The secret place is everything

This picture is one of the most important things I have. When I was in bible school, a colleague gave me this picture in one of our small group meetings. We sat in a coffee shop and he began to share with me, with tears streaming down his face "Philipp, you have been in this place with God for so long, desiring to be His friend. You sat there for many hours talking to Him and communing with Him. This is where your heart is, I see you sitting there with God and having fellowship“

6 continents, over 50 nations, countless changed lives and a relentless pursuit of the will of God later - this is still true. 

Miguel Cruz, I´m sure you don’t realize what this did to me. Thank you brother.  

In an attempt to keep things very simple and understandable, I wanted to share the top 5 spiritual disciplines that have become most important in my relationship with God. 

Many Christians - and even some ministers - struggle to maintain a devotional life. The problem is that they seek some type of feeling, and therefore struggle to cultivate a habit. Don’t go by feeling, go by what you believe and soon - you WILL have a much deeper relationship with God.

  1. Meditating on scripture

Most Christians read vast portions of the bible without internalizing those truths, and just gain knowledge, which is good - but you only bridge the gap from being a hearer to becoming a doer of the Word if you internalize truth, it becomes part of you, so that it then affects your thinking on a subconscious level. We believe with our hearts, not with our heads.
“Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up. If any one imagines that he already possesses any true knowledge, he has as yet attained to no knowledge of the kind to which he ought to have attained; but if any one loves God, that man is known by God.“ (1. Cor. 8:1-3)

  1. Gratitude & Praise

Much of ones devotional life should consist of thanking God. Contentment is not attained by having what you want, but by wanting what you have. Grumbling is one of the major signs of lost fellowship. The Israelites forgot how good God has been to them, and they started to complain, and not just a little. They were selfish and afraid and started to blame God for their circumstances. The circumstances for them were bigger than the promises of God. They started to complain and forgot everything that God did for them in the past, and they began to be focused on the circumstances that have not yet lined up with Gods promises, and they began to get angry and doubtful (Ex. 14:10-12; 15:22-24; 16:1-3; 17:1-3). NO ONE that maintains a lifestyle of purposeful gratitude will get offended at God.

  1. Journaling 

This may be difficult at first, but it gets easier over time. Journaling is one of the greatest tools to maintain self-awareness. I have filled hundreds of pages throughout the years, oftentimes I don’t even look at it a lot, I just review it occasionally. It can be an important part of the process of God working out truth on the inside of us. Journal a bit everyday and then review it every 90 days or so, to get a sense of the picture that God wants to reveal or what He is doing etc. 

“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.“ (Mal. 3:16)

  1. Praying in tongues

I believe every Christian should speak in tongues and have this wonderful gift from God, because of the tremendous benefit and encouragement it provides. If you have not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit and don’t have your prayer language, you can just ask God for it. He wants to give it to you. Take time to pray in the Spirit every day. Sometimes, when I don’t know what to pray, I pray in the Spirit, knowing that God knows how to act on my behalf.
”So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

  1. Declarations 

Having written prayers and praying them declarative is very powerful. Not only is it a way to make requests known to God, but it also establishes a mindset in the beginning of the day. We need to hear truth spoken over our lives, and sometimes we have to do that ourselves. 
”But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” (Rom. 10:8-11)