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NEW Series: The Gospel of Peace with Holly Fortune, Part Five
92 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, the sister's and Holly dive into the life-transforming practice of the Secret Place — a sacred space of intimacy with God that Jesus modeled throughout His life and ministry.
You’ll walk away from this episode with a deeper understanding of:
- How Jesus’ private prayer life empowered His public ministry
- Why identity is formed through intimacy with God
- How your imagination plays a role in encountering Him
- The importance of deliverance from soul-level traps and spiritual decoys
- What it means to truly follow Jesus and sit in your rightful place as a child of God
This is your invitation to slow down, get quiet, and return to the place where you’re not just informed — you’re transformed.
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Transcript
Introduction and Series Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the girl I slept in my makeup podcast by three sisters who live in three different cities are at three different life stages and have three different perspectives.
00:00:11
Speaker
They are excited to learn and grow alongside of you. This is a space full of love and acceptance. No judgment because let's face it. We all sleep in our makeup. Please welcome Lauren, Megan and Kristen.
00:00:25
Speaker
Hey, sisters. hey welcome to another week. Listeners. We have been loving this series with Holly and we we're so excited. i can't believe we're already on episode five here and we're going to dive in to the secret place kind of where we ended last week. So welcome
The Concept of the 'Secret Place' in Christianity
00:00:42
Speaker
Holly. Hi, ladies.
00:00:44
Speaker
Good to be back. I'm so excited. Well, where do you want to start today? Do we just jump right into talking about what is the secret place? Because before I met you, Holly, I don't think I had ever heard anyone talk about the secret place with God.
00:00:58
Speaker
Yes, therein lies part of the conundrum. Yeah. that we find ourselves in with Christianity and whatnot. And so that's why I think it's so important to talk about it. It is part of the gospel of peace. It's a huge part of what the father has given us in Christ.
00:01:14
Speaker
You know, we've been talking about being in him. Psalm 139 talks about that we're fearfully and wonderfully made informed and formed in fashion in our mother's womb, which the Bible calls the secret place.
00:01:26
Speaker
Says that we're formed in secret and that our frame is not hidden from God, meaning before imaging. So now we have all this imaging where you can kind of see ah the frame of the baby. But before that, only God could see ah baby being formed in secret.
00:01:42
Speaker
in the mother's womb. So it was a hidden place, a secret place. It was under the watchful eye of Father God. And the Bible says it's a fearful place, meaning awe and wonder. It's a beautiful place. It's a wonderful place is where life is formed and shaped and brought into being.
00:01:58
Speaker
And that same understanding is what we need to bring into what we are calling the secret place of prayer, what we have now in Christ.
Biblical Foundations of the Secret Place
00:02:06
Speaker
So there is this way and we need to learn this. We really desperately need to learn this.
00:02:12
Speaker
to go into the presence of God, to take our mind, will, and emotions, and really physical posture into a place with God where we close ourselves in, almost just like being in the womb.
00:02:26
Speaker
And we're in his presence. We're surrounded by him to be protected, to be nurtured, to have intimacy, to know his voice, just like that that story where we can't see God fully,
00:02:39
Speaker
fully But we we know him. We can experience him. we We're nurtured by him. We're protected by him. The secret place prayer practice is something that Jesus did all of the time.
00:02:52
Speaker
So when scripture talks about him sneaking away, i think it's so interesting. He'd be doing miracles and ministering to people and he would just... peace out, you know, would leave, he would leave the crowd. I'm to start doing that at parties. Like I'm going to go sneak into the other room real quick. I got to pray for all you. I'm just kidding.
00:03:10
Speaker
Yeah. But he, he, it says that he would get up, you you know, early in the morning before, you know, the sunrise that he would always be going off a away to these private places.
00:03:21
Speaker
So what he was doing is he was going to what we call the secret place. He was going in and putting himself fully in the presence of the father to be nurtured, to be strengthened, to have clarity on his identity, which is huge to to know that he's the son of the father, and then to come out of that place and then do his public ministry. but I say this in a prayer class that I've taught is entire public ministry of Jesus Christ.
00:03:48
Speaker
His entire ministry includes going to the cross and defeating death, which is beyond what we really even know, understand when we say that, came out of his private secret place prayer life. Everything he did publicly came out of that private prayer life, which was ah the secret place. So that said, I personally believe this is possibly, i would put it with reading the word for sure.
00:04:14
Speaker
and I would put it with being filled with the Holy Spirit. But an aspect of all of that, is this posture, this practice of prayer, where we learn to be a spiritual being, we learn to be a child of the father, you know, and place ourselves under his watchful eye, and come to know him, like really know him.
Experiencing God in the Secret Place
00:04:38
Speaker
and know who we are, and then come out of that place, transformed, informed, shaped, informed, literally just like being in the womb. So that's what we're going to talk about today.
00:04:48
Speaker
Well, and if I can just add before you dive in to maybe help motivate the listeners, because I know that this encourages me, is, you know, kind of what's the point of all this? And if we can, Megan and I know for years have been speaking about this eternal mindset, but when we get to heaven, it's motivating for me to do here on earth.
00:05:14
Speaker
So if we remain in him, then whenever our times comes to meet him face to face, it will be a reunion rather than an introduction. amen And I think that that really encourages me to start living what you just said Holly, of bringing that spiritual life to now better. You know, we kind of touched on that last week that the gospel of peace is understanding that we're born again from heaven, from the spirit of Christ, and that we're already a heavenly spiritual being. God intends that we know him.
00:05:51
Speaker
As a child, and that we know the spirit of Christ, even though we haven't seen him in the flesh, so that when we do see him, when we're translated from this earthly tent to our heavenly tent or dwelling, that we're not being introduced. where We already know him.
00:06:09
Speaker
We can we recognize him because we know him. And the secret place is a very vital posture and practice that we need that ensures that we know him and we know that we're known.
