The Secret Place Changes People

“… He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” — Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

The Chair

A pastor once taught his congregation about the importance of daily prayer and personal intimacy with God. He encouraged people to create a regular meeting place with God, preferably somewhere they genuinely enjoyed being. His advice was wonderfully practical: to make your prayer life repeatable, make it enjoyable. Build rhythms that encourage you return to the altar consistently.

After the service, a businessman stormed up to him, visibly irritated.

“That’s easy for you to say,” he snapped. “You’re a pastor! I run a business, work long hours and have family responsibilities. I’m tired of church leaders making me feel guilty because I struggle to pray.”

The pastor listened patiently and replied gently:

“I’ve always found that if someone truly wants to do something, they usually find a way. And if not, they tend to find an excuse. If you really want to pray, you will eventually find a way to build it into your life.”

That answer annoyed the businessman even more, and he walked away frustrated.

But something about the conversation stayed with him.

Several months later the same man returned to church looking completely different — calmer, lighter, healthier somehow.

The pastor barely recognised him.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

The businessman smiled.

“Well, after being angry with you for a while, I eventually realised you were right. If something genuinely matters to me, I somehow make time for it. So I decided to approach prayer differently.”

He explained that the pastor’s words about making prayer enjoyable had stayed with him. He thought about what would help him consistently return to God each day, and suddenly remembered something he had always wanted: a rocking chair.

So he bought one.

Then he placed it beside a window overlooking his garden (He loved his garden!). He began waking slightly earlier each morning, brewing fresh coffee (Oh, he loved coffee too!), and he would sit in that chair and spending fifteen quiet minutes reading Scripture, listening to God and praying before the pressures of the day began.

“It completely transformed my life,” he said.

Months later the pastor met the man’s wife.

“How’s your husband doing with that rocking chair?” he asked.

Her face lit up.

“That chair has changed our marriage!” she replied. “Since he started spending daily time with God, he’s become more peaceful, more attentive, more present with the children. Something has changed deeply inside him.”

And of course, the time in the chair quietly grew.

Fifteen minutes became thirty. Thirty became forty. The altar deepened.

Eventually the businessman sensed God leading him to help support a struggling church plant in another city. Over time he sold his business, moved cities, stepped into ministry support there and became a tremendous blessing to many people.

Years later, after the man died, his original pastor attended his funeral and visited the family home afterwards. Sitting by the same window, overlooking the garden was the old rocking chair. Beside it sat a worn Bible, a journal and faint coffee stains marking the small table nearby.

The pastor looked at the widow and asked softly, “So what will happen to the chair now?”

“Oh,” she said, “I hope it stays in our family for generations. That chair changed my husband. Every morning he met with God there. It made him into a remarkable man. My prayer is that our children — and perhaps one day our grandchildren — will sit in that same chair and discover the same secret.”

The pastor later said he wept at the profound simplicity of it all.

Because spiritual strength is often built far less dramatically than we imagine. Most deep transformation does not happen through occasional spiritual highs, but through faithfully returning to the altar in the ordinary hidden moments of life.

Where Is Your Chair?

So where is your chair? Or should I say, your altar?

Where is the place you regularly meet with God?

Perhaps it really is a chair. Or a walk by a river. A quiet room before the household wakes. A seat in a favourite coffee shop. A long commute redeemed by worship, prayer and listening. A Bible opened before the day begins. A journal beside the bed at night.

The location itself matters less than the consistency of encounter. Those hidden moments anchor us.

They steady us when life becomes chaotic. They soften us when pressure hardens the heart. They strengthen us when weariness creeps in. They keep the altar burning.

And the Bible reminds us of God’s response to our daily altars:

“… He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” — Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

God rewards hunger.

Not performance. Not religious activity. Not spiritual image management.

Hunger.

And I believe that as you build regular rhythms of encounter with Him — however simple they begin — you will discover what countless believers throughout history have discovered before you:

The secret place changes people.

An extract from The ALTAR by Jarrod Cooper. Order Your Copy Below 👇

Believe & Confess Meditation & Declaration

I will seek God daily and build consistent rhythms of encounter with His presence (Hebrews 11:6). The secret place will strengthen, soften and transform my heart as I spend time with the Lord (Psalm 91:1). I will prioritise the altar of prayer and intimacy with God above the distractions and pressures of life (Matthew 6:33). God’s Word will become living bread to my soul as I meditate upon it day and night (Joshua 1:8). My inner fire will remain burning through continual communion, worship and surrender before the Lord (Leviticus 6:12-13). The Holy Spirit will shape my character, renew my mind and deepen my love for others as I walk closely with Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). I will become a person marked by peace, attentiveness, spiritual hunger and the presence of God (Galatians 5:22-23).

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THE ALTAR

Creating lives & cultures ready to host the glory of God.

Something is stirring.

Across the world, hunger for God’s presence is rising—and many are asking: how do we truly host His glory?

In The Altar, Jarrod Cooper calls us back to the place where heaven meets earth—the altar. A place of encounter, devotion, and transformation.

This book will help you:
• Deepen your personal encounter with God
• Build a lifestyle of worship
• Hear His voice clearly
• Create cultures that carry His presence

This isn’t just a book—it’s a call.
When the altar is restored, the fire falls again.

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