just making myself familiar with the presence of God. And I'm singing a song that I know he likes, and I'm having us sing a song that I know he likes. I. And my faith rises.
[00:14:08] That's all I'm trying to do.
[00:14:11] Because that's the song I sing in my secret place. And you see, I've worn a path of prayer and worship in these places I was just talking about just as Moses wore a path of encounter at Horeb.
[00:14:27] You know, I even have. You know, I get to go out to Bogota a bit. I even have a place there where I walk. And it's. I mean, it's just around a big supermarket. It's not beautiful or anything like that, but when I just reflect back on the Lord. And half of me is walking that route, so I don't get lost. But the other Half is, this is where I walk here. And I just have that habit of walking with the Lord and spending time with Him. So I have a few secret places that I know I can go, and he'll be there. And then often the Holy Spirit will speak, or this revelation, or sometimes instruction. He'll say, I want you to do this, I want you to do that. Now, this is a time when you can take your phone out. So I just take my phone out and I'm walking. I'll just make a quick voice note because it isn't like a linear thing where God says, now, Steve, I want you to do this. I mean, some of you might get that, but I don't get that. Now, on a few occasions, I have heard the audible voice of God. I think it was so clear. But I mean. I mean, in 50 years, I'm talking five times, okay? And they're always significant points. But when I'm walking, it's just like. It's like a thought comes into my mind or an impression or sometimes it's like a download. So I just quickly voicemail it. Not voicemail it. What am I doing? Voice, voice note. That's what I'm doing. I'm so culture current.
[00:15:52] But I just quickly speak it in so that I don't forget it. Because I've got a memory like a goldfish, and by the time I've got home, it's gone. But I want to. If God is speaking to me, I want to make notes. I want to know what he's saying. There's lots of things I can forget, but I don't want to forget what he says.
[00:16:08] So what I'm saying to you is prayer involves a persistence in our secret place with the Lord.
[00:16:15] And our secret place is a path that's well trodden with God. And first thing I'm going to say is, I want you all to really develop your secret place. Because Jesus says, when you pray, go to your secret place.
[00:16:28] Number two, prayer is like a keyhole into heaven. Jesus would often remove himself from the crowds to be alone with his Father so he could pray. And it happens again and again in the Gospels. But there are two occasions where Jesus takes the disciples with him.
[00:16:44] Now, there's a. There's possibly a few more, but the two biggies are the transfiguration and Gethsemane, where he takes them with him. And it's like he gives us a keyhole into heaven so we get to see what Jesus. So all the times when Jesus, the Bible just says he Went alone to pray. But he doesn't tell us what happened when he went alone to pray. But on these two occasions, we see exactly what happened. So I want to read one of them, because he takes James, Peter, and John up the mountain to find your Bibles again. Luke, chapter nine.
[00:17:20] That's John. Where's Luke? Here. No.
[00:17:24] Okay.
[00:17:26] Ah, there we go. Luke, chapter nine. We're going to do 28. Why don't. Why don't you stand up again? Come on. This is the word of God. Grab your Bibles. Come on. Here we go.
[00:17:35] And the reason I'm getting you to stand up again will make sense in a minute. Okay? Because I want to show you something now. So this is Luke, chapter 9, verse 28. Now, it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that he took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening.
[00:17:58] And behold, two men talked with him who were Moses and Elijah. How cool. Who appeared in glory and spoke of his decease, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
[00:18:11] But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep.
[00:18:17] And when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
[00:18:25] Then it happened, as they were parting from him, that Peter said to Jesus, master, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Not knowing what he said while he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them.
[00:18:45] And they were fearful as they entered the cloud.
[00:18:49] And a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son. Hear him?
[00:18:56] Grab a seat.
[00:19:01] You see, the transfiguration is a keyhole into the prayer life of Jesus.
[00:19:08] You know, this is what we could have.
[00:19:12] This is a picture of what prayer should look like. Now you say, do I? You know, Steve, is that what happens every time you pray? You know, do your face start to shine?