00:06:24
Speaker
You know, so when Jesus says there's one of the most haunting scriptures in the Bible, Or I can't remember if he said or it's just in the word, but where many will come before him say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do many miracles? And so didn't we do all this stuff in your name?
00:06:37
Speaker
And he'll say, depart from me. I never knew you. I'm not here to be a theologian and say, i can tell you 100% exactly what that means. But I do know in good part, it means there was never and intimacy.
00:06:49
Speaker
There was never a being in him and him being in them. And instead they were, they wanted the public signs. They wanted the big public ministry and the public display, but they didn't really know him.
00:07:01
Speaker
And so he says to them, I never knew you. So the secret place is that place of being known is that place of belonging. It's where I know I belong to the father and I know he belongs to me.
00:07:12
Speaker
You know, God said to me once you have it down that you belong to me. But now I want you to learn what it means that I also have given myself to you. God has given himself to us, which is a huge statement. It's a huge thing to say. but he said to me, you know, now what?
00:07:28
Speaker
If you know I've given myself to you, now how are you going live your life? Now what kind of faith, you know, are you going to walk in? So the secret place, that my main scripture that I lean on, there's a number of them, but I think it's a really good like anchor passage for the secret place is Matthew 6, 6.
00:07:46
Speaker
and We touched on that, I think last week, but it says, when you pray, go into your room, your inner room and close the door and pray to your father who is in secret, which means the secret place.
00:07:57
Speaker
And he will, I'm paraphrasing, he will help you and nurture you and take care of you in the secret place. So then when you come out publicly, says that he will, he will nurture you and meet you in the secret place. So that when you come out publicly, he'll reward you in public meaning If I spend time in the secret place publicly, it will be evident that I have spent time in the secret place.
00:08:21
Speaker
There will be a faith. There will be a love. There will be a compassion. There will be a peace on me. There will be a joy in me. The things that I get in the secret place will become my public ministry. That's what that scripture means.
00:08:33
Speaker
So he's contrasting this to religious prayer, where we, I'm going to hit a couple of things where we babble. ah this way This is what Jesus said, okay? Where we babble, meaning we just like say a lot of things, begging God, trying to get God's attention and talking, talking, talking to God. And Jesus is saying, you don't, you're not trying to get his attention. He's your father.
00:08:59
Speaker
He's you already belong to him. So don't do that. And then he also says, don't make a show of your prayer life. You know, don't go into public places and pray. So other people see that you're this great person talking to God.
00:09:14
Speaker
So he's using those two things saying this is not an understanding of your identity. This is not an understanding of the gospel of peace. Those are two very religious things.
00:09:26
Speaker
ways of praying. And what he's inviting us into is a identity, is a place of belonging with the father where we place ourself under and in the presence of God.
00:09:39
Speaker
And we let him nurture us and speak to us and reveal things to us and empower us and love us and form us and shape us just like being in the mother's womb.
00:09:51
Speaker
This is so vital. I think i could say this is the most vital prayer practice any k Christian can have. Period. Hands down.
00:10:02
Speaker
If we don't have a secret place prayer practice, you know what we do? We look to a pastor. We look to a church. We look to somebody else to teach us. We struggle. We're frustrated. The secret place prayer practice is the way that we have our identity sorted out. We understand who we are and who the father is to us.
00:10:25
Speaker
Any thoughts on that kind of laying the foundation? Yeah, i was going to say that i always go back to, too, when you taught me prayer, if you translate it, and I think we talked about this in the beginning, it means to harmonize your heart with God's heart. When i really thought about prayer in that way, and then connecting that with the secret place, I think that's where prayer really started to come alive for me. felt more of just a routine before and me asking for things that led me to think about, okay, well, how do I shut my brain down?
00:10:59
Speaker
And actually, what does it look like to harmonize my heart with God's heart? Like that sounded foreign to me. And I knew like the first step was just like kind of shutting myself up and getting still and learning the spiritual side of myself more.
00:11:16
Speaker
i think that's what I always go back to too. When i i have a secret place practice now, but I still will fall back into routine. Like it still comes back. oh I've gone back into the old way.
00:11:29
Speaker
And so I'll catch myself in that. And what helps me to go back into the secret place and truly is not only the visualization in my mind, but just almost like to imagine like my heart and God's heart that they're communicating, like I'm taking my brain out of it.
00:11:45
Speaker
So that's
Subconscious Engagement and Spiritual Transformation
00:11:46
Speaker
it. Yeah. yeah So, and just to kind of jump ahead, like be of a listeners, a little more tangible, like understanding here. Right. And I'll come back to, so what happens in the secret place? I have seven things for your note takers that we, that will happen in the secret place.
00:12:04
Speaker
But before we get into that, kind of what you just said, this visualization, right? hu So God created our imagination. He created our ability, our capacity to visualize,
00:12:16
Speaker
um He he had created our imagination, meaning this capacity we have to produce images in our mind or in our soul. So the subconscious, I've read this in different articles, that 90% of our thoughts, this is kind of scary, actually, 90% of our thoughts are subconscious.
00:12:36
Speaker
Right? Only 10% of our thoughts, you probably know this, Megan, with all of your focus on renewing the mind, only 10% of our thoughts are conscious thoughts and for us, English words that we're aware of.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. ten percent 10%. So that as I go through the day, 90% of what's going on in my soul, in my inner place are subconscious. And what they say is their, their word pictures, their concepts, it's word pictures.
00:13:03
Speaker
And I kind of living from that place. So a lot of times we try to relate to God in the 10% category. You know, we read a verse, we talk to each other, we pray to each other, but we're only in this like 10% category.
00:13:16
Speaker
human understanding place. There's another 90%, which is what we discover in the secret place. And God created that. He literally created us to have the capacity and the ability within us to connect with him in a kind of, i don't know if I want to say subconscious, but a a non-English word way.
