THE "SECRET PLACE" OF PRAYER

Chapter Three – Where is your Treasure?

In Matthew 6: 19, Jesus says not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal; but to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. For, He says, where your treasure is, there is your heart.

He goes on that the eye is the light of the body, and if the eye is good the body will be full of light; however, if the eye is bad, the body will be full of darkness. If the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

What does this have to do with what prayer is? You will see. Let me continue my story.

My experience is the same as many new Christians. We’re “new” Christians for a long time, you know. It takes much time for a baby to become an adult. What I did not know then, in the fervor I had for the Lord because He had saved me, is that the plan is not for me to go off and do something for God, not to rush out and show people, including myself, that the rest of the Gospel is true, but to testify of what He did for me.

What I did was go and lay up a treasure for myself on earth – my community. It was what I wanted to do for God. Now, you’re saying, ‘but He told you to go and find others that were like you – you did that!’ And that is true, I did. But He did not tell me to start a community. Because He did not tell me more than to find then and testify to them; once I found them, I did not know what to do with them after they were converted. I did not want to start a “church”, for though I love my denominational brothers and sisters, that variety of church was to me like a law school and not a law practice. In my experience denominations give lessons on the Word of God, but don’t teach practicing the Word of God. The Word of God is only learned by doing. I wanted to create a group of one heart and mind. So, I had converts, did not want to make a denomination, what to do? The community was my thought about what the church should be, based on the book of Acts. And we certainly had an experience like that, and so we assumed God was with us. I assumed God was with me. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t say what we did was wrong or worthless – there is a treasure in Heaven from it – all those who Jesus added to His body because we preached. But the community was us building our dream – our paradise. And rust and moths began to work on that. We were doing something for God to show that He is True. God, though, does not need us to show that. He wants us to let HIM do for US. We are to do what HE says to do, not go after our own dreams, even if they are based on His Word. Obedience is key.

This is the same mistake made by many people – the same mistake I was making. We preach faith, and faith is absolutely necessary, but what Jesus wants is faith in HIM, not faith in our faith in Him. Before we mature, we’re like Peter in the boat. Jesus did NOT tell the disciples to get out the boat – He was coming to them. He told them, “Don’t worry; be happy, it’s ME.” He did NOT say, “Come.” Peter said, “Lord IF it’s you…” This is what we do when we are immature in the faith. We, despite knowing the Word of God, hear it and then say “IF, it’s you…” Just like we in the community wanted to show God was with us by our activity for Him, not by HIS activity in US. I have never heard any preacher understand this properly. Every time I hear a preacher preach that we need to be like Peter and get out of the boat, I smile sadly, because I understand that problem. What happened when Peter got out of the boat? The Lord did tell him to come; but he saw the rough sea and his faith failed him; he cried out and then Jesus lifted him up. You see, Jesus does not call us to depend on our own faith. He calls us to receive HIS faith to follow HIS Word, which never fails. God’s Spirit is necessary in us because our own spirit will fail us, but His never will.

There is another example of this in the Scripture. After the resurrection. After the receipt of the Holy Spirit. Look at the difference. In Acts, 27, 13-26, Paul is a prisoner of the Romans, being taken somewhere by boat. There is a wild storm and the soldiers want to leave the boat, which was a entirely reasonable feeling if one is near enough to shore and expects a shipwreck. But Paul tells them the angel of the Lord has told him no one is to leave the boat until they run aground in a certain place, for if anyone does, all will be killed. The centurion believes him and though as he prophesied, they lost the ship, not one of them was hurt. Many today are preaching ‘get out of the boat - take the skiff’; but Paul says, no, stay in the boat.

We are tested by the Word of God. Jesus told Peter and the rest, “don’t worry, be happy; it’s me.” THAT was the message. But Peter did not believe; he wanted proof. “Lord, IF, it’s you…” do this for me. Our job is to believe the message and let Jesus will take care of the rest. The angel told Paul he must go before Caesar – so why all the drama on the way? How was Paul to get to Rome from a shipwreck on a small island? But he did, and on the way, many were touched by the message of Truth that may never have heard by any other method. God is not our “sugar daddy” to pay our bills and give us freedom to do our own thing. He is our father, and is in the business of correcting us. We are corrected when we hear His Message and do it.

Much preaching today is escape – God is your safety chute out of a burning plane. He is the solution to all your problems! He will pay your debt, heal your sickness, give you wealth; and you know He is with you if you pray and believe and you get a new car! Certainly the Bible gives these promises and we need to believe them all. But the Bible also says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers them from them all”. He does not teach us to pray for a way around a problem, but for power to overcome the problem. We’re not to escape – we are to vanquish. Sometimes the problem is the point. How are you to show faith, or even have any faith, if there is no need for faith? If following Jesus demands nothing from us, what is the point? We are to give ourselves to Him completely, to live for and by what He says and not for ourselves at all – as He said, He did not come to be served, but to serve! We are to be like Him; therefore, we are not here for Him to serve us, but we are to serve HIM and each other.

