Six secrets of the secret place. Now secret place, what I mean is that place that you're meeting
with God. My name is Vlad, I'm a pastor of HungryGen, as well as a youtuber and an author.
If it's your first time welcome, if you are a regular viewer of this channel,
welcome as well. Let's dive in. The first secret is you have to have a place. Now I'm going to take
the story of Moses connecting with God through the mountain and the tabernacle as well, as
a tent meeting. When Moses would encounter God and have these divine crazy meetings with God,
it happened in a particular place. It didn't happen in his bedroom where he was sleeping,
it didn't happen in this kitchen where he was eating. There was this place that he was invited
to, to a mountain. He would climb the mountain and then afterwards he would actually build a Tent
of a Meeting outside of where the people were, and he would go in there and talk to God. And
then later on they had a tabernacle where he would also connect with God. In Exodus 33:7 it says:
If you want to have a secret place, you have to number one, have a place. This place, Jesus says
go into your room. It could be a room. It could be a closet. It could be a basement. You can actually
go physically to a park, to a river, to a mountain and there you spend some time with God. Jesus did
similar thing, actually He had a place. The Bible says He would go to a desolate place.
We know He fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. It wasn't where He lived. He went somewhere
outside of His norm of what He was familiar with and then He would go out early mornings to
desolate place, to a desert, to empty place where there was quiet, there was nobody there.
And then He would spend evenings sometimes on the mountain, spend all night in prayer to God,
somewhere away. There's nothing wrong with praying where you live, where you sleep,
where you eat. But something happens to your mind, I feel like even to your spirit, when you begin to
make a place outside of your norm. You can have this place where you go regularly like few times a
week, or you can have this place where you go once a month or once in a few months. Somewhere where
you go longer to be with God. Rent a hotel, maybe rent a cabin or pitch a tent and just be with
God. Part of the secret place strategy. The second thing I want to mention is make it a regular thing
in your life. Exodus 33:7 in another translation it says this, "It was Moses's practice to take the
tent of the Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp." So it wasn't just something that
he did occasionally, it was his practice. It was his habit. You know what separates successful
people from not successful people, is their habits. Everyone can get hyped up about something,
but it's the habit that really determine the lifestyle and your character and your future.
So make it a habit. Maybe it's you know Monday, Wednesday and Friday that you go out of your
norm and you spend time with God. Now some people do it in their home, you know where
you're going to a different room, or you're going to a basement, you're going on your porch and like
Monday through Friday, or Monday through Sunday. I'm not just talking about when you just casually
read the Bible. When you're really just taking the time to be with God, you really, this time
cost you something. There's a sense of value that you put into this. This time is valuable to you
and you make it a regular thing. Some people are afraid of routine. They're afraid of
routine because they're like, well it's going to get me into a rut. My friend, certain routines
are healthy. Holy habits are good. It was often, that Jesus went into the desert. It was a regular
thing, it was a habitual thing and we need to make it the same. We shouldn't make a religion out of
it, we shouldn't make a law out of it but there's something awesome when you make it a practice. As
Christians we don't practice sin, we practice practice holiness, we practice righteousness. We
don't do it to earn salvation, we do it because we are saved but nevertheless we practice. Why?
Because whatever you practice becomes permanent in your life. For you to make a lifestyle of
walking with God, you have to first develop a practice of the presence of God. Make a place
and then make it a practice, meaning make it regular. The third thing is you have to make it
essential. You have to make it very important. It's very important. You have to renew your mind
on how important this is. I love what Moses did in Exodus 33:15-16 in NLT. In one of those places
where Moses is talking to God and he said this: "Then Moses said, "If You don't personally go
with us, don't make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You look favorably on me--on
me and on your people--if You don't go with us?" And then he said this, "For Your presence among us
sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth." See, for Moses
to be in the presence of God, for Moses to go to this place to spend time with God,
this wasn't just about I need to get a revelation, I need to get a strategy, I need to receive
more power. This is what makes me distinct. This is what makes me unique. This is what
separates me from the rest of the world is the presence of God. See God's presence is not a
luxury, it's a necessity. God's presence is not a bonus, it's the it factor for me. Without it
I am not a Christian, without it I can't live, I can't function, and Moses says, "God if you don't
go. We don't need an angel, God. We don't need just Your miracles and Your promise of signs and
wonders, we need Your presence." And Moses said, "Me, myself. Not just the people but me, like
if you don't go with me God, if Your presence is not with me, then
what makes me different than somebody who is not a believer in the Creator." And so
for those of you who live without the secret place, it's because you have convinced yourself
that you can live without the presence of God. Now there is the omnipresence of God,
it's everywhere. I'm not talking about that one. I'm talking about the manifest presence. It's the
one that you experience. It's the one that you, you walk with God, you talk with God, you abide
with Him like Jesus said. Like a branch abides in the vine. You rest in Him, and that's essential.
It's very important. If you don't understand how important it is, you will never pay the price
of going out of your house, going out of your bed, waking up earlier. Paying a price maybe of going
outside of your town, paying a price of turning off the phone or turning off the distractions.
You'll never pay the price if you don't understand how valuable it is. It distinguishes you
from the rest of the world. It's what sets you apart. It's what marks you.
The fourth secret about the secret place. Moses in Exodus 33:18 says, "Please show me your glory."