00:13:38
Speaker
yeah he can He can give us images. He can give us impressions that he can speak to us. And I call it our knower, that our spirit is our knower, where we just know we're in the presence of God. We just know that he's exuding his love to us.
00:13:54
Speaker
We just know that he's revealing the truth of who he is and in his kindness. to You just know this when you're in the secret place. And so one of the ways is, you know, that I've taught people to go there because we really struggle to turn yeah our thoughts off. Like you just said, yeah it is hard for most people to even be still, honestly, and not like look at your social media.
00:14:20
Speaker
i'm sure most can relate to this. You're like, look at Instagram or whatever. You'll get off. And then like a few seconds later, you get back on. You're like, wait, I was just on here. Why am I getting back on? Right. So our minds are just like,
00:14:32
Speaker
It's constantly busy now. It's not great. Yeah. So going to the secret place, the best way to learn this practice, and I want to stress again, you do need to be in the word, okay, because you can get into like mysticism or new age stuff with this practice, if you're not doing it through the Holy Spirit and in harmony with the word of God, and we don't want that. That's not what we're promoting at all. Yes.
00:14:55
Speaker
But you go in, you go into, a you do probably need for someone to learn this to get into a private place. I actually learned sitting on the floor of my shower. This is how I learned to be able to go there because I could not turn my thoughts off any other way. And then for some reason, the water running over me, you know, just you're in the shower, you can't look the phone, you can't answer the phone. I guess some people probably do do that in the shower, but yeah. you but the But the water's running over you. For me, that just put me into that like almost wound type state.
00:15:25
Speaker
And I would imagine the Holy Spirit just showed me to do this. I would imagine standing before the throne of God. i literally imagine just like there's God and I'm standing before his throne. i would just place myself there as a father, as him, as my father and as my authority, as his, my authority in life is authority over me.
00:15:47
Speaker
And when I started doing this, I started having these encounters with God. she I would like have these images of colors and like the and almost like I almost feel the wind, you know, yeah blowing. And at one point I could see my hair like blowing and moving with the power.
00:16:06
Speaker
of the throne of God. And this is one of the first times i so clearly heard him speak to me when I wasn't even asking ah question or anything. And he said to me, ah surrender your body. This is one of the first secret place encounters I had. He said, surrender your your body.
00:16:25
Speaker
And i meant I knew that was the voice of God. And I remember coming out of that place thinking, surrender my body. well I'm like, I'm not like, you know, dating anyone, sleeping around. i'm like I'm not doing anything with my body that I know of that's a problem.
00:16:41
Speaker
But what he was saying is, I'm glad you're here. And now you have to learn to surrender your mind, surrender your thoughts, surrender your humanity to me, right? And there's so much, you guys, we're talking about God and God encounters. I could just like ramble on for hours, which I won't do.
00:16:56
Speaker
But this is kind of the beginning of me realizing there's a place, there's a reality that I can go that's not make believe. That's not me making up.
00:17:09
Speaker
thoughts and images in my mind. I had to accept that God created my imagination. He created my spirit and he wants to give me images. He wants to reveal this spiritual realm to me.
00:17:22
Speaker
So there is a way to, for me, I sat on the floor of my shower. Then I, then I graduated to my closet, you know, that I'd shut myself in my closet or in my car because I traveled a lot.
00:17:34
Speaker
I pull up to a parking lot and I'm closed into my car and I would close my eyes and I would just imagine being under the watchful eye of the father and put myself there. And I would allow him, i would give him total freedom to just say whatever he wanted to say to me, to show me whatever he wanted to show me.
00:17:53
Speaker
And this was the beginning of discovering the secret place for me. I love that. And I want to touch back on something you mentioned a few minutes ago about our subconscious minds, because something that, you know, because all of our brains work differently and we input information differently and something that really stuck out to me. So I was in your prayer class and,
00:18:16
Speaker
And I was learning about the secret place and it was just this eye-opening experience. And then I was also taking this personal development course that was talking about our subconscious minds and how they've done studies that our subconscious doesn't know what's real or imagined. It only knows what you're emotionally involved with.
00:18:37
Speaker
And so if that's 90% of what we're thinking, ah when God talks about renewing our minds, it was like this huge moment for me where I realized I didn't even know what I needed to renew.
00:18:50
Speaker
And God was wanting me to get clear on what is actually going on. What am I emotionally involved with about myself and my identity? Because I know you talked in the beginning, like it's a place to gain clarity on your identity And for me, it was a really big transformational experience going to my secret place because I realized that my identity was really tied up in some false beliefs about who I was. And they were stuck in my subconscious from when I was little and just growing up and different things. We all have those experiences where we kind of, you know, our neural pathways connect and we believe something about ourselves that actually God didn't say was true.
00:19:29
Speaker
it was potentially like a word curse put over you. And so i just wanted to touch back on that also through this practice with the secret place, asking God to help to show you to become aware of some of those subconscious beliefs that you're emotionally involved with about yourself that are not true.
00:19:47
Speaker
um and that's the big like revelation. There's been a lot of beautiful things out of my secret place. I have a couple stories I could share, but the biggest thing has been that he really wanted me to see myself as he sees me, not as everyone else.
00:20:04
Speaker
Because my life, I was living out of this view of myself in my subconscious that I thought everybody else was viewing, if that makes sense. And so, and or you know, this episode isn't about identity, but that's what The Secret Place has really been one thing. You know, it's such a beautiful, it's about having that experience with getting to know him, harmonizing our hearts. And then I do feel like he reveals things to help you renew your mind.
00:20:32
Speaker
i mean, it really is identity. Yeah. I mean, the gospel of peace is that we're born again from that i'm Christ and we now have to, I no longer live. Christ lives in me, and but it's me, me and Christ together. So I have to learn a whole new identity. i have to understand who I really am. And when you say, learn to see myself as God sees me, and just want to even lean in on that a little more.
