Secret Place of Thunder

 

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We cry out to God in distress, and He thunders in response.

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Psa 81:7 

Thou called in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

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Our daily lives are filled with normal needs, our activities, interactions with others, problems and searches for solutions, and a few moments with the Lord.

We pray, and all is quiet, and we rest in faith that He heard us, and He will answer.

Most of our lives, we live in this quiet mode, waiting on the Lord.

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Then disaster strikes.

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Our complete, desperate focus is on God for help.

We are suddenly alone with God, and He has our complete attention.

We are now in a different reality and dimension.

We cling to Him.

We are in the secret place, and God is there with us.

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In the secret place, God thunders in response.

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The Laws of Physics reveal God’s design.

Newton’s third law of motion. formally stated, is:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects.

The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object.

The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object.

Forces always come in pairs – equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs.

So, the forces will look like this:

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What does this have to do with prayer and thunder?

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The stronger and more intense our action is toward God, the stronger and more intense He will respond back toward us.

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Examples from scripture:

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Gentle approach

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.

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Psalm 91:1 He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

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Intense approach

From Psalm 18 –notice the intensity of the prayer and the dramatic response from the Lord:

6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
    and the foundations of the mountains shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
    the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
    with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

Exodus 19 – Moses at Sinai- Moses came before God on a fast, no food or water for 40 days

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.

17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.

19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

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Final Note

God hears all prayer.

Some may be more comfortable with a calm, gentle approach to God, and then waiting in faith, knowing that a response will come.

God is faithful, and will respond.

Others may be more intense in their approach and get a more dramatic response.

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Jesus said

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matt 7:7)

Asking is the most passive approach, and notice that “it will be given.”

Seeking requires more effort, and the result is positive.

Knocking is the most intense effort, and this opens doors.

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It is up to us.

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It is important to know about this, because intense circumstances require intense action, and we may need to modify our approach to receive a needed response.

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