What we must realize, in this scripture reference, is that Jesus was really giving his disciples the key to his own ministry. He wanted them to know how things would come to pass through the Father working in them, if they knew how to separate themselves unto prayer.   Notice the very last part of this verse.  He says, "...and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."  Part of this open reward is when you have spent that alone time with God and then you go out to minister with a greater sense of power in your life.

      What we need to realized is that spending time alone with our Father (in that secret place) is really where ministry is made.  There are things that come with intimate fellowship that builds purpose into ministry.  Without prayer, especially intimate fellowship with the Father, things can very easily turn from true ministry into something mechanical or even superficial.  What I mean by that is that if we are not careful we can tend to do things out of our own understanding and follow after ways that seem to be profitable or acceptable but lack the power of God.  Ministry can oftentimes be the outcome of methods passed on by previous generations or by things patterned by what appears to be the success of current organizations.  What is important is that we become careful not to just do something because that is the way others do it or because it seems consistent with the patterns of the past.  Good can certainly come of those methods, but to be on the cutting edge of operating on a whole new level of ministry you must spend time alone with God.  That is the only place you learn how to minister supernaturally.  Who in the world would have ever thought that spitting on the ground and making clay to put into a man's eye would be the right step in ministering healing to a blind man!  You can search the scriptures, but you will never find where that was ever administered before.  So where did Jesus learn such an approach?  He must have learned it from spending time alone with his Father.

      Here is something that may shock you.  Jesus never prayed for one person to be healed.  Jesus never prayed for one person to be delivered.  All he did was speak to the situation and commanded it to be changed.  There is only two instances in the New Testament where Jesus ever prayed in connection to performing a miracles and neither one of them was to ask God for anything.  Those two accounts were when he was at the tomb of Lazarus and when he multiplied the loaves and the fishes.  If you look very carefully at both these instances you will discover that all Jesus did was thank the Lord and then he stepped into the supernatural.         

      Here is my whole point. Jesus did all the spiritual preparation for ministry in his alone time with his Father.  He would spend entire nights alone in prayer.  He drew his strength from it.  He built his life upon it, and he was empowered to do God's will because he utilized that place of intimacy with the Father where when he came out of that secret place the Father rewarded him openly.

      People often ask, "How is it that we don't see the miracles today like they had in the early church?"  The answer is very simple.  Miracles come from that secret place, and until men are willing to spend time, quality time, behind closed doors there will never be that kind of invasion of the miraculous.  One thing that is especially important to know, and that is, if you want to operate in the supernatural then you have to use prayer as a means to making your ministry.  I'm talking about when heaven invades your space and alters your person, and then you become that match that ignites something irresistible and uncontainable.  When Smith Wigglesworth was asked, "What is the secret to walking in the supernatural?"  His answer was this:  "Every morning I spend several hours edifying myself in God's presence, and then I simply go out and edify the folk."  Peter said, "Such as I have give I unto thee" (Acts 3:6).  What you gain in secret prayer is what will fuel your ministry.  How combustible do you want to become? The secret place is the secret to your success!