00:20:59
Speaker
The way that God sees you, Megan, is the truth of who you are. yeah it's not just like, oh, God sees me as, you know, perfect. And, you know, like, almost like this, like, slightly delusional, beautiful, but you know, beautiful father or like a mother that can see no wrong in their child, you know.
00:21:19
Speaker
The way God sees you is the truth of who you are because he is truth. And the word salvation, you know, means to be set free, healed, delivered. So we're born again from heaven but in the spirit. And what we're talking about is a spiritual prayer practice or spiritual prayer posture, awareness, just called becoming aware that we're spiritual beings.
Benefits and Testimonies of the Secret Place
00:21:41
Speaker
Yeah. But our soul Our mind, will and emotions is how we've all learned to so describe the soul. I think it's slightly more complex than that, but our soul has to be set free, healed and delivered.
00:21:54
Speaker
We were not created for pain. We were not created for oppression. We were not created for depression. We were not created for trauma.
00:22:04
Speaker
We were not created for that. That's part of the fall. And that is why it is so much. It's like distraughting. Is that word for our soul when we go through those things? Cause we actually weren't created for that.
00:22:19
Speaker
yeah So when we're born again, we are born again slash created for peace, joy, freedom, freedom intimacy with God, confidence in who God is and who I am, love, generosity, no lack.
00:22:36
Speaker
I'm part of a kingdom, a heavenly eternal king. That's actually what we're created for. so we have to learn to live from that place. We have to learn to let God transform and conform, come back to the womb, form us and shape our souls to think correctly and to draw from almost like the umbilical cord of the spirit of God, because that's actually what we're created for is what our soul thirsts for that. Our soul pants for rest and for peace and for joy and for glory. It's what we're made for. And the secret place is the place of encounter.
00:23:14
Speaker
personal encounter with God, where I experience all of that. And he will, going to give you these, these are super easy and quick, seven things that do happen in the secret place.
00:23:24
Speaker
Okay. great Okay. So number one, the number one thing we've already touched on it is identity through intimacy. Okay. It's not about theology. One of the dangerous things about the season that we're in now in humanity is we have so much information. We can get addicted to just information and sound bites and theology and cool. It's just, that's not great.
00:23:47
Speaker
That is not identity that that actually can become something else. But the secret place ensures that my identity isn't coming from just theology or just reading a verse, but it's coming through genuine oneness and intimacy with the father.
00:24:02
Speaker
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, it's how I know I'm a heavenly spiritual being. That's literally who I am. i am a spirit being living in a physical human body. So I have a living soul.
00:24:17
Speaker
Okay. That's my identity. Number two the secret place is where I come to know. It's the realm of knowing. Know the truth and the truth will set you free We know this scripture, right?
00:24:29
Speaker
So the secret place is this realm of knowing. You will find the more you go into the secret place, the more you just get what we call downloads, you know, from God, where all of a sudden you just know something about God or yourself.
00:24:41
Speaker
Like you said a minute ago that we just literally would not know without God revealing it. yeah and And truth is a realm. It's a reality. It's not just pieces of information.
00:24:53
Speaker
So it's identity through intimacy. It's the ah place where we come to really know the truth. Number three, it's a place of transformation or being formed. Just think about the the womb again, where God is forming us almost like in the womb of God. He's forming us, transforming us.
00:25:11
Speaker
Our soul, mind, will, and emotion. So that's number three. Number four, this has been a huge part of my story. Okay. And I touched on it last week. It's a place of deliverance. So by deliverance, we're not always saying ah demon being cast out of you.
00:25:26
Speaker
We're saying that there's your soul is entrapped. It's what you just said. Our souls are entrapped. with trauma, with betrayals, with abuse, with I've gone through all of these things.
00:25:43
Speaker
Our souls are entrapped and my pastor cannot. And again, I just keep coming back to this because I'm not digging at the church. It's just in the Western culture.
00:25:53
Speaker
We have so many churches on every corner, so many pastors, so many things to go to that we go to that too much. And then we don't have this practice. That's why I keep touching on it. But being in the secret place, only God knows exactly how to get my soul free. Psalm 91, for your listeners, if you've taken notes, we're on point number four that happens in the secret place, deliverance, write down Psalm 91.
00:26:18
Speaker
Psalm 91 talks about making God your dwelling, your secret place. It's all about the secret place. And one of the verses says that he delivers us from the snare of the trapper.
00:26:30
Speaker
ah And what that's talking about, it's actually ah bird trapper is the analogy it's using. But he's talking about the traps of the soul, the things that ensnare us.
00:26:42
Speaker
The things that have us bound up in our soul, false ah decoys, things that look like intimacy with God, but they're not. Wow. Okay. So this is a big, big part of and the secret place.
00:26:55
Speaker
So again, number one, identity. Number two, you this is where you know the truth and where you're known. Number three, transformation, where we're just conformed and shaped by the spirit of God rather than by the world.
00:27:09
Speaker
Number four, it's a place of deliverance for our soul. So important. Number five, it's a place where we're strengthened and empowered. It's what I said about Jesus in the beginning, where he comes out literally empowered with his mission out of this secret place.
00:27:25
Speaker
So that's number five. Number six, this is how we're kept from deception. This is when I spend time in the secret place, the likelihood of me fall and falling into deception from some other speaker or preacher or minister is really low.
00:27:40
Speaker
And number seven, the secret place is the place we're sent out from. to govern the earth from the heavenly realm. That's a big one. That's probably like a whole nother series. That's the mission that I'm on.
00:27:51
Speaker
I'm just learning to teach the foundation before we get to number number seven. This is how important the secret place is. Wow. Can you say that last one again? The place we are sent out from to govern the earth from heavenly places. this is The secret place is the place God sends us out from to govern the earth from heavenly places.
