Entering the Secret Place: A New Dimension of Intimacy

Introduction

On the second night of the 3 Days of Fasting and Prayer at ICC Montreal, Pastor Renathe YAO did not preach a classic teaching. She led the congregation through a long time of prayer and worship, with one very clear thread: entering the secret place, standing there with an unveiled face, and letting the Father's presence kindle a fire that will never go out. What follows reproduces, in order, the powerful words she spoke aloud over the church.

Outline of the message

1. "Your kingdom come": the only request of the night

• The starting point is the prayer Jesus himself taught us: "Our Father in heaven... your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10).
• "Your kingdom come means that your government is established. It means that the Holy Spirit takes up all the space. That the Spirit of God takes control."
• "Today we have no other requests. Today we have no other thirsts. Your kingdom." The congregation is invited to raise its voice to ask for only one thing: the reign of God through his Spirit.
• Renathe recalls the word of Jesus: "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you" (John 16:7). The Paraclete was sent to sit, dwell, and reign in the midst of his people. The prayer of the night is simply: "Paraclete, take control."

2. The unveiled face: entering without a veil or distraction

• "We want to enter his presence without a veil. We do not want to keep veils on us. We do not want to come with pretense, or with distraction, or with the flesh, or with all our burdens. We set them down."
• The text that carries this whole time of prayer is 2 Corinthians 3:18: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory."
• "At your feet, we lay down whatever can keep us from entering your presence, from connecting to your heart, from hearing your voice tonight, from connecting to your source, from rising up in spirit." One by one, the burdens are named and left at the door.
• The desire becomes a confession rising up from the congregation: "I am thirsty, thirsty for your presence. As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you" (Psalm 42:1).

3. "Another dimension": leaving behind what we knew yesterday

• The refrain keeps returning: "Bring us out of yesterday's dimension. Introduce us to another dimension." Another dimension of connection, intimacy, depth, knowledge, and accessibility.
• "We no longer want to know you the way we knew you yesterday. We want to be infused with you, to be in osmosis with you, to be one with you," just as Jesus said: "I am one with the Father" (John 17:21).
• Renathe recalls the cry of Moses: "Please show me your glory" (Exodus 33:18), and this surprising statement: "The LORD used to speak with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8). That is the dimension being asked for tonight: to see his face, to hear his voice, to experience his presence, not merely to "know" that he is there.
• "We do not just want to know that you are the Bridegroom, but to live the relationship with the Bridegroom. We do not just want to know that you are God, but to live in intimacy with this God."

4. The chamber of intimacy: Jesus is knocking, will you let him in?

• "He says: I am knocking at the door. Have you already let me in? Have you entered this secret place?" (Revelation 3:20; Matthew 6:6).
• In this chamber of intimacy, something specific happens: we learn to know his heart, his desires, his will. "We want to hear your heart beat, to hear the sighs of your heart, the burning desires of your heart for this season, for this nation, for this people."
• It is also the place of sanctification: "There is nothing in this world that can purify me like your presence. That is why tonight I choose to be in this place, this place where you alone, through your word, sanctify me, purify me, wash me, set me apart" (referring to Ephesians 5:26-27, the bride purified by the word).
• Renathe recalls who we were before Christ: "Yesterday, they said I was without God, without citizenship in Israel. I was lost, I had no worth. But you looked at me as a precious treasure" (Ephesians 2:12-13).

5. "I am the sacrifice": giving yourself without holding back

• The prayer then turns into an act of consecration: "Today, you do not expect me to bring a lamb or a bull to the altar. I am the sacrifice. I am the sacrifice today."
• The underlying text is Romans 12:1: "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." "We offer our hearts as living sacrifices, as sacrifices of a sweet fragrance."
• The refrain rising from the congregation: "I give myself completely. You can use me. Holding nothing back. Take my life, take my heart, my life is in your hands. I want to see your desires revealed in me, Lord."
• "You were the first to give yourself. Now it is my turn to give myself to you, Lord. The manifestation of love is to give oneself."