And the fourth secret is this, the secret place exists, the ultimate motivation is about the
person of God. Not to get fresh principles, not even get fresh power, not to even get
renewal of your purpose and not even to experience the warmth of His presence. Now all of these are
true, and not even to solve certain problems that you're facing. As you go into the secret place,
I do believe all of these will be affected. There will be problems that God will solve
because of the secret place. There will be a warmth of His presence you will experience because
of His presence. There will be also the power that will be released in your life, because the Bible
says disciples had boldness and they healed the sick because they were with Jesus. That's what the
Pharisees said. But the real ultimate motivation for the secret place is show me Your glory,
meaning Moses was saying, "God I got the power, You gave me that. I got the purpose,
You gave me that. You promised Your presence, You gave me that. You gave me a promise that You will
get us to the promised land, You gave me that. I want to know the Person, I want to know You. God,
You're my friend and I want to know my friend. God show me who You are like,
I want to know You." That's incredible. God spoke to Moses like He spoke to a friend,
face to face. And Moses lingered, not to solve a problem, get a new promise, get some principles
or a purpose or even feel God's presence. He just wanted to be with his friend and his friend
was God. Jesus would often go into the desert to pray. Think about it. Jesus did not need
more power. Jesus did not need more Spirit. Jesus did not need direction.
Jesus loved His Father and He wanted to spend time with Him. And so the ultimate motivation
is not to get a fix or even to get filled, it is to passionately love, be with, the One who
died for you and the One who turned you from a foe to a friend, from a foe to a family member,
and He's your God, your Father and He wants to spend time with you. And that's huge, because
some people go to prayer to this secret place with books to read, nothing wrong with that. Some
people go to that place with problems to present to God, also nothing wrong with that. Some people
go in to get a new strategy, also nothing wrong with that, but after you're done with all of that,
you have to be reduced to love. To love Him. That's the first commandment, and then the power
will increase, all of these things will increase but it wasn't your motive. It wasn't your goal.
Your goal is Him. He's your reward. He is the pearl of great price. He's not a means to an end,
He is the end. Everything else is a means to Him and that was the purpose of the secret place.
I believe that's one of the reasons why Moses after not going to the mountain for some time,
he pitched a tent outside. It's not that Moses couldn't solve certain problems,
it's not that he needed more power. He just wanted to talk to his Friend and his Friend was God. He
cultivated this relationship. The fifth secret of the secret place is there will be results,
as I mentioned that already. Exodus 34:19 it says, "Now it was when Moses came down from the mountain
Sinai, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him." So
Moses comes down and Moses is not realizing, he doesn't like pay attention to himself
that his skin is shining. His skin, his skin because he spend time with God started to
shine. I feel like God was saying, "Moses because we have this friendship,
you're so close to the fire, you're gonna catch something." You know when Jacob encountered God
he limped, when Moses had encounters with God his face shone. When Jesus came down
from the mountain, you know the Bible says that on the mountain He was transfigured.
If you really get this secret place a habit in your life and you make it a part of who you are,
you can't hide a life hidden with God. There will be evidence. When you are intimate
with your spouse, there is children. Somebody gets pregnant. When you're intimate with God,
there's going to be fruit. Abide in Me, My words abide in you and you will bear much
fruit. There will be fruit of that. That's why people say, "Oh, it takes time to pray."
Prayer saves time because prayer will produce, relationship that God will produce
with no strategy, with no degree, with what no finances and connections could ever give you.
It will have a supernatural component to whatever that you are doing, if it's in God's will. And
the sixth secret of the secret place, is that it will draw others to God. In Exodus 33:10 it says:
See as you encounter God, you will draw others to worship Him. Not in a new age way, but you
will become like a magnet where others will be drawn, not to you but to God. The Bible says
as Moses went in, God's glory came. People were not drawn to Moses, they were drawn to worship,
in their own tent, in their own way they started to press into God. Because when Moses was on the
mountain somehow it didn't make that effect on them. They built an idol. But now when Moses was
closer to them, as he was spending time with God, it caused Israel to worship in their own tents.
Jesus would spend time with His Father. It caused His disciples to say, "Lord teach us to pray.
We want to pray." Jesus didn't do a sermon series on prayer, He answered a question. Why
did they ask that question? Because they're like, we want to talk to God like You do.
We want to have the same relationship that you do Jesus. We see the results of it but it's not just
that, something is different about You the way You pray. We want to know how to pray. There's
results and others will be drawn to you. See the Bible calls us the salt of the earth. As salt
we make people thirsty for the living water. We're not the sugar, our goal is not to make
people drawn to us, and genuine encounter with God causes everyone around you to want God.
It restores their hunger and their appetite for the presence of God. You know this video,
the purpose of this video is not because I need to release something. The purpose of this video
is so that God is inviting you right now into His presence. There's some of you He's inviting
into a deeper waters, some of you He's just inviting you out of your comfortable place,
into a place of community with Him and communion with His Spirit. Would you say yes?
Like a King He's inviting you into His presence right now. Just respond to Him and you will see
if it becomes a habit and you will pay the price of prioritizing this, practicing His presence.
Your face will shine, your character will change. There will be a super added to your natural,
but it's not why you're doing it. It's because He loves you so much, that He will reward publicly
those who are privately pursuing His presence. So I hope you will put this into practice
in your life. Thank you for watching this, don't forget to hit thumbs up to this video. Share this
with other people, maybe share with your small group or your Bible study group, for those maybe
who kind of lost their passion for the Lord. And let me know in the comments below if you have ever
practiced getting out of town or out of your comfortable bubble to spend few days with God
and how was your experience. Let's create a conversation below this video. Thank you.