00:28:15
Speaker
as we're seated in heavenly places. So if we're struggling with, what does it mean we're seated in heavenly places? What does it mean that God sets me free? What does it mean to have a sound mind?
00:28:26
Speaker
What does it mean that I'm a child of God? All of those things get answered in the secret place in harmony with the word of God and by the powering and the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
00:28:37
Speaker
and be really clear on that. ah There are some people out there that take it too far and they get into some kind of mysticism things. I've seen some of that happen. And I would guard ah definitely against that.
00:28:49
Speaker
Definitely. And I think it's important just to share, too that we are teaching here. And so how do we encourage people to get into their secret place?
00:29:02
Speaker
I guess a testimony could help bridge. Yeah. So I'll share and I've shared it before on the podcast, so I won't go in like too much depth, but hopefully if you've heard it before, maybe it'll speak to you in a new way today. But when I first started going to my secret place, when this concept came,
00:29:22
Speaker
Because it was new to me when I took your class, Holly. i think I've told you this. It was kind of and interesting experience because you asked us to close our eyes and just in our imagination, imagine that we're walking into a room and we shut the door behind us.
00:29:39
Speaker
And we're going to sit with God. That was like my first, you know, step in this. And I'm like, okay, so I go and I close my eyes and I don't see anything, but like, I walked into a blank white wall room. There was a very basic chair in the center.
00:29:56
Speaker
I was like, wow, okay, my imagination is very basic. And so i go and I sit in this chair and I just kept going back day after day and it kept looking the same, but it felt like I was maybe in an insane asylum. That's what it felt like to me for a little bit because i was I wasn't experiencing what you were talking about yet, the encounters in those moments. And so I just share that because I think You know, it's going to look different for everybody. But I will say I was consistent and I was like, I'm just going to keep going back. And I just would ask God in those moments.
00:30:31
Speaker
And I did feel this impression that I was working on shutting my brain off in this room. That was what I was supposed to be doing.
00:30:42
Speaker
And so I just would come in there, be as quiet as I could, and just ask God to help me understand him, to get to know him better, that I just wanted to harmonize my heart with him. And so I would just keep going, going, going for, I don't even remember how long, I think months, honestly.
00:31:00
Speaker
and then one day i went, and I'm not saying this will happen for everybody, bu this is my experience, and I pray that you have... you know, ah beautiful experience in your secret place.
00:31:11
Speaker
But one day i was sitting in there and I just heard, I literally heard an audible voice in my head that said, Megan, look to your right. And I was like, okay. So in my imagination, I looked to my right and there's another door in this room that I was always in, but I was always facing the same way, just sitting there.
00:31:29
Speaker
and I was like, what? And so in my imagination, I get up, I walk to this door and I open it and it's a garden. And I'm like, whoa. was like, oh my gosh, God, was this here the whole time?
00:31:42
Speaker
and he basically said to me, yes, I have been waiting for you to pay attention, but you've been looking the other way. And I, it was just like a metaphor because I think, yeah,
00:31:54
Speaker
um I talk about my testimony a lot with my mom dying that like it felt like a wake-up call in that I was almost like sucked out of a trance that I had been living in. i was so focused on what I thought I needed to be doing for the world's standards and that was just another reminder and he called me to step into the garden it's just been a really cool experience because
Theological Insights into Jesus' Sacrifice
00:32:15
Speaker
ever since then my garden grows every time like I feel like me and him are in this under this tree together. There's like a stream and things keep growing. And, you know, he showed me at the beginning there was no flowers or anything. It was just like a ah kind of a barren garden, just grass. And basically was just reminding me that like everything I do day to day is planting seeds for life.
00:32:38
Speaker
the fruit of the spirit for generations to come. And so I, that's been my experience and testimony of the secret place. There's been like multiple other really cool things. And then most day to day, it's just him honestly filling me up with peace, with his love. Like I'm just there with him and trying to be as still as I can be. Some days it's harder than others, but it truly has changed my life.
00:33:04
Speaker
Yeah. That's so good. Thank you for sharing that. It's so important that we we all share our experiences and where the struggles are and how sometimes it does take a minute for us to really discover these things we're talking about. I'm so glad you said that because agree in encouraging your listeners.
00:33:23
Speaker
again, that's kind of what I've said. This isn't a sound by reality. We're talking about eternity. We're talking about God who's always existed, who goes beyond the universe. i mean, we can't even get out of our one galaxy. you know I don't even know if we really understand that. I was like, we're we're very, very limited um as human beings. And so we just need to humble ourselves and believe the word of God and be, be that there's a song that says, I have decided to follow Jesus.
00:33:51
Speaker
you know i love that song. i'm not going to sing it. I almost did. Um, um We need to be decided that we have turned ourselves into God, that there is no life apart from him, that I need the life and the righteousness and I need the peace of God with God that Christ gives me. And I am decided I'm not going back. I'm not going to look at myself as partly my own and then partly belonging to God. I have decided to follow Jesus, period.
00:34:23
Speaker
So no matter how long it takes me, to break through my own limitations and my own frustrations. Like I'm not going to, where else am I going to go? Who else has the words of life? Like we just need to be decided. And that's what you're describing is you decided that there is a secret place and you you trusted me. So thank you for that.
00:34:43
Speaker
ah You know, that Holly is not crazy um and that she obviously has encounters in the secret place. And I, too, need to have encounters in my secret place. You know, I said this in the in the prayer class that when when and I think I touched on last week when Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you, it's better that I leave you.
00:35:03
Speaker
is what he said to the disciples so he can a send the Holy Spirit. And then another verse, he also said that he, that when he goes to the father, that he's going to sit down. I want your listeners to get your head around this for just a second.
00:35:16
Speaker
The son of God, who is the creator of all things, just let that land ah put on flesh somehow. was born through a woman, very humbling for God, came to to this earth, this little planet, and this tiny little planet in the ecosystem of the universe that we all live on and became human and he but he He came in our likeness. he He's God, but he kind came in our likeness and he absorbed death for us.