[00:19:24] No.
[00:19:25] Do you want that? Yes.
[00:19:28] And what's the point of following Jesus if you don't get it all?
[00:19:33] I don't want to be shortchanged or anything. If I'm. If I'm going to give my life to Jesus, I'm going to follow him. I will want it all.
[00:19:41] And I feel that I've been shortchanged on the prayer thing because nobody's told me this for too many years. No one told me we could enjoy the presence of God.
[00:19:55] But look at the detail. Jesus invites them to join him.
[00:20:00] Then they become sleepy has that ever happened to you? Come on, be honest. I can fall asleep in any position praying.
[00:20:11] I found it. You know, this thing that happens and you just start praying or you get distracted or your mind just starts going all over the place. Look, it looks to me like the flesh.
[00:20:27] This bit of us does not like prayer and presence.
[00:20:32] It has a reaction against it. The other occasion is Gethsemane.
[00:20:38] Remember that Jesus is just about to go to the cross. What happens? They all fall asleep.
[00:20:45] This is what Jesus says. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
[00:20:53] So I've noticed this on Tuesday as revival prayer, that the presence of God will come in the room and people will become tired.
[00:21:02] They're kind of like, oh, and it's almost like a. Let me just soak in the presence of God.
[00:21:09] But I think some of them doze off and you miss the glory, okay? Because a tiredness comes on. Why? Because the flesh isn't used to the presence of God.
[00:21:25] You know, have you noticed sometimes people shake or they fall over and, you know, we. We just quickly put a cover on them just so they're, you know, for modesty's sake, you know, Their flesh is not used to being in the presence of God.
[00:21:37] Look, I could get anyone. I could pick any one of you, say, just stick your finger in the power socket over there. And you'd shake and tingle and everything. Why? Because of the power.
[00:21:50] And you're not used to having your finger in the power socket.
[00:21:53] I don't recommend it. But it's the same. When the power of God comes in the room, our bodies react.
[00:22:01] You see, we want the power and the encounter. I don't really care if I shake or fall. That doesn't worry me too much at all. But I need the encounter with God because it's his power that transforms me. Because I tried long enough trying to change myself.
[00:22:18] It's his power in my life that changes everything. So I want the encounter with the Holy Spirit.
[00:22:25] And at the transfiguration, when the disciples push through the tiredness, they see the glory and they see Moses and Elijah, who are both heroes who've encountered God on the mountain, their secret place. It's not the same mountain, because that would be really cool if it was, but it's not.
[00:22:46] And this is what we read. Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep. And when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And I want to offer you a thought.
[00:22:58] Second thought, when we push through the tiredness of prayer. I think we come into the encounter, we need to push through.
[00:23:06] If you feel tired when you're praying or if you're in revival prayer and you feel the tiredness come on, you move around, start speaking out loud, you know, stop being English and saying, you know, the nice prayer, start yelling, shout to the Lord.
[00:23:23] It's not that he's deaf. We're staying awake, we're staying engaged with him. You know, speak in tongues, you know, dance, do whatever you want to do, but push through the tiredness.
[00:23:40] And you know, you ask me, well, Steve, do you have an encounter every time you pray? No.
[00:23:45] You know, sometimes you let's, you know, I'll get back from walks. What did God say?
[00:23:49] I don't know. I don't think he said anything.
[00:23:52] But do I feel closer to him when I pray? Absolutely.
[00:23:57] But I want you to know, the most powerful encounters I've had in my Christian walk have not been in meetings like this. They've been when I'm on my own, when I'm worshiping on my own, and the power of God comes on me.
[00:24:09] They're the ones I live for. I love it when he moves in big meetings and stuff like that. But the life changing moments I've had are in my secret place with God.
[00:24:22] And you know, often I'll talk with people and you know, especially people who have been Christians for a while. Well, I'm not sure if praying really, really helps me. You know, I don't really hear from the Lord and I don't remember what he said.
