Title
Secret Code 属灵的秘密
Date
09/20/2026
Description
Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” NLT
马太福音 6:6 “你祷告的时候，要进你的内屋，关上门，向你在隐密中的父祷告。你在隐密中看见的父，必然报答你。” 和合本
Psalm 91:1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” KJV
诗篇 91:1 住在至高者隐密处的，必住在全能者的荫下。 和合本
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” NKJV
约翰福音 14:26 “但保惠师，就是父因我的名所要差来的圣灵，他要将一切的事指教你们，并且要叫你们想起我对你们所说的一切话。” 和合本
Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” NKJV
罗马书 8:14 因为凡被神的灵引导的，都是神的儿子。” 和合本
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you will, and it shall be done for you.” NKJV
约翰福音 15:7 “你们若常在我里面，我的话也常在你们里面，凡你们所愿意的，祈求，就给你们成就。” 和合本
THE SECRET PLACE — WHERE REAL CHANGE HAPPENS
在隐密之处，生命得以改变
马太福音 6:6 “你祷告的时候，要进你的内屋，关上门，向你在隐密中的父祷告。你在隐密中看见的父，必然报答你。” 和合本
Psalm 91:1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” KJV
诗篇 91:1 住在至高者隐密处的，必住在全能者的荫下。 和合本
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” NKJV
约翰福音 14:26 “但保惠师，就是父因我的名所要差来的圣灵，他要将一切的事指教你们，并且要叫你们想起我对你们所说的一切话。” 和合本
Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” NKJV
罗马书 8:14 因为凡被神的灵引导的，都是神的儿子。” 和合本
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you will, and it shall be done for you.” NKJV
约翰福音 15:7 “你们若常在我里面，我的话也常在你们里面，凡你们所愿意的，祈求，就给你们成就。” 和合本
THE SECRET PLACE — WHERE REAL CHANGE HAPPENS
在隐密之处，生命得以改变
Creator
Pastor: Mike Koger
Contributor
Hillside United Methodist Church
3737 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
3737 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
Transcription
SECRET CODE
Matthew 6:6
Have you ever known exactly what you needed to change — and still didn't change it?
You knew the conversation you needed to have. You knew the habit you needed to break, the thing you needed to start, the person you needed to forgive. You could see it clearly.
And yet, somehow, the same familiar patterns kept winning.
Here's the hard truth: to know to do better and still not do it can leave us in the same place as not knowing at all.
Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, the opportunity, and the responsibility to give something back by becoming more.
But "becoming more" doesn't happen by accident. Something has to get upsized in us.
And if we keep thinking the same things in the same way, the familiar past will sooner or later become the predictable future — unless we do something new.
So how do we actually change? Where does real, lasting change begin?
It begins with a seed — a desire, a revelation, an epiphany of some kind. And like every seed, it may sit in a dark place for a while, waiting for the breakthrough, waiting for the new morning that coming to the surface will finally reveal.
And that's where we're headed today — to discover what it means to meet God there, and why that's where real change begins.
I sometimes catch myself thinking, “I would like to go on this retreat…”
RETREAT: To retreat means to move back, withdraw, or go to a quiet and safe place — a private, secluded, peaceful place where we can get away from the constant stress and stimulation of everyday life.
We all need times of retreat. We all need silence.
And there are ways to make that happen even without going out of town.
Luke 5:16 — “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Matthew 14:23 — “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”
We don’t just need a retreat every few years. We need a daily retreat.
Where can we go? How can we do that?
Maybe the change we need isn’t first something we need to DO. Maybe it’s somewhere we need to GO.
Not necessarily to a retreat center. Not out of town.
Into the Secret Place.
The Secret Place is where we deliberately remove the constant stimulation of our external environment and become attentive to God.
There are answers awaiting us in the Presence of the Lord.
I can recall, many years ago now, sitting down with a Benedictine monk who helped unwrap this verse for me in a much deeper way.
Matthew 6:6 — Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Go in. Shut the door. Meet the Father. Listen. Come out changed.
? How can God speak to us if we will not listen?
The answers are revealed (revelation) in the Secret Place
Remember – the Book of Revelation was revealed to John while he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. (“what the enemy meant for evil…”)
What we are trying to do, sometimes only God can do.
Getting alone in God’s presence is where real change occurs.
Psalm 91:1 — “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Notice the progression:
First we GO there.
Then we learn to DWELL there.
Eventually, we learn to LIVE from there.
The Secret Place is not merely an appointment on our calendar.
God invites us to develop a life that is lived from His presence.
Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
How can we learn if we are not being taught?
How can we be taught unless we take time to be quiet and listen?
Matthew 6:5–6 — “Whenever you pray… go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”
In the world, people who achieve greatness in their chosen fields often do most of their work — their training and preparation — behind the scenes.
We see the performance. We rarely see the preparation.
Tony Robbins: “You get rewarded in public for what you practice in private.”
Jesus taught us to go into a private room, close the door, and speak to God in secret.
The reward is not merely recognition. God sees sincere devotion.
