PREFACE TO PRAYINSECRET
I was 36 years of age before the Good LORD gave me a chance to learn more about how He gets things done. Before that, I knew He was “out there” somewhere but had no clue how to relate. In Spring of 1982 one of the LORD’s ministers explained the situation to me in terms I could understand as well as respect. I started reading the Scripture (KJV) and verses like this one suddenly began to make more sense:
Ephesians 1:10
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
I had grown up in a family of Christian Scientists. They were upstanding people who really believed they could make themselves perfect by “knowing the truth.” The truth that they (and I, too) worked so hard to know is this: that evil, corruption, pain and death are illusion. To try and prove that to myself, I once allowed a dentist to perform the work of a root canal on one of my teeth—without any pain-killers. Me, “knowing the truth” about that pain and the pain itself became mutually exclusive. The pain convinced me that I would not ever become a successful Christian Scientist. So for 12 years after that dental appointment, I lived as a hedonist pagan.
Then the Good LORD allowed me to begin thinking of Him as that verse from Ephesians indicates. I had figured out the perfection in thought, word and deed demanded by Christian Science was impossible; that no matter how hard I tried to be p-e-r-f-e-c-t, I would always be falling farther behind. I began to learn that p-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n is the Christ-man’s bailiwick, not mine.
The LORD gave me the option to think of Him in Spirit and in Truth, or to go my own way. I had already figured out that my way was a losing proposition. All the money, all the women, all the drugs and luxury on earth would not ever be enough to quash the yawning, yearning emptiness of purpose that assailed me in every instant. I began to understand why Jesus is KING of kings and LORD of lords.
The Christ-man’s manners as a true gentleman in leading me into this understanding have been unimpeachable in their kindliness & grace. Even as I write these words the privilege to opt-out of Christ’s Understanding is on the table. He makes no slaves. He wants no craven, mewling toadies. He’s looking for those who want to live life to the fullest—forever. Here is another verse that made a lot of sense to me early-on:
John 15:15
Henceforth I call you not slaves; for the slave knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Having a friend who can, with a word, change the polarity of every third Up Quark in the 2nd & 4th protons of every 17th carbon atom everywhere in the universe—instantaneously—is not a bad Friend to have. Yeah, the key to God’s Sovereignty is raw, supreme power. But He does not strut and boast about power. What He hopes for, genuinely and sincerely hopes for is love. The Love of God is what it’s all about.
Here on this last battleground of our fallen, dying world it is near-impossible to remember that God’s Purpose In Christ Is Love. Everything Jesus says points to that one fact. I am the first to admit that I don’t live up to the standard Jesus laid down. But then, neither does anyone else.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So I have accepted the facts of the matter. All flesh and every particle in the earth and its universe are corrupt and decaying with Satan’s Death. When the LORD says, “I will make all things new,” he is doing so to clean house. The decay of Satan’s Death is chewing its way through everything. When the LORD says, “No more,” it’s over.
But it ain’t over yet, is it? From the looks of the constant madness in the global reports, the decay is accelerating; driven by godless mad men who are striving against an insurmountable impossibility even as they believe with all their hearts that the victory of their mad insanity is certain. It is a tragic comedy, indeed.
The LORD helps me accept these tragic, painful facts of life on earth today. By His Holy Spirit, the comfort of His love is a constant enlightenment. I know for sure that when He created all the souls that have ever existed, every one of those souls had the capacity for the love that He Alone brings to life. Even Satan had that capacity—and chose instead to become an apostate rebel. At this writing (April 2024) Satan is the only one of us who is utterly and completely doomed without hope. Everybody else (even George Soros!) still has an opportunity for repentance & redemption.