[00:24:36] And you know, I don't remember why I had the dinner on Monday night, but it helped me because I ate and it nourished my body.
[00:24:47] And if I don't eat, it'll be good for me for a couple of days. But you see, I might not remember what God said, but I was with him and he nourished me and he built up my Christian life.
[00:25:03] That's why I do it. Do I have an encounter every time? No. Do I have encounters? Yes. Are they life changing? Yes.
[00:25:11] But I need to be with him in my secret place. Does that make sense?
[00:25:15] You know, what about Paul's life? Oh, we gotta move quick.
[00:25:20] Paul's prayer life. Paul says, I know a man who, he's talking about himself, who went to the third heaven into paradise.
[00:25:31] I heard inexpressible words, things that are not allowed to even be mentioned.
[00:25:37] And you see, most of us will go, what do you mean there's three heavens. Which one am I going to I thought I was going to heaven. And now you're telling me there's three. There's three. The Bible talks about three. The first heaven is the skies above the atmosphere. The psalmist talks about them. We live under this. I love what. When Chris Valentin was here a year ago, he was saying, you know, there are first heaven problems are real life issues like marriage, finance, relationships, jobs, and the things that we deal with every day.
[00:26:10] They're first heaven things. But then there's a second heaven that the Bible talks about that books like Daniel, Ephesians, Revelation talk about. And this is probably where spiritual battles are fought.
[00:26:23] You know, you're not fighting against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers.
[00:26:27] So that's the second heaven where there is a battle over people's lives and there's a battle over cities that goes on.
[00:26:37] And so we can't deal with second heaven problems with first heaven solutions.
[00:26:44] And then there's the third heaven that Paul is talking about, where God reigns, where he invites us to be seated.
[00:26:54] Jesus. That's why Jesus says, pray on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:27:01] The third heaven where God is enthroned, that we would start to pray heaven's prayers for earth solutions.
[00:27:10] So what Jesus is doing is to say, pray that way, not that way.
[00:27:16] Because if you're praying that way, you're praying earth solutions. If you're praying that way, you're praying heaven solutions.
[00:27:23] That's what Jesus is trying to teach us. So I want to offer you a thought. What's this number three?
[00:27:28] If prayer is far more than we thought it was, what if prayer is more simply talk?
[00:27:34] If it's not simply talking with God, what if it's being with God that as we pray, we are with the Lord?
[00:27:45] You see, when Jesus talks about prayer, he talks about heaven. When Paul talks about prayer, he talks about heaven. When the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. When Paul talks about speaking in tongues, the gift of tongues is to God. They're prayers to God. Tongues isn't prophecy. Tongues is worship and adoration and prayers to God. That's what Paul says.
[00:28:08] Now, look, I'm just talking to me now because I know that none of you would have this problem. But I used to pray and get tired and I'd give up because I just got tired and I didn't understand it. But what I'm learning to do is to come into the presence of God and push through the tiredness.
[00:28:28] Now, as I push through the tiredness, my spirit starts to awaken my Flesh gets distracted all the time.
[00:28:38] But my spirit longs for the Lord.
[00:28:43] And it's at those points, not always, that I encounter glory.
[00:28:49] Because we read when they were fully awake, they saw his glory.
[00:28:54] When my spirit is fully awake, I start to experience the glory.
[00:29:01] My flesh might be tired.
[00:29:04] And you see, my prayer now is, make me fully awake so I can see your glory.
[00:29:09] At this point, everything starts to look different.
[00:29:13] Last week, Joel was talking about our words and faith. This week, position and prayer, we are seated in heavenly places with Jesus Christ, so that when we pray, we pray in the glory.
[00:29:27] And this is why revival prayer, we worship and then we pray in his presence.
[00:29:33] And we can do the same thing in our secret place, because we know God will be there.
[00:29:41] Do you know, about a year ago, we were out in one of my secret places of vivimiento, and it was February, and it was their Holy Spirit weekend.