And more importantly, we encounter Him there.
Psalm 51:16–17 — “The source of Your pleasure is not in my performance… The fountain of your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before you.”
“rend your hearts – not your garments” (Joel 2:13) Ash Wednesday
“Tear your heart and not your clothes.” Return to the Lord your God, for He is full of loving-kindness…”
We need to be guided by the voice of the Holy Spirit so we can make wise choices and see our lives from the right perspective.
Romans 8:14:“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
WHAT VOICES ARE WE LISTENING TO?
We have all heard stories about people born into successful families — people with every possible advantage — and yet their lives end in regret and untapped potential.
I once attended the funeral of a person who took his own life, to the unimaginable shock of his family and friends. The minister performing the eulogy described his situation in a unique and thought-provoking way. He said this man “had a hearing problem.” He couldn’t hear the kind words — the voices of people who loved him, cared about him, and depended on him.
What voices are we listening to?
How can we hear if we don’t truly take time to listen?
It’s not that God isn’t speaking.
Maybe we have a hearing problem because we have never closed the door.
Deuteronomy 29:29 — “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever…”
We come to God in the Secret Place with an open heart and an open mind.
Dispenza: “The unknown is the perfect place to create something new.”
John 14:26 — “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit… He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 12:16: His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
The Holy Spirit has a reminding ministry. In these special times in God’s presence, He not only shows us deeper things; He can also lead us in the ordinary, seemingly mundane things of life.
We may remember something important that needs to be done. We may suddenly see the next step. God is a God of order.
He orders our steps and leads us in the best path for our lives.
It’s okay to take notes.
The closed-door times alone in God’s presence should be the foundation of our Christian lives. But eventually, the Secret Place becomes more than somewhere we visit. It becomes the place from which we live.
Psalm 91 uses the words dwell and abide. It speaks of ‘Elyon — the Most High; Shaddai — God Almighty; and Adonai — Lord, my Lord.’ The One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High learns to live beneath the shadow of the Almighty.
1 Thessalonians 5:17–18 — “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks…”
Or, as another rendering expresses it: “Make your life a prayer.”
This is dwelling. This is abiding.
John 15:7 — “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
Jesus told us what to do — and how to live our lives.
Romans 16:25 — God strengthens us “according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.”
2 John 1:2 — “…because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.”
CLOSE THE DOOR
There are really two doors in this message: the physical door Jesus tells us to close, and the mental and spiritual door we must close on the competing voices.
Close the door on the noise.
Close the door on yesterday.
Close the door on everybody else’s expectations.
Close the door on the voice that keeps telling you nothing will ever change.
And enter the place where Jesus said your Father is in secret.
The great promise of Matthew 6:6 isn’t merely that God rewards us there.
… It is that the Father is already there.
You aren’t going into the Secret Place trying to find God.
You’re going there because He is already waiting for you.
The SECRET CODE isn’t something God is hiding FROM you.
It’s something He wants to reveal TO you — in the Secret Place.
Psalm 91:1 — “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Go there.
Dwell there.
Abide there.
Live from there.
CLOSING PRAYER
Father, thank You for meeting me in the Secret Place.
Quiet the noise around me and the noise within me.
Help me to close the door and listen for Your voice.
Holy Spirit, teach me.
Guide me.
Remind me of Your truth.
Help me not just to visit Your presence, but to dwell there.
I release yesterday. I open my heart to You.
Speak, Lord. I am listening.
Lead my steps.
Renew my mind.
Change my life.
I will dwell in the Secret Place and abide under Your shadow.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Matthew 6:6
Have you ever known exactly what you needed to change — and still didn't change it?
You knew the conversation you needed to have. You knew the habit you needed to break, the thing you needed to start, the person you needed to forgive. You could see it clearly.
And yet, somehow, the same familiar patterns kept winning.
Here's the hard truth: to know to do better and still not do it can leave us in the same place as not knowing at all.
Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, the opportunity, and the responsibility to give something back by becoming more.
But "becoming more" doesn't happen by accident. Something has to get upsized in us.
And if we keep thinking the same things in the same way, the familiar past will sooner or later become the predictable future — unless we do something new.
So how do we actually change? Where does real, lasting change begin?
It begins with a seed — a desire, a revelation, an epiphany of some kind. And like every seed, it may sit in a dark place for a while, waiting for the breakthrough, waiting for the new morning that coming to the surface will finally reveal.
And that's where we're headed today — to discover what it means to meet God there, and why that's where real change begins.
I sometimes catch myself thinking, “I would like to go on this retreat…”
RETREAT: To retreat means to move back, withdraw, or go to a quiet and safe place — a private, secluded, peaceful place where we can get away from the constant stress and stimulation of everyday life.
We all need times of retreat. We all need silence.
And there are ways to make that happen even without going out of town.
Luke 5:16 — “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Matthew 14:23 — “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”
We don’t just need a retreat every few years. We need a daily retreat.
Where can we go? How can we do that?
Maybe the change we need isn’t first something we need to DO. Maybe it’s somewhere we need to GO.