Here are three other verses that may help bring this Preface to its point:
Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Early in this process of conversion from Death to Life, and before I knew that verse from Zechariah existed, I had read these words in the New Testament. These words describe what most would consider a “small thing:”
Matthew 23:9
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Matthew 6:5-8 (KJV)
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
I took those two verses to heart in 1982 at the age of 36. I immediately stopped calling my old daddy “my father.” The refinement of prayer has taken a lot longer and it’s still going on. I didn’t “go into my closet” until 1987, five years after conversion began—weeping and wailing for hours—in a situation where I was sure of complete privacy.
From then to now I have noticed with increasing dismay how the Christian world makes an open show of praying. Even well-respected, conscientious pastors will open and close services with prayer. Whole congregations stand, waving hands in the air, tears streaming, praying so earnestly in public disobedience of the clear instructions Jesus laid down. I cannot fathom how or why otherwise intelligent people remain so devoted in their ignorance of what the LORD Himself has ordered. But that’s not my business. That’s the LORD’s business. Whenever He wants to tighten the reins on anyone, anywhere, anytime He knows, precisely, how to get’r done. BTW, this is the very first Scripture I memorized when the process of conversion began in 1982:
Jeremiah 17:9, 10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
As I say, the refinement of prayer has been a long process in my experience. It was not until 2023 that I began to notice how really ineffective my fervent outspoken prayers in my closet had been. I was running my mouth, describing minute details of plans, hopes, and dreams. Naming names. Everything. Pouring out my heart in a stream of articulated words. I can see now that such behavior is more catharsis than prayer.
The first 10 verses of David’s Psalm 91 gave me a big hint about the importance of secrecy in prayer. Beginning with “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
It began to dawn on me that, really, the single genuinely secret place on earth today exists only within the realm of thought. These rotten, evil bastards who design the snoop-machinery have not been able to penetrate the secrecy God has wrapped around the realm of thought. So instead, they are attempting to inject genetic serums that throttle down the processes of thought. If they can’t control it, they kill it.
Secret thoughtful prayer in the Name of Jesus is inspired by the Spirit of Christ. That is the same Spirit that did brood over the face of the deep before Christ-man Jesus said, “Let there be light.” It dawned on me that God my Father, and Jesus my LORD, don’t need to hear anything from my mouth. They already know what I would say before I say it. Therefore I have taken to silence in greater measure than ever before. And I gotta tellya, the difference is remarkable to say the least. Genuine secrecy begins and ends in communication between one human being and God, alone together in Your Thoughts. Praying in secret is just that, no more, no less. As Jesus says more than once, “You make void the Word of God by your traditions.”
END OF PREFACE
PRAYINSECRET
Matthew 10:16. An enigmatic admonishment from God’s Christ:
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Christ-discipleship requires discipline, courage, vivid imagination, and inspired wisdom. None of that happens without leadership and inspiration from Christ’s Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit’s leadership there is no way for a God-fearing, Christ-loving person to become wise as Satan (the serpent) AND harmless as a dove and remain faithful to God. Constant secret prayer is how it’s done.
Here is another enigmatic admonishment. From apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 10:5:
...casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...
Thoughts are the essence of identity. Satan is allowed to create lies, illusions & distractions to keep people from making the hard choices it takes to think for themselves; to keep people from understanding that thoughts are the beginning and the end of who we are and what be become between womb & tomb. Bringing every thought into captivity requires the kind of constant, silent prayer that only God can make possible and bring to life. As Jesus says, “Without me, you can do nothing.”
Here are the words of Christ’s instructions for obedience in the practice of prayer that he has ordained for these days of our flesh.
Matthew 6:5-8 (NKJV)
And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Another Scripture may help to set this subject on its proper footing: Jesus speaking to Peter in Luke 22:31, 32:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.
Checking the literal translation of the Greek, we find Satan didn’t ask, but rather demanded permission to sift through Peter’s life like a housewife sifting flour. The flour here is the composite of Peter’s God-given identity as a living soul: his thoughts, emotions, desires, compulsions, dreams, ambitions, griefs, joys. Everything. To withstand such a fine-tuned onslaught a faithful person today must be prepared for the ongoing battle. The secrecy of prayer led in every instant by the Holy Spirit of Christ is the only way. By His Spirit, the Christ-man teaches each of us to pray according to His Will, not our own.
