Welcome, church! I’m excited to share part two of our message series today, and I want you to lean in, because what I’m about to say may challenge you. So much of what we do as Christians is carried out in the flesh, and then we label it spiritual when it really isn’t. We go through the motions, do the activity, use the language, but it’s not of the Spirit.

Jesus illustrated this with a parable:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get’” (Luke 18:9-12).

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’” (Luke 18:13).

Listen to what Jesus said in verse fourteen:

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God” (Luke 18:14).

Here’s the point: religious people all over the world pray, but their prayers don’t break chains, transform lives, or change nations. James reminds us that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

The power comes only when prayer is in the Spirit. Prayer becomes powerful when it ushers you into the presence of Jesus. That’s why Jude says,

“Dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20).

Prayer is effective when it becomes communion with the living God, but without Him, it is nothing more than words. That’s why Paul told the church,

“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Ephesians 6:18).

Think about this: you can walk into temples, mosques, shrines, and even some churches, and you’ll see people praying, but many of them don’t know the Lord at all. The prophet Isaiah said,

“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

So yes, they may recite prayers, but their lives remain powerless, because prayer alone does not bring about change.

It is only in the Spirit that we see results, because in the flesh there are none. When you pray in the flesh, nothing happens. You can lift your voice in praise, but if it is done in the flesh, it carries no power. You can go through the motions of religion, but without the Spirit of God, it is nothing more than noise and routine. It is only the Spirit that gives life.

Even praying in the mighty name of Jesus carries no power apart from the Spirit. You can say “in Jesus’ name” until you are blue in the face, but unless the Holy Spirit fills those words, they remain lifeless. Power comes only when the presence of Jesus rests on them. It is the Spirit who makes His name alive. It is the Spirit who causes heaven to respond. It is the Spirit who releases authority through those words. Without the Spirit, they are just words, but with Him, they shake the very powers of darkness.

Here’s the problem: many believers cannot tell the difference between the realm of the flesh and the realm of the Spirit. They mistake emotions for the anointing. They confuse good intentions with the leading of the Spirit. Someone might say, “let’s pray together,” and it sounds spiritual, but unless that desire is birthed by the Holy Spirit, it will soon fall flat—dead and lifeless. The truth is, no one can truly seek after God until God first seeks after them.

Jesus said,

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

Did you hear that? We cannot call out to Him unless He has first drawn us by His Spirit. Jesus made this even clearer when He told His disciples,

“You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).

Do you see it? You cannot truly call on Jesus until He has first called you. That is not just an opinion—that is the truth of God’s Word.

David understood this when he prayed,

“Revive us, and we will call on your name” (Psalm 80:18).

God always moves first. He draws us, He revives us, He restores us, He calls us—and then we respond.

But too often we try to start our own engines, stirring up something in the flesh. All of that striving gets us nowhere, because it is only when the Spirit of God breathes life into us that we can truly seek Him. When He moves, we respond—and results always follow.

In the same way, unless the Holy Spirit breathes upon the Word and makes it alive in you, it will not work. A promise in Scripture cannot become life to you unless you step into the right realm—the realm of the Spirit. That’s why the Bible says,

“Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16).

And again,

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

We are called not just to read the Word, not just to quote the Word, but to move into the realm where the Spirit takes that Word and burns it into our hearts. Without the Spirit, it is only ink on a page, but with the Spirit, it becomes life and power.

The great tragedy is that many don’t know how to find that place, but the psalmist shows us the way:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent” (Psalm 91:1–10).

It is in the secret place—when you make the Most High your dwelling—that in the stillness you discover His strength. It is in the stillness that His power becomes real.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

Notice it doesn’t say, “He who visits,” but “He who dwells.”

That’s the problem—too many of us only visit His presence on Sunday, then step right back into the flesh on Monday. But the promise of Scripture is not for the visitor; it is for the one who dwells:

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

When you make the shelter of the Most High your address—when you choose to remain in Him, living in the Spirit—everything changes, because that is God’s dwelling place. And where Jesus is, sin, sickness, and darkness cannot remain.

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

In other words, His presence drives it out. Darkness cannot remain where His light shines.