[00:29:54] And Pastor Ricardo, he was going to. I don't know if it was before or after he did his talk, and he just said, I want to give you a little window into my prayer time with the Lord.
[00:30:05] Now, he's a man of prayer. He's prayed every morning spent for the last 35 years with the Lord. And he's got his little prayer cushion that he kneels on. He puts it at the front of the stage and he kneels. And I don't know how many thousands of people were there. And we all knelt on the floor with him and he started to pray.
[00:30:28] Now, the presence of God was already in the room we'd been worshipping.
[00:30:34] But as he prayed, a cloud literally gathered in the room.
[00:30:41] And you might say, well, were there smoke machines and stuff like that? They had, but, yes, there were. But what happened was it gathered just like on the Mount of Transfiguration, where the Lord gathered a crowd, a cloud, and it came and it moved around the room.
[00:31:01] Now, we captured it on film. Now, it doesn't do it justice because of the size of the room, but have a quick look.
[00:32:09] The presence of God coming in the room, I don't think it had ever happened before, and I don't think it's happened since.
[00:32:17] But when we gather in his name, the Lord coming into the room.
[00:32:22] Folks, we've been shortchanged on what God wants to do in our midst and what God wants to do with us when we're on our own.
[00:32:37] I've got one more. We'll do it another week. But I was also going to say we're going to pray.
[00:32:41] Lastly, sometimes prayer is in anguish in Gethsemane, the disciples see Jesus pray in anguish.
[00:32:50] Because of the cross, the transfiguration. We see the glory, but in Gethsemane we see the anguish.
[00:32:58] And you know, the beautiful thing about Jesus is it's okay to come when we're desperate and when we're at the end of ourselves. Heal me, Lord, deliver me, set me. You know, Lord, save me. Often we get to the end of ourselves. And you may be at the end of yourself today. I don't know.
[00:33:21] Let me tell you a secret. There's no better place.
[00:33:25] The moment we become at the end of ourselves, he takes over.
[00:33:33] And sometimes he has to wait a long while for us to get to the end of ourselves.
[00:33:37] You know, Jesus said, I can do nothing except what I see the Father doing. Unfortunately, I can do quite a lot and get distracted and be busy.
[00:33:46] But Jesus said, I don't do anything unless I see the Father doing it. And sometimes we can be busy and we can be doing all sorts of things, and we can't suddenly find that place where we get to the end of ourselves and we cry out, God help me, God rescue me.
[00:34:03] And that's where the encounter is. The widow banging on the judge's door. I'm not going to stop banging until you answer this door.
[00:34:12] Let me just finish with this. Philippians 4. 8. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.
[00:34:21] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And that's the funny thing.
[00:34:34] When we've been with God, when we've encountered his presence, when we've heard him speak, the peace descends on us. Doesn't matter what the world's saying, because Heaven has a solution.
[00:34:50] And it's his words that rest upon us.
[00:34:54] It's his peace. And suddenly the storm that was going on all around us suddenly quietens down the anxiety, the worry. You see, Jesus isn't saying anxiety is wrong. Jesus isn't saying worry is wrong. He's saying, come into My presence.
[00:35:09] Come and spend time with me. Have a secret place.
[00:35:13] And my peace that surpasses all understanding will come upon you. And you will see Heaven's answers for earth problems. And once we start to move that way down instead of that way, everything starts to change in our life.
[00:35:30] So what am I saying to you?
[00:35:33] I'm saying, get a secret place. Find it this week. Find your secret place. If you don't have one, and if you're not sure, just make one up and keep going, and the Lord will come.
[00:35:45] Prayer is a key hole into what's going on in heaven. It's more than just talking at God. He wants to come and encounter us. And you will have encounters with the Holy Spirit in your secret place, not just in church.
[00:36:01] And then thirdly, you can pray in the glory, but you can also pray in the anguish.
[00:36:07] And he's there right with you. And in the midst of anguish, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will come upon you. I'm done. Why don't you stand up?
[00:36:18] Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Croma Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship, and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