00:35:48
Speaker
Death has to be. but God said the beginning, you shall surely die if you. So those words can't be erased. So someone's got to absorb the death. Either we do or Christ does second death. OK, he did that.
00:36:03
Speaker
And then he put on. His heavenly immortal body. That's what he walked around in after his resurrection. I don't hear a lot of people teach on that, but we should teach on that more. He walked through walls.
00:36:14
Speaker
There's so much there. yeah And then he ascended into this unseen realm. And this is the part I want us to, we just have to believe the believing is the problem. We don't believe he sat down as a man the right hand of God in heaven forever, for all eternity. And he took that spot for us.
00:36:38
Speaker
So he sat down as a human being beside God so that anyone that entrusts themselves to Jesus can be not only restored back to God in relationship, but gets that seat with him as a son, as ah as a child of God. It's so radically crazy extreme And I don't know if this is ah fully accurate, but I think it is I think that the son of God allowed himself to become a man forever.
00:37:11
Speaker
i don't know exactly what form he was in before he put on flesh, but he never takes it off as far as we know. That's so what God did. mean, he's God is so it's so humble of him. It's so Giving of him.
00:37:29
Speaker
okay why Why am I saying all that? Because when Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you, he absolutely prepared a place for us in the spirit.
00:37:42
Speaker
in our humanity, where we can enter into the presence of the Father now, not just God, in the spirit realm now, not just one day, but now. And that's what the secret place is.
00:37:56
Speaker
So the reason I'm striking that chord is because it is the it's a big part of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us. He is the door that we go into the room. heat When he says, I'm the door, part of that meaning is come into your secret place.
00:38:15
Speaker
And I'm that door that you come through so that you can come into the presence of the father, the full access that we now have to the father. who is the source of all life, who is the author of love and the author of joy. He created it. It's his, it's who he is. It's his idea. And so this place that when he says, I've gone to prepare for you a place that,
00:38:42
Speaker
The secret place is the deposit. it is It is the beginning of that place that Jesus has prepared for us. It cost him his life. It cost him pain. he you know i found I don't even know the exact words to put to it, but this isn't just like a prayer practice that's cool that you know you can go to to feel a little better. No, this is yeah the presence of the Father that we have access to.
00:39:10
Speaker
And what Jesus is saying kind of on credit, because it was before he even died to his disciples is he could have taught anything on prayer. mean, he taught something.
00:39:21
Speaker
What does he teach? He teaches the secret place and he, he stresses to them. You need to go into this place under the watchful eye of your father and learn to close yourself in. oh Okay.
00:39:35
Speaker
And I taught this in the class. This is where the, Game kind of changed for me when I was trying to access the secret place. I learned Cause I used to try to do that and I would have some encounter like you were saying, yeah but I wasn't fully bringing myself in.
00:39:54
Speaker
Meaning there were places in my heart or my life that I hadn't really fully surrendered. I'm not going to let God touch those. Yeah. I'm just keeping it real. And I can probably almost everybody listening can relate to this because maybe God will have me change something. I don't want change.
00:40:12
Speaker
maybe God will tell me stop dating that guy. You should not be dating that guy like that. I was just afraid of those things. Yeah. And so this one gal, Trisha Eccles, God bless her. Who was on my podcast that I did yes love hear Yeah.
00:40:25
Speaker
She was talking about, you know, the Lord showed her about the secret place that your house is like, your heart is like a house. It has many rooms and you have to learn to give God access to every room. Yeah.
00:40:37
Speaker
but So part of the secret place of being able to shut yourself into the presence of God means you have to bring your whole self in. You have to be willing to turn it all into God and be completely vulnerable.
00:40:50
Speaker
Like this sounds kind of weird to say, but like someone's just like getting bare before God. Yeah. Just being, you know totally bare before God and allowing him to have full access to our heart full, like trust him that he's good.
00:41:06
Speaker
and I want him to see everything in my heart. I want him to see everything going on in my mind because he loves me and he wants to help me and free me and protect me. And one of the things that keeps us out of the secret place is me not trusting him.
00:41:21
Speaker
With full access to my heart. not i that i'm just yeah I know this is like, a I'm not accusing people of this, but like we all do struggle with this. we We don't really fully get totally vulnerable for God. We like to be strong in our own strength.
00:41:38
Speaker
We want to do things our own way. We want to have God and all of these things, but we don't fully want to turn ourselves in. We're still reasoning and we're making that kind of our, our God, all of that reasoning that we do.
00:41:50
Speaker
I know that's a mouthful, but as you can tell, I'm super passionate about this because I believe it is the most vital, if we want to say the word practice, that as a Christian or a believer.
00:42:05
Speaker
so Yes. For whatever. And every time I make myself and then I get something sorted out with God, I'm like, what is wrong with me? Why do I still like that? battle, you know, and the Lord has told me, you're not believing in that moment, that what you need will happen in the secret place, you're believing at that moment, what you need is something else, you know, it's just a belief issue.
00:42:28
Speaker
Yeah, I always go back to my own strength, I guess, like kind of the first episode talking about trust and that yeah T is towards him and the bottom T is toward myself.
00:42:38
Speaker
I think that's where I think we all have our little pockets where the enemy knows that we're more easily accessible. And I think mine is I i tend to think, OK, well, what can I do?
00:42:49
Speaker
to make this move forward or whatever thing is that I'm dealing with. And so God's constantly like, no, come to me. And so for me, it's been almost more like, okay, moment by moment, when even when I'm walking into a Zoom meeting for work, like, okay, I'm going to like literally take Even if it's two minutes to get in my secret place and ask God to speak through me and be with me. And that's been really powerful for me too. It's not just about this long practice in my secret place. It's like this moment by moment of just shutting myself down and feeling his presence, feeling his peace and harmonizing our hearts just, you know, throughout the day. And that's been
00:43:31
Speaker
the most beautiful part of it, I think is that it's a true relationship. And you know, you hear that all the time, but the secret place is where I have built that relationship more than ever.
