Hiddenness: Finding a Place Apart

Hiddenness: Finding A Place Apart.

“When you pray, go into your private, secret room at home, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6).

The need for privacy with God was a common theme in the Hebrew Bible. It’s interesting to note that the Jewish sages based each of their weekday prayers on the character and actions of the patriarchs while in their hiding place. The recommended daily prayers of Jewish believers were inspired by the hidden prayers of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham represents the morning prayer, since he often “rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before God” (Gen. 19:27, 22:3). Isaac inspired the midday prayer, since he “went out to converse with God (or, to meditate) in the field toward evening” (Gen. 24:63). And Jacob represented the night prayer, since his powerful encounters with God were in the night, including his visions and dreams, his experience in Bethel with the ladder to heaven, and his momentous wrestling in Peniel with the mysterious angel (Gen. 28:11, 32:22). Among the other biblical heroes who depended on a hidden, private place alone with the Lord include:

David yearned for a hiding place with the Lord when in his Psalm 55:4-8 he cried out, “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest – I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

Jeremiah said much the same thing in Jer. 9:2: “Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them.”

Many significant events in Jewish history might not have even happened were it not for the hidden place, the private place apart to be with God:

Moses, not only with the burning bush in the out of the way mountain place in Ex. 3, but also in that profound place of solitude with God on Mt. Sinai, when Moses interceded with Yahweh during is 40 days of lying prostrate before Him, pleading with Yahweh not to destroy His chosen people (Deut. 9:25).

Elijah, who was fed by an angel while stranded all alone in a desert (1 Kings 19:3-7), who heard the gentle whisper of God in a solitary mountain cave (1 Kings 19:9-13), and when he went into a private room to raise a young boy from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).

Jonah, who had his own hidden prayers of prayer and commitment while a captive audience inside, of all things, the digestive system of a giant fish (Jonah).

Daniel, praying regularly in the privacy of his room, later privately pleading with Yahweh in intercession and confession for his people, then later still privately experiencing his vision of angel Gabriel, and then while standing by himself on the banks of the Tigris Rivier, experiencing one of the most important prophetic visions in the Hebrew Bible. (Daniel 6-10).

And now we turn to the hidden prayer life of Jesus:

Jesus’ Hidden Dialogue with the Father. Few mysteries in the faith are less likely to be understood than the union between the Father and the Son. Their level of intimate, eternal communion is well beyond our grasp. “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” (John 17:21). The prayer life of Jesus has everything to do with their intimacy. Somehow, the Father and the Son were inside each other in Spirit. So when Jesus prayed to the Father, He was spiritually looking inward to the Father’s presence. Jesus was speaking to the Father in a secret place within Himself where the Father dwelled. The prayer life of Christ was an inner dialogue between Father and Son, a private conversation of two divine Beings who love each other. Jesus said that He would not even take a step without the direction from the Father, He wouldn’t say a word without the Father’s approval. Jesus placed Himself completely at His Father’s disposal, such was the level of trust between the Father and the Son. Certainly, Jesus was the perfect example of one who “prayed without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:16-17). Jesus’ prayer was conscious and deliberate, and it was also subconscious and intuitive. Jesus walked prayerfully every second of every day, out of devotion to the Father. The many references in the gospels to the times Jesus prayed in a hidden place are certainly only the tip of the iceberg:

• After a Day of Healing: “That evening, the whole city was gathered around the door of the house… And in the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place; and there He prayed.”  (Mark 1:32-35);
• After Fatiguing Ministry: “But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear Him and be cured of their diseases. But Jesus would often withdraw to deserted places and pray.” (Luke 5:15);
• Choosing the Twelve: “Now during those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and He spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called all His disciples and chose twelve of them.” (Luke 6:12);
• Before Walking on Water: “Immediately (after the multiplication of loaves and fish), Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, He went up on the mountain to pray.” (Mark 6:45-46; Matthew 14:23).
• Before Peter’s Confession: “Once when Jesus was praying privately alone, with only His disciples near Him, He asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?… But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:18);
• At the Transfiguration: “Now Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John, and they went up on the mountain to pray. And while Jesus was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became dazzling white.” (Luke 9:28-29);
• Offering a Model of How to Pray: “Jesus was praying privately in a certain place, and after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray like that….” (Luke 11:1)
• While in Utter Agony: ‘Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and His disciples followed Him. On reaching the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ Jesus then withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them (between 50’-60’ away), knelt down and prayed…” (Luke 22:39-41).

Recuperate in Hiding. “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (Mark 6:30-32).  Jesus had sent out the Twelve into the Galilean villages to cast out demons, preach, and heal the sick. They are now returning to Jesus and excitedly reporting what they experienced. Jesus noticed that the Disciples were exhausted and hungry, and yet they couldn’t even eat because of all the people, all the clamor. Being the Good Shepherd, Jesus said to them, Come, let’s take a break and find a place to rest. Jesus offers rest to His laborers, not just spiritual rest, but also mental and physical rest. Give yourselves permission, Jesus is saying, to take some time to yourself in a quiet place, to recuperate. One doesn’t have to burn out when doing good work. Don’t treat Me like I am some hard taskmaster, because I’m not. You won’t do anyone any good if you are depleted, exhausted, and ineffective. And when you take a break, follow Jesus into your rest. Let Him guide you to a place of refreshment. Come away with Me, He says. And I will help you get the rest you need.

Pray in a Secret, Hidden Place. “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by everyone who passes by… When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6).  This is easier said than done, of course, especially if you have a busy family life at home or a demanding job. Maybe in some cases the “secret place” is when a harried mother throws her apron over her head and is able to pray with fewer distractions that way. It worked for Susanna Wesley. The Greek word for “secret’ in this verse is “kryptos,” which means hidden or concealed. The word for “room” is “tameion,” which is the term for a storage closet built onto the side of a home, a private place that is only used occasionally and unlikely to have human traffic. One’s secret chamber at home probably depends on the season of life one is in, but somehow a private hiding place is important if one can manage it. Oswald Chambers once said that in our private place at home, we need to “swing the door wide open to God and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing we do will be stamped with the presence of God.”

Peter, Hiding on the Roof. “About noon the following day as the men sent by Cornelius were approaching Joppa, Peter went up on the roof to pray.” (Acts 10:9). The only place Peter could find with some privacy at the house of Simon the tanner was the roof. While there in his hiding place for prayer, Peter received one of the most important visions from God in the entire New Testament. The end result was that Peter, who earlier wouldn’t even associate with Gentiles, was made aware of God’s love for all people, not just the chosen people. So Peter followed the Lord’s calling to go to Caesarea to the home of a God-fearing Gentile Cornelius. Peter preached to a large group assembled at Cornelius’ home about Jesus being Lord of all, and while Peter was preaching, there was what could be called a second Pentecost, a falling of the Holy Spirit, only this time with Gentiles. As before in Jerusalem, the people there in that house spoke in tongues, praised God, and were “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”