Not necessarily to a retreat center. Not out of town.
Into the Secret Place.
The Secret Place is where we deliberately remove the constant stimulation of our external environment and become attentive to God.
There are answers awaiting us in the Presence of the Lord.
I can recall, many years ago now, sitting down with a Benedictine monk who helped unwrap this verse for me in a much deeper way.
Matthew 6:6 — Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Go in. Shut the door. Meet the Father. Listen. Come out changed.
? How can God speak to us if we will not listen?
The answers are revealed (revelation) in the Secret Place
Remember – the Book of Revelation was revealed to John while he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. (“what the enemy meant for evil…”)
What we are trying to do, sometimes only God can do.
Getting alone in God’s presence is where real change occurs.
Psalm 91:1 — “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Notice the progression:
First we GO there.
Then we learn to DWELL there.
Eventually, we learn to LIVE from there.
The Secret Place is not merely an appointment on our calendar.
God invites us to develop a life that is lived from His presence.
Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
How can we learn if we are not being taught?
How can we be taught unless we take time to be quiet and listen?
Matthew 6:5–6 — “Whenever you pray… go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”
In the world, people who achieve greatness in their chosen fields often do most of their work — their training and preparation — behind the scenes.
We see the performance. We rarely see the preparation.
Tony Robbins: “You get rewarded in public for what you practice in private.”
Jesus taught us to go into a private room, close the door, and speak to God in secret.
The reward is not merely recognition. God sees sincere devotion.
And more importantly, we encounter Him there.
Psalm 51:16–17 — “The source of Your pleasure is not in my performance… The fountain of your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before you.”
“rend your hearts – not your garments” (Joel 2:13) Ash Wednesday
“Tear your heart and not your clothes.” Return to the Lord your God, for He is full of loving-kindness…”
We need to be guided by the voice of the Holy Spirit so we can make wise choices and see our lives from the right perspective.
Romans 8:14:“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
WHAT VOICES ARE WE LISTENING TO?
We have all heard stories about people born into successful families — people with every possible advantage — and yet their lives end in regret and untapped potential.
I once attended the funeral of a person who took his own life, to the unimaginable shock of his family and friends. The minister performing the eulogy described his situation in a unique and thought-provoking way. He said this man “had a hearing problem.” He couldn’t hear the kind words — the voices of people who loved him, cared about him, and depended on him.
What voices are we listening to?
How can we hear if we don’t truly take time to listen?
It’s not that God isn’t speaking.
Maybe we have a hearing problem because we have never closed the door.
Deuteronomy 29:29 — “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever…”
We come to God in the Secret Place with an open heart and an open mind.
Dispenza: “The unknown is the perfect place to create something new.”
John 14:26 — “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit… He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 12:16: His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
The Holy Spirit has a reminding ministry. In these special times in God’s presence, He not only shows us deeper things; He can also lead us in the ordinary, seemingly mundane things of life.
We may remember something important that needs to be done. We may suddenly see the next step. God is a God of order.
He orders our steps and leads us in the best path for our lives.
It’s okay to take notes.
The closed-door times alone in God’s presence should be the foundation of our Christian lives. But eventually, the Secret Place becomes more than somewhere we visit. It becomes the place from which we live.
Psalm 91 uses the words dwell and abide. It speaks of ‘Elyon — the Most High; Shaddai — God Almighty; and Adonai — Lord, my Lord.’ The One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High learns to live beneath the shadow of the Almighty.
1 Thessalonians 5:17–18 — “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks…”
Or, as another rendering expresses it: “Make your life a prayer.”
This is dwelling. This is abiding.
John 15:7 — “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
Jesus told us what to do — and how to live our lives.
Romans 16:25 — God strengthens us “according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages.”
2 John 1:2 — “…because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.”
CLOSE THE DOOR
There are really two doors in this message: the physical door Jesus tells us to close, and the mental and spiritual door we must close on the competing voices.
Close the door on the noise.
Close the door on yesterday.
Close the door on everybody else’s expectations.
Close the door on the voice that keeps telling you nothing will ever change.
And enter the place where Jesus said your Father is in secret.
The great promise of Matthew 6:6 isn’t merely that God rewards us there.
… It is that the Father is already there.
You aren’t going into the Secret Place trying to find God.
You’re going there because He is already waiting for you.
The SECRET CODE isn’t something God is hiding FROM you.
It’s something He wants to reveal TO you — in the Secret Place.
Psalm 91:1 — “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
Go there.
Dwell there.
Abide there.
Live from there.
CLOSING PRAYER
Father, thank You for meeting me in the Secret Place.
Quiet the noise around me and the noise within me.
Help me to close the door and listen for Your voice.
Holy Spirit, teach me.
Guide me.
Remind me of Your truth.
Help me not just to visit Your presence, but to dwell there.
I release yesterday. I open my heart to You.
Speak, Lord. I am listening.
Lead my steps.
Renew my mind.
Change my life.
I will dwell in the Secret Place and abide under Your shadow.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.