THE SECRET PLACE (13)

“Take heed, WATCH and PRAY; for you do not know when the time is” – Mark 13:33

Prayerfulness in THE SECRET PLACE is intricately connected to vigilant WATCHING: “Take heed, WATCH and PRAY; for you do not know when the time is” (Mk.13:33). Jesus repeated this instruction to His disciples in Mark 14:38 – “Watch and pray.” There is something about prayer that is wide-eyed, attentive, and on full mental alert. In the Secret Place, we do not hide from our current events like an ostrich burying its head in the sand; rather, we bring our awareness of current events to the searching lamp of the Scriptures and the Spirit of God.

The exhortations by the Lord Jesus to watch, were especially connected to His return to earth. These were undoubtedly His most intriguing and urgent exhortations. He was heralding Believers of all time to constant, vigilant, bright-eyed alertness. And the focus of our alertness is that we be found watching when our Lord returns. The Lord never placed on us the burden of seeing into the future. He does not call us to be the God calls us to be alert to the hour in which we live and to discern the signs of the times. He expects us to have understanding and awareness concerning the present. Attentive application to the Secret Place is one way to fulfil this urgent mandate.

Our Lord wants us to be alert to discern the signs of the times. We cultivate discernment by meditating in God’s Word and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who stand at attention in the Secret Place will carry the wisdom to discern the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity in the earth today. In the Secret Place, we sharpen our spiritual senses to heaven’s promptings; we interpret current events through the lens of God’s Word; we continually calibrate our souls and minds to the straight ways of the Lord; we quiet our hearts to listen and be led; we gaze with rapt attention upon the throne of God; and we throw off all spiritual sleepiness by being ignited and renewed in love.

In the Secret Place, our heart grows with the longing to be fully alert and engaged in with the things that are on God’s Heart for the present hour. Revelation 16:15 says, “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches.” The Secret Place is the place to fulfil these words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find WATCHING...But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into” (Lk.12: 37a, 39). Rather than slumber or sleep, we’re to watch and pray. This is the great secret to being ready for the imminent return of our Lord.