Before declaring the Great Invocation, i.e., Our Father, which art in heaven… Jesus concludes his instructions by saying, "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."
God your Father, God my Father, God the Father of us all. God is the closest relative anybody’s got. The atomic structure of flesh and the living soul of God animating this flesh are as close to God now as God was close to the carcass of Jesus laid out as it was in the tomb of Joseph. Lay aside opinions and doctrines of man-made religion & science. Aim your thoughts toward understanding.
When You or I are determined to pray as we ought to, the composition and focus of thoughts within our soul is absolutely naked and opened to God's sight and God's understanding. He is there with us. He is everywhere with us. There is not one thing that we can think or say about ourselves that God our Father does not already know--better than we can ever know it.
Hebrews 4:12, 13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
As we are now, in these decaying bodies of atomic flesh, our senses and God-given gifts have been spoiled and ruined by Satan's evil lies & Death. There is nothing we can do to forestall the constant corruption of Satan’s aging and decay.
Hebrews 4:15, 16
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
The Christ-man, did not, repeat, DID NOT, lower Himself into one of these atomic carcasses to crank up a new religion. Christ humiliated Himself to do what not one of us can ever do for ourselves. Jesus of Nazareth took upon Himself the anguish, decay and death of all that has been touched by the evil and death of Satan. Collapsing stars, collapsing atoms, dying men.
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
On that exceeding high mountain, when Satan displayed his infernal powers to Jesus, Jesus did not dispute Satan’s ill-gotten dominion over the lives of dying men. Jesus withstood Satan’s onslaught because he knew that His Father had invested him with all power. In the days of Isaiah, our thoughts and God’s thoughts were divided from each other by Satan’s evil and death. Now through His tremendous obedience, the mind of Christ is available to humanity through the Office of His Holy Spirit. As Christ’s Spirit leads, deadly conflicts in our thoughts, words, and deeds are resolved in the mind of Christ, within the perfect secrecy of thoughtful prayer.
God’s Christ is Big Boss Man. Do not allow man-made religion to confuse you. Mere religion will not fill today’s need to understand the real fury of this spiritual war.
Come boldly to the throne of grace says the apostle. No appointment is needed; no other priest is required; no time need be set aside; no man-made ritual observed—no one or nothing but You and God communicating secretly in the Spirit of Christ.
There is no other genuinely secret place on earth but in your thoughts. Nobody but you and God know what you think. Until you say it out loud, what you think is secret, perfectly secret. A real genuine secret exists between one person and God Alone. Otherwise, it is NOT a secret. Get that straight and keep it clear: a genuine secret is between one person and God Alone. Period.
Luke 11:11-13
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Jesus promises that His Spirit will lead you into all truth and show you things to come. In his obedient sacrifice of Himself, Jesus made it possible for His thoughts to become a part of our thoughts right here, right now. The way that happens is by the Holy Spirit setting our thoughts in order according to the goodwill and determined purpose of God in Christ. In the closet of your thoughts, invoke God’s Presence according to Christ’s Ordinance of Prayer. Then no matter how busy you may be on the outside, on the inside be silent, be still. Listen. Secrecy is a Godly powerful weapon. Pray in secret.
¶¶¶ Oaf’s Substack attempts to restore some appreciation for truthful, useful supernatural
information. When the scientific revolution began, the plain supernatural truth of Christ’s work had already been slathered with a ton of man-made religion. Since then, science has helped us some and hurt us more. God is not religious. God is not scientific. God is God. God our Father needs no kind of man-made religion, philosophy or science or to be Himself. ¶¶¶
I found you through Absurdistan. For some reason your words brought me to tears.
Thank you for writing this.
For God so loved the world…