A Secret Prayer Life (John Wimber)

A Secret Prayer Life

God wants us to develop a secret prayer life with him. Why do I say that? Look at Jesus. Although he taught on public prayer, Jesus repeatedly stressed in his ministry this business of private prayer. “But 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 6:6). With prayer comes a reward.

Jesus also commands us to, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). The key to intimacy in this passage is doing the things dictated by your own heart as you relate to God — don’t do them for the applause, or approval, or the honor of men. Do them for God alone.

That’s a powerful principle. Many of us play out our lives for the blessing and approval of others. If you do it for the Father, with his approval in mind, with his response in mind, you will naturally develop that intimacy with him that can bring such delight.

He values the privacy of prayer. A major part of what is accomplished in the world today occurs “with the door closed,” one-on-one with God. Cultivate that intimacy and linger before the Lord in prayer. Allow him to help you formulate your requests and petitions. Nurture your “secret history” with the Lord. Make time for listening to him as well as for talking to him about all that is in your heart.

As a young Christian I used to pray over and over again, “Oh, God, make me strong. Help me to resist

temptation.” God finally spoke to me one night (an impression in my mind) and said, “You’re not going to become strong…ever.” That response caught me completely off  guard because I believed that someday I was going to have myself “together.” The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “John, just how strong do you want to become, seeing you can do nothing without me?”

The Lord gave me the verse, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing ” (John 15:5). The Lord used that verse to tell me, “You’ll never be strong. I am to be strong. I’m all the strength you’ll ever need.” That dependence is part of the relationship of intimacy that he desires with us.

John Wimber, Prayer: Intimate Communication (Anaheim: Vineyard Ministries International, 1997), 12-13.

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