00:43:42
Speaker
hundred percent. And it's the play it's the, that's with you, no matter where you are, no matter what church you go to, no matter what stage of your Christian walk you're in, no matter but yeah if someone said to me, okay, Holly, you're, you're a teacher You know, you've done, you've had this, whatever, you know, they went through
Ultimate Importance of the Secret Place
00:43:59
Speaker
all the things. What's the one thing that you, like, if you had to give up everything and you could only keep one thing, what would it be? And I'm, it is 100% the secret place.
00:44:07
Speaker
Like, you know, like, I'm not, I don't, I don't need to be known. and don't need a platform. And part of the reason why i literally don't need that is because the secret place and really what we're saying is this intimacy with the father and being known by him and knowing him and having,
00:44:24
Speaker
This vital life with God, this relationship with God, my father, and having ah many years now you know, I mentioned in the last episode, I went through a really hard betrayal from a spiritual mentor, 15 years older than me, newer for many years. It was horrible, heartbreaking thing. And I know a lot of people have been through church or and what we call it out there.
00:44:49
Speaker
And that church hurt. And why we need to take that very seriously, no matter what side someone's on is because it does hit deep because it's spiritual and it can be very confusing.
00:45:00
Speaker
But it was through the secret place that God healed me. He never spoke bad about the other person. He doesn't do that, but he healed me. He showed me how the enemy got in there. He showed me exactly the spiritual warfare that happened and how that the enemy's goal was to hurt me. and to hurt the other person and turn us against each other. He like unpacked all that for me in the secret place.
00:45:24
Speaker
He was with me. i had two years of like anxiety and headaches and physical symptoms because I was so hurt by that. I couldn't, I couldn't get it sorted out in my head. any listeners can relate to this where you go through something and you're like rehearsing it in your head, trying to figure out what happened, how, why the, it just, it's like, there's no landing strip.
00:45:47
Speaker
for it. You can't land the plane. And God was with me through all of that. And it was through this me leaning in heavily out of desperation. This is when we really get into the secret place when you have to, right? It's like a matter of like life and death is what it feels like.
00:46:04
Speaker
Yeah. And it was through that where he took me so deep and he like my intimacy with him grew dramatically. and I came out of that. And one day he showed me He showed me that he was with me before it happened. He was with me and grieve with me and and all of that when it did happen.
00:46:25
Speaker
He healed me from it. But then he did this thing I didn't expect. He accelerated things in me. Like I could, after that, going through that with God and getting healing from him, my ability, for lack of better word, to hear his voice and be in tune with him,
00:46:45
Speaker
like went up, leave some bounds. I didn't set out for that. That wasn't like on my checklist. I just trying like get healed and fixed. yeah But I came out of that with this depth and this intimacy with him. And I can hear his voice pretty much now anywhere. i can, like you were saying, pause pause.
00:47:05
Speaker
tune into him. um and he accelerated me in a lot of ways. So the one reason I'm so passionate about this is because I've lived this out for many, many years. The one thing I was going to say just a second ago is a big part of the secret place is where the Holy Spirit is your teacher. it actually says in Hebrews 8, 11, it's the end of Hebrews 8, 10, 11 for your readers, if they want to write it down. But 11 says that we will no longer the What that saying? Christ, you receive place the throne God. What that saying?
00:47:39
Speaker
meaning all who are in christ from the least of them to the greatest what is that saying it's saying that in christ you receive a place it the throne of god In the presence of the Father, the creator of all things, one with the spirit of Christ, and you receive the Holy Spirit, what you are given from the least to the greatest, from the youngest to the oldest, from the newborn Christian to the guy who says, I've done ministry for 50 years.
00:48:11
Speaker
We all get the same thing. So what God is saying is you don't need, it's great to have help. I have a lot of teachers I listen to. It's super helpful.
00:48:23
Speaker
Yeah. I don't need that. What I need is to know the Lord and to know the secret place. So the rest of it just becomes kind of like icing on the cake. Yeah.
00:48:33
Speaker
So I'll go to the secret place. I'll have these encounters and I'll listen to like a pastor or sermon or whatever. And I'll be like, Oh yeah, that's, yeah, ah that's language to what I've been, you know, feeling or experiencing with, with the father.
00:48:46
Speaker
I love that. So moral of the story, shut this off and go get in your secret place. Yes. yeah I think the best way can I get I'll give one quick testimony like you did recent one so that people who know like the difference. So I was sitting on my patio. So now I can what we call enter into or kind of like put myself in the presence of the secret place anywhere.
00:49:08
Speaker
I've now can do it. I had to learn closing myself off. I just couldn't get my thoughts and everything. So I do recommend starting that way. But sitting on my patio and I was praying. It's just like a few months ago. And I was praying and journaling and spending time in the word and all this stuff. And I thought, I need to go there. I just need to be in my in the secret place.
00:49:27
Speaker
So what do I do? I put my journal down. i close my eyes. i imagine that I'm under the watchful eye of the father. i literally imagine placing myself under the eye of the father, of father God.
00:49:43
Speaker
So I'm right up against him, but I'm under him as a, I imagine his love and just his authority, you know, over me. And I just put my whole self there. And and it in my heart, what I'm thinking is I'm his, he, he loves me. He has full access to me. I'm just going to go there and just be present in my mind and my emotions. And even physically I'm,
00:50:07
Speaker
I'm still and I'm postured. And I heard, no, the next thought I had, the next impression I had was how pleased he was. i felt the pleasure of the father that I was there, number one, but also I felt how pleased he was that he made me suitable for his son.
