“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” —Luke 11:1

“Do not be hasty to go from his [the king’s] presence” —Ecclesiastes 8:3

“Sometimes our secret place is interrupted by forces beyond our control. Emergencies happen. And sometimes the day’s agenda demands we depart in order to fulfill a commitment in our calendar—like going to work.

“The Lord understands when the demands of life pull us away from the secret place. He is not condemning or displeased. In fact, He loves to behold the sincerity of your heart when you honestly wish you could take longer in His presence. Having made that disclaimer, I want to suggest there is an element to the secret place some haven’t found yet. It’s the matter of “finishing” your time with God before moving on to the affairs of the day.

“Each visit to the secret place is an event in itself. Many have understood the need to “break through”—to keep pressing in until you cross a threshold in your own spirit, until you find freedom in your heart and a connectedness in your spirit. We’ve known there is a ‘warm-up’ time, and then there is a time of intimacy and interaction. However, we haven’t always understood that the secret place is not always complete without the proper finish and full completion of what God intends. It’s easy to leave before God’s done with you.

“One of the secrets of the secret place is staying with it until you’re finished. The way you know you’re finished can feel differently every day, but I would suggest that the decision of when the time is finished is not primarily yours but God’s.

“Let God decide when it’s over. Give Him the honor of dismissing you. Having come into His presence boldly through the blood of Christ, let us not be hasty to leave. Let us stop, wait on Him, minister to Him, and continue in our service before the King until His release comes.

“Those who linger in His presence uncover the greatest joys of His presence. The greater dimensions of intimacy do not come quickly. We call on Him, and then He gently begins to draw us into the embrace of unspeakable love. A ‘hit-and-run’ approach will never do…Give yourself to the King until He sends you forth into His harvest. The intimacy of His chambers will ignite your soul, and you will carry His fragrance to a lost world who desperately longs for what you’ve found.”—Bob Sorge

My Prayer

“Oh wretched man that I am; always rushing in and out—thinking that fulfilling specific times with God is fulfilling God’s desire for me. Oh Lord, restrain me to remain in Your presence until You are done with me. It seems that I have missed out on deeper engagements with You and lost out on sweeter interactions with You, because I rushed away when You were not through with me. Lord, don’t release me. Hold my heart steady and keep my heart interested, until You are done with me. I want to enjoy deeper intimacies with You. I want to enter into Your warm embrace, Lord. But I have cheated myself because I did not stay long enough to soak it all in. Help me Lord to linger a while more in Your presence. In Jesus name. Amen.”

The Challenge

Reject the appeals to rush off. Wake early enough to give yourself enough time, or choose to sleep a little bit later for the same reason. Make time for God so you don’t feel pressured to go off into other things. Make time to dwell long and to drink in everything prepared for you on each occasion.