6. Bringing the fire home: being known as lovers of Jesus

• The time closes with a prayer of blessing: "I pray that each of us leaves with this grace, this fire. That each of us brings this thirst back home. That this thirst grows even more burning, so that every time we can go into the secret place."
• "May we be men and women of the secret place. May it be said of us here at ICC Montreal: they are lovers of Jesus. May that be our mark."
• Renathe then quotes the first commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). That is what the secret place is about: making this love the permanent pursuit.
• "As we leave here, we do not leave your presence, because you are in our hearts, you are in our lives."

Key takeaways

• The most radical prayer you can pray today is the Lord's Prayer: "Your kingdom come," meaning, that the Holy Spirit take up all the space in your life.
• You cannot enter God's presence with veils on. Burdens, distraction, the flesh, and pretense need to be set down, otherwise you are present but not connected.
• What God offers is not to "know" who he is, but to live in intimacy with him. A dimension that goes deeper every time, like Moses who, having seen his glory, kept asking for more.
• The secret place is not a place of discomfort: it is where Jesus knocks to come in, where he purifies you through his word, where he tells you who you really are to him.
• The true sacrifice today is no longer an animal. It is you. Giving yourself completely, holding nothing back, because Christ was the first to give himself.

Personal application

1. If you had to name a single request to God tonight (as Renathe does with the congregation), what would it be? Are you ready to ask only for "your kingdom" in your life, or do other requests keep taking its place?
2. What, very concretely, are the veils you carry when you enter into prayer: burdens, distraction, the flesh, pretense? Name them out loud and lay them at Jesus' feet before you start praying this week.
3. When was the last time you entered "the chamber of intimacy," alone, with no other agenda than being with him? Block off a firm appointment this week, the way you would block off a work meeting.
4. "I give myself completely, holding nothing back." Is there an area you are holding back (finances, relationships, ambition, time, your body)? Lay it on the altar today.
5. If you were known by just one mark in your neighborhood, your work, your family ("that person is a lover of Jesus"), would that already be true? What needs to change for that mark to become obvious?

Verses cited

• Matthew 6:9-10 · Our Father, your kingdom come
• Matthew 6:6 · go into your room, pray to your Father in secret
• John 16:7 · it is to your advantage that I go away
• John 17:21 · that they may be one, as you and I are
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 · with unveiled face, beholding his glory, transformed into his image
• Psalm 42:1 · as a deer pants for flowing streams
• Exodus 33:11 · the LORD spoke to Moses face to face
• Exodus 33:18 · Moses: show me your glory
• Numbers 12:8 · I speak with him mouth to mouth
• Revelation 3:20 · behold, I stand at the door and knock
• Ephesians 2:12-13 · you were without Christ, but now brought near by his blood
• Ephesians 5:26-27 · the bride purified by the word
• Romans 12:1 · offer your bodies as a living sacrifice
• Mark 12:30 · love the Lord your God with all your heart

Frequently asked questions

What is "the secret place" Renathe YAO is talking about?

It is the image Jesus uses in Matthew 6:6: "When you pray, go into your room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in the secret place." In the sermon, the secret place is not primarily a geographic location: it is a posture of the heart, alone with the Father, with no audience, no distraction, with the simple desire to enter into communion with him. That, Renathe says, is where the word purifies us, where the presence transforms us, and where the Holy Spirit sets us on fire.

What does it mean to "enter God's presence with an unveiled face"?

The phrase comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18. It refers to the veil Moses put over his face after speaking with God (Exodus 34:33-35). In Christ, that veil is removed: we can approach God without pretense, without hiding behind a religious posture, without carrying the weight of our burdens or our distractions. Renathe applies it very concretely: lay at Jesus' feet everything that keeps you from connecting to his heart (the flesh, distraction, burdens), so you can be transformed from glory to glory.

How can I pray "your kingdom come" in a concrete way?

Renathe explains it by drawing on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10) and the promise of the Paraclete (John 16:7): asking for God's kingdom to come means asking the Holy Spirit to take up all the space, in your personal life, in your family, in the church, in the nation. It means giving up your own rule and letting the Spirit sit, dwell, and reign. Concretely, this can take the shape of the cry: "Paraclete, take control," repeated until the heart truly consents to it.