Another common mistake by baby Christians is to prepare and decorate the newly clean home – yourself - for occupancy. You accept that Jesus died for you, and so you no longer swear, or drink, or fornicate, or smoke. And you think because your house is clean and empty of sin that it is filled with Jesus; but without the Holy Spirit, it is only full of your pride in your “change”. As it says in Revelation of the Church of Laodicea, they had knowledge of God, but denied the full Message because they put their faith in their cleanliness – their activity, not HIS; their self-value and not His Salvation. They developed their own message – be clean, be good, be saved! They said, “We are rich and need nothing”, but He said, “You are poor and naked, and have nothing – buy my real Gold – accept MY Message”. But His Message brings trouble – He says, ‘if I was persecuted, so will you be!’ Real “good news”, huh? Yet that is exactly the point. Jesus said that the last days will be like the time of Noah – things were not bad in that time; people did what they wanted, they married and went about their business and had everything, they thought. Noah came with a message – “It’s going to rain, you must get in the Ark.” There had never been rain at that time, and they laughed at Noah, and when the rain came, the door was closed. They did not accept the Message. Jesus actually said of the church in Laodicea that He is OUTSIDE, and knocks at the door. We must let HIM in, or our “clean home” will become a cesspool, and as Jesus says, our last state will be worse than our first. His Message, His Spirit, must reside in us. This is the treasure we must give everything for – this is the pearl of great price, that a man will give all he has to own. This is treasure in Heaven, which nothing can destroy.

During the time I was living in the community, during my “success”, I went once to preach with T.L. Osborn in Africa. We had huge crowds, many healings and miracles and the power of God was truly seen in that place. There was a couple in the community, Joshua and Miriam. I met them at the Lake of Geneva and didn’t see them for a year after because they lived in Greece. Again at Lake Geneva I was preaching and that same couple were there. They gave their lives to Jesus and joined the community. At this time I went to the area of France where the Hugenots hid and where they made silk. We found a very old home there with a silk factory and decided to form a branch of the community there. It needed a lot of work, and Joshua was a wonderful carpenter; so some of the brothers decided to rebuild the place. This was the time when someone had given me a Rolls Royce because her child had been delivered by Jesus from drugs – so I came to this small village in my Rolls – which was a mistake. I meant well, but it was taken all wrong. Europe is not like America, where you are taught that abundance is from God and hard work. There, abundance means someone is being oppressed. Anyway, before I left on the Africa trip, I heard this couple was planning to go to France to the new project over Christmas. I told them, “No, don’t go. Wait until after the New Year! God says we should not go.” I had no idea why God said this, but I was clear that they should not go through with their plan. I went on to Africa, and during a call home, I spoke to the brother responsible for the community in Switzerland, Paul, and when we discussed it, I let go of the Message and accepted their “good idea” to go and finish for Christmas. Sometimes we second-guess God for what appears to be a good idea – an idea that seems to fit the Word of God. But we must listen to the Lord and not our own hearts or minds. The plan is His, no matter what seems good to us. I returned from Africa to Switzerland during the preparation for Christmas, and we needed to rent another chateau because we were overflowing with people! The Lord tests us by the Word of God and we need to be victorious by His Word, by His Message. This is the most beautiful thing God gives us. Peter says this is “pure gold” to be tested in the fire. I was in the oven and did not know!

No one ever told me exactly what happened, but what I was told is this: Joshua and the pregnant Miriam went with Paul and another sister to a town close to the new project. Before going back, they must’ve stopped for refreshments and Paul had more wine than he should have but did not show it. On the trip back, it rained, and the way was winding. He met another car on a curve, lost control and hit a tree. Joshua and Miriam suffered fatal head injuries. Paul had internal injuries and the other sister had broken bones. I got an emergency call and went directly to France. You cannot imagine our shock; at this time, NOTHING bad had happened to anyone in the community, we had no sickness, no death, and miracles every day. I drove all night. Later, I heard the villagers had said God was punishing us. It wasn’t punishment, it was a test. I got to the chapel, which was so beautiful it broke my heart. Their bodies were on the floor. In Europe then, the dead were brought back to their home until the undertakers could come. I was with dead people for the first time. I had seen people killed, but had never been with them. I was terrified, because I knew one day this would come to me, and was puzzled that this had happened to us. Yet I was full of faith too, having just come from all the miracles in Africa. I said to myself that it was impossible that this couple should die, of course God would want to resurrect them. We would fight this – I would pray for them to be raised and I did. But I got no answer – no voice, no movement, nothing. The next day, the undertaker came and took the bodies. We had to take the bodies back to Switzerland and oh, the scene! We were already thought to be a cult – but in Europe, being a Methodist or in the Church of God is to be in a cult – and their parents blamed me and fought us to take Joshua and Miriam’s living child, though we were her family and wanted to keep her. I had done everything that I had heard or read to do to properly pray to obtain the resurrection: fasted, believed, confessed the Word. Nothing. I was so afraid: accused by the parents; afraid that people would not believe anymore that Jesus was with me; afraid that we would be further persecuted. I did not know then that there is always a besetting sin we cannot remove; always an obstacle we cannot surmount. If there were not, we would never learn what prayer is supposed to be.