The truth is, many of us are not walking in the Spirit. We don’t know how to step into that place of faith, so we remain bound by addictions, chained by fears, and consumed with anxiety. But when you lift your eyes off the problem and fix them on the presence of Jesus, something shifts in the supernatural realm. When His presence becomes more real to you than your problems, that’s when divine healing begins to flow into your body.

As you step into the realm of the Spirit, His power is greater than every disease, every burden, and every addiction. In that place, the life of God flows like a river, and His Spirit makes you whole. But when people are anxious, restless, and consumed with their troubles, their minds become so crowded that the power of God can’t break through. Yet the moment they surrender—when they lay it all down at His feet and trust Him—something supernatural takes place.

In other words, when your eyes are locked on Jesus instead of yourself—when you stop identifying with your sickness, when you stop staring at the impossibility, and you start gazing at Jesus—His peace comes in like a flood, His Spirit moves unhindered, and His healing power is released in your life.

But too often, people pray in the flesh without even realizing it. They wear themselves out bombarding heaven as though God could be pressured into action. They think that if they just knock louder, cry harder, or press longer, somehow God will be forced to respond. They may even quote Scripture,

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

But what they fail to understand is that Jesus wasn’t talking about striving in the flesh—He was speaking about the power of prayer in the Spirit. And so people fast and pray until they are weak, they struggle until they are drained, they strive until they collapse, and in the end, they walk away weary and disappointed. But prayer was never meant to be like that.

All true prayer must be in the Spirit, because without Him prayer is nothing but breath and noise. But with Him, prayer becomes life, power, and communion with God.

And so, I want to show you how we get there, because the Scripture gives us the answer. When God gave Moses the plans for the tabernacle in Exodus, He wasn’t just giving Israel a place of worship—He was giving us a picture of how to enter into His presence.

First, He said, put in place a gate. Beyond the gate, set the bronze altar of sacrifice. Past the altar, place the bronze basin for washing. Then construct a structure with forty-eight wooden posts overlaid with gold. Inside, position the lampstand on the left and the table of the bread of the Presence on the right. Straight ahead, place the altar of incense. And beyond that, set the ark of the covenant itself. These stations reveal a divine roadmap into His glory.

God was showing us how to move step by step into deeper communion with Him. Jesus said,

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9).

When you encounter that revelation, when you understand the power of the cross and the meaning of the blood, the altar of sacrifice comes alive before you. The blood of Jesus rises before your eyes as cleansing power from every bondage, every sin, every chain. And in His presence, your heart is changed, and you experience freedom as David declared:

“A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

At the altar, you find repentance, cleansing, and forgiveness. Old things begin to pass away, because the old has gone and the new has come. Even the memory of sin begins to lose its grip on your soul, because true repentance is a work of the Spirit. It is deep, powerful, and transforming—erasing the stain, lifting the burden, and breaking the chain—so that you walk free.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

As you move deeper into His presence, the next place you come to is the bronze basin, the place where the Word of God comes alive. Scripture no longer feels dry or distant. Suddenly the promises of God begin to burn like fire in your heart and power in your spirit. But it’s only because you are in the Spirit. In that realm, the Word leaps off the page and becomes living bread within you. Confidence rises, as the Bible says,

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15).

From the bronze basin, you move to the golden lampstand, the place where your mind is renewed. At the gate, Jesus becomes real. At the altar of sacrifice, the cross becomes real. At the bronze basin, the Word becomes real. And at the lampstand, His will becomes real. In that light, He begins to reveal His plans and purposes for your life. You begin to see His ways more clearly, and you agree with Him until His will becomes your will and your steps align with His path.

On the other side of the lampstand stands the table of the bread of the Presence. This is the place where you surrender your body as a living sacrifice. This is the bread of the Presence, just as Jesus said,

“This is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19).

At the table, you yield your very members to Him as instruments of righteousness. You present yourself fully, holding nothing back, offering Him your body, soul, and spirit. This is what the Bible means when it says,

“In view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1).

From the table of the bread of the Presence, you come to the altar of incense, the place of prayer and worship. This kind of worship—genuine worship—is born of Spirit and truth. It is not just singing words, but an intimate union and fellowship with the Lord. At the altar of incense, He takes hold of your heart, and every part of your being begins to adore Him. Every cell in your body magnifies His holy name:

“This is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).

