OPENING SCRIPTURE:

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. (Matthew 6:6 NKJ)

The Secret Place being the place where you meet God face to face.

The Secret Place is also – The Place Where God Changes you.

The Presence of God has a transforming effect on our lives.

In Genesis 32, Jacob is returning back home. Jacob spent several years running from his past and right now he is about to face it.

Jacob Wrestles With God.

And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then JACOB WAS LEFT ALONE; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. (Genesis 32:22-24 NKJ)

• Jacob realizes that he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He can’t go back to Uncle Laban and he can’t move forward because of his unresolved past with his brother Esau.
• Jacob was left alone: Just him and God. The man in this encounter is God.

The Secret Place is a place where God gets us alone – not to destroy us but to confront us and transform us.

# 1: The Secret Place is A Place to Hold onto God

Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNLESS YOU BLESS ME!”. (Genesis 32:25-26 NKJ)

• Jacob realizes that He was in the presence of God and he does something very bold: He held on to God. “I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNLESS YOU BLESS ME.”

His greatest need was not to find a solution to his problem, but his greatest need was to Hold on to God.

Sometimes the only solution we have is to hold on to God, right where you are.

• In The Secret Place, he had God’s attention: “I will not let you go unless you bless me”

Jacob was holding on to God and God was holding on to Jacob.

MY SOUL CLINGS TO YOU; YOUR RIGHT HAND takes HOLD OF ME. (Psalm 63:8 NASB)

• As you hold onto God, He is holding onto you.

#2: God Changes Us by Confronting Who We Have Become

So He said to him, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

He said, “Jacob.” (Genesis 32:27 NKJ)

• “What is your name?” God was not looking for information, He was looking for confession
• “What is your name?”- “Who have you become?”
• The name “Jacob” means deceiver
• Jacob’s Confession: Yes, I am Jacob, Yes I have cheated, manipulated and deceived.

The secret place is where we stop pretending

• When we step into that secret place with God, we are inviting Him to look beneath the surface.

SEARCH ME, God, and know my heart; TEST ME and know my anxious thoughts. SEE if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)

• In that secret place, God reveals what we have hidden and needs to change.

#3: God Changes Our Identity

And He said, “YOUR NAME SHALL NO LONGER BE CALLED JACOB, BUT ISRAEL; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28 NKJ)

• Jacob entered as The Secret Place as Jacob, He left the Secret Place as Israel (Overcomer).
• It was more than just a name change, it was an identity change.

Our identity is determined by what God says about us.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)

• God doesn’t simply improve the old you. You have become a “new creation.”
• Our past does not have the final word.
• Transformation begins when we see ourselves through God’s eyes.

The secret place is where God replaces the identity we created with the identity He designed.

Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And HE BLESSED HIM THERE. (Genesis 32:29 NKJ)

#4: God Changes Us So We Can Walk Differently in Public

So Jacob called the name of the place PENIEL: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:30 NKJ)

• The word “Peniel” means “Face to Face”
• The Secret Place, you enter one way and you leave another.

Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. (Genesis 32:31 NKJ)

• God was weakening Jacob’s self-reliance. Making him rely on God instead of himself
• The limp was a reminder that he had an encounter with God. That God was not in charge of his life.

God changes us privately so that transformation becomes visible publicly.

• Sometimes our scars tell our testimony better than what we can

CONCLUSION

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?