00:50:28
Speaker
i don't know why I knew that, but I just knew that. And that's not like an arrogant thing to say that him taking pleasure in himself, that through Christ, he's made me suitable to be a child of God and suitable for the son of God.
00:50:47
Speaker
And I've never thought that before. I've never heard that preach. But it it just gripped me. And I'm just like in tears. And then I heard him say, you need to know I delight in you.
00:50:59
Speaker
i And I said, i do I literally said out loud, do need to know that. You're right. And so I just sat in that. Well, then what did I do? I got my Bible out and I got my phone out and I Google search scriptures about God's delight in us.
00:51:14
Speaker
And I went and read the word of God and I dug into the meaning of the word delight. And I found that it means that God is so thrilled that we have returned to him, that we belong to him. He's so overjoyed that I am his, that he delights in me.
Aligning Revelations with Scripture
00:51:33
Speaker
And that word delight means that he makes a ringing cry. Right.
00:51:37
Speaker
over me, so excited that his voice cracks. So like, you I don't know why this comes to mind, but you think of like a kid that's getting like a puppy for Christmas and they're just like, yeah so excited. they, they yell out and glee and their little voice cracks and they're crying. You know, it's just like this delight, right?
00:51:57
Speaker
In this moment, Megan, what was happening for me is I had stuff going on my life, you know, was in pretty much full-time ministry and struggling through some things.
00:52:08
Speaker
And I'm trying to work it out with God, you know, and I get to the secret place and he downloads these things to me that set my soul free like a nanosecond.
00:52:19
Speaker
Wow. In that moment, it like brought me to this place of rest. it It brought me closer to his heart where he's more real to me in that moment.
00:52:31
Speaker
But the other part of the story that I want to highlight is I do make sure that what he speaks to me in the secret place that i also go seek out, you know, in the word of god And what that does is it solidifies me in truth. So I know I'm not just over here making up holy things with God. I'm having encounters with God that I can also, you know, back up in the word of God.
00:52:53
Speaker
So if I was to give, that's a short version, and I have many encounters, an example, I think that's a good, you know, ah good example of what can happen in the secret place. No, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing. So encouraging.
00:53:07
Speaker
So next week will be our last one, right? Number six. Yes. Okay. So next week I'm going share a word that came out of the secret place that started this whole thing. I didn't share it the first episode because I thought it would be, um I thought it'd be too much to share in the beginning, yeah but I'll share it tomorrow. It has to do to the gospel of peace.
00:53:29
Speaker
And it will, if if those that have been journeying with us or at least listen to most of these episodes, it will very much make sense now that we've kind of talked through all of this. And I think it'll help us together grab a hold of where we can keep growing and and what it looks like to govern the earth, you know, from the heavenly realm.
00:53:46
Speaker
I love it. Yeah, that sounds great. And listeners, we would love to hear from you. If you have ah story about the secret place, or maybe you just need some encouragement, some prayer, feel free to message us at girl. I slept in my makeup on Instagram. We can connect you with Holly too. So yeah, we would just love to hear from you guys. The more stories too, I hear about the secret place. It's just encouraging to keep going too. So thank you so much, Holly, for this.
00:54:13
Speaker
every episode. I just feel so honored to get to do this with you. Cause it's like, I get to hear it when we record. And then when we edit, I hear it again. And then I listen back and it it's wild how each time something different will stand out to me.
00:54:29
Speaker
and So yeah, I hope you listen to this a couple times listeners and take notes and we'd love to hear from you. You want me to pray this time? I'll let you pray. Okay. I love to hear you pray.
00:54:40
Speaker
Oh, well, father, we do. We just place ourselves and we just include the listeners right now. We just come before you right now. You're a good God. You're a good father. You're full of grace, full of mercy. You are love.
00:54:53
Speaker
You are joy. You are peace. So we just come to you right now. We place ourselves. Under your watchful eye, we give you full access, God, to our heart, to our mind. Lord, we just pray that you you would help us to feel that closeness that we want to feel with you. pray for our listeners. I pray for Megan and I, her sisters.
00:55:11
Speaker
God, draw us deeper. into your presence, drive us deeper into you, God, just like I was talking about today. And I just pray for these revelations to come. I pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation right now in the name of Jesus for every person listening, that they would catch the revelation, God, not just our human words, but they would just get that knowing that what we're speaking forth is truth. And most importantly, they would they would come to know you more, really know you, just like I was saying, how do you delight in us and
00:55:42
Speaker
how you're a father who wants to father us. So that's our prayer for this episode, Lord. Holy Spirit, teach us about the secret place. Help us. Our flesh just battles against it. So we do pray for your help, that you would draw us, that you would even give us ideas on where to go and how to get there, to get there.
00:56:01
Speaker
how to like you did for me, sitting in the bottom of the shower, going into a closet or wherever it is, would you speak to each person, how to lean into the secret place, you promise that you will teach us and lead us into all truth.
Conclusion and Prayer
00:56:14
Speaker
So I pray that for every single person listening to this as well, pray a blessing for Megan and her sisters. Lord, I just pray whatever things you put in their heart to accomplish or whatever their their true desire is for this podcast. oh God, we just pray you'd breathe on it, Lord, that you would bless them, Lord, that you would prosper them, and not just financially, but Lord, in the work that they're doing, that they would see the fruitfulness of it. And I know their heart is really to honor their mom's legacy. So i just speak a blessing over that for them today. In your name we pray, amen.
00:56:45
Speaker
Amen. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Holly. This was amazing. i hope everybody has the best week. Thanks guys. See you soon. Bye. Thank you for listening to another week of girl. I slept in my makeup.
00:57:00
Speaker
If you like us rate review and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want to learn more about us or get in touch with us, go to our website, girl. I slept in my makeup.com.
00:57:11
Speaker
or you'll also find links to our Instagram and Facebook. Thank you so much for listening. We really appreciate it and make it a great week. God bless.