In that moment, the Spirit of God lifts you into the current of His glory, streams of living water sweeping over your soul until you are completely immersed in Him. In that flow, your spirit begins to cry out to God’s Spirit. In that atmosphere, something bursts forth from deep within you, and you begin to hear His voice.

Finally, in that environment of worship, we come to the very heart of the tabernacle—the Most Holy Place, the ark of the covenant. This is the secret place, the dwelling of the Almighty, the shadow of His glory. This is the place where Moses said,

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

This is the great mystery of dwelling in the secret place: you become His dwelling place. You become an extension of His presence, a carrier of His glory, because you are now hidden in Him.

And so, when you step out of the Most Holy Place, you do not leave empty—you carry the glory of God wrapped around you.

“We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

It is in the realm of the Spirit that every promise comes alive. In the Spirit, battles are won and victories are secured. In the Spirit you walk in freedom, because,

“Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

It is also there that you come to know the love of God—not just as a doctrine, but as a living reality. In the Spirit, the love of God becomes more real than your pain, more real than your fear, more real than life itself. The Bible says,

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

That’s why we must practice dwelling in the secret place. Because when you enter that place, Jesus becomes real. His blood, His Word, His will come alive in you. When you surrender, He takes possession of your body, and you become His temple. When you wait upon the Lord, He breathes on you. When you yield to Him, He fills you. When you worship, His glory wraps around you like a mantle.

And when you walk out of the secret place, He walks out with you. That’s why we can say,

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Your eyes begin to see as His eyes, your hands extend as His hands, your voice carries as His voice, and through you the world begins to see that Jesus is alive.

This is why we must build the habit of dwelling in the secret place—to make known

“the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

Once you find it, you will never want to leave it. In that place you find safety, refuge, and covering. David understood this when he cried,

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).

This is what happens in the secret place: God surrounds you, He protects you, and He sings His song of victory over you.

And here is the key—what God is looking for is your surrender, complete and total surrender. Surrender is the key. We have prayed, fasted, lifted our hands in praise, gone through the motions, but nothing changes until the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and whispers,

“It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).

That is the secret: total surrender. Because waiting on the Lord is the bridge between the flesh and the Spirit. Isaiah said,

“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

It is in the waiting that striving ceases. It is in the waiting that strength is renewed. It is in the waiting that the wind of the Spirit lifts us higher than our flesh could ever take us. David testified,

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1).

Waiting on the Lord ushers us into His presence, but the Bible tells us something important about that waiting. The Lord said,

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Notice, it does not say “be quiet,” but “be still.” That’s important, because you can sit silently while your mind races in circles. But when you truly surrender and wait on the Lord, His Spirit begins to quiet the storm within you. He brings rest to your soul, stillness to your heart, and peace to your mind. And in that stillness, you come to know that He is God, because the Bible says,

“He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17).

Here is the mystery: when you quiet yourself before Him, the Holy Spirit begins to manifest. Stillness is the key that activates His power. Stillness is the doorway that releases His presence within you. The supernatural is released through stillness. It is in stillness that you discover His strength. It is in stillness that His power becomes real—and this is exactly where we struggle.

We are so used to noise and activity that being still feels like the hardest work of all. Yet this is what God commands—not waiting on nothing, but waiting on Someone.

“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

So wait upon the Lord. Sit quietly in His presence until the Holy Spirit breathes on you. Wait until He draws you closer and your spirit comes alive. Because you cannot enter the Spirit’s realm by your own effort—you must be carried in, and only the Spirit of God can usher you into that holy place. Isaiah declared,

“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).

The moment your spirit is renewed, you begin to soar, because the Holy Spirit lifts you. He carries you into the realm of the Spirit as though on eagle’s wings, raising you above the weight of the flesh, above the pull of sin. David described it like this:

“He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand” (Psalm 40:2).

This is what waiting does. This is what wakes me up in the morning with purpose. Waiting on the Lord silences the voice of the flesh. Waiting on the Lord shatters the chains of sin. Waiting on the Lord fills you with strength in the depths of your soul. And in that stillness, the supernatural begins to break forth. The atmosphere shifts. The very breath you breathe becomes filled with His presence, and the glory of God surrounds you like a covering. In that moment, you are no longer striving in your own power—you are carried by the Spirit. The secret place becomes your dwelling, His presence becomes your atmosphere, and His glory becomes the reality you live in every single day.

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.