Most men live from the public place. Their energy comes from recognition. Their confidence rises and falls with performance. Their identity is shaped by what others can see. Jesus points in the opposite direction. “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”— Matthew 6:6 (ESV) The secret place is not primarily a location. It is a reality of communion with God that exists beyond visibility, applause, and productivity. This is where false selves die. In the secret place, there is no audience to impress. No platform to build. No reputation to manage. Only a man and his Father. That is precisely why many avoid it. The flesh can survive on activity. It cannot survive on intimacy. A man may lead a team, serve at church, provide for his family, and still be spiritually malnourished if his life is fueled by public obedience without private surrender. The secret place exposes what the noise conceals. It reveals whether you love God’s presence or merely His benefits. Whether you seek Christ Himself or simply the outcomes He provides. Whether your obedience flows from communion or from duty alone. Throughout Scripture, God forms His servants in hidden places before He uses them in visible ones. Moses in the wilderness. David among sheep. Elijah by the brook. Jesus in the desert. God does some of His deepest work where nobody is watching. The world measures impact by visibility. The Kingdom measures it by faithfulness. Reflection What would remain of your walk with Christ if every visible expression of it disappeared tomorrow. No title. No beautiful family. No control. No audience. Would there still be a man meeting with God? The secret place is not preparation for the Christian life. It is the Christian life. Everything else flows from there. Prayer Father, Strip away every desire to be seen, admired, or validated. Teach me to seek You when there is no reward except Your presence. Expose the places where I have substituted activity for intimacy. Form in me a life that is rooted in what is hidden rather than what is visible.

Every day, we spent at least 15 minutes during our hour with God directed to sit in complete silence, and we were prompted to focus on a singular phrase. Through the 40 days, that was over 10 hours of meditation. Early in the process, I started compiling the individual phrases into a singular prayer, not knowing if it would make sense or flow together. I love what it produced, and I wanted to share it with you all. I hope it blesses you. I'm thankful to have this prayer with me year-round, even though the 40 Day Crucible has finished. The Crucible Prayer Jesus, I believe that with you, the best is yet to come. In all things, I take you at your word to me; so I will rise and go as you tell me, because I want to get well. I trust and declare that You alone are enough. I hear you telling me who you are, and I will not be afraid. There was a time that I was blind, but now and only through you, I can see. I hear you calling me out of my sin and death by name, because you love me. I'm in awe that you created me in your own image, and with your own hands you formed me; and unlike anything else in your creation your breathed your own breath of life into me. I am overwhelmed that you are mindful of me. You hold all things together when I seek You and heed your Wisdom. You are very great, O Lord. Through your sacrifice, the old man is dead and you have made me a new creation. Jesus, crush the lies of the Enemy that will come against me to try to separate me from You. You became the curse of my sin and nailed the curse to your cross; yet sin is crouching still, but You will deliver me. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Your rainbow is your promise, and I trust in You. Above anything the world has to offer, God, I turn to you. I trust in You and what You tell me. I choose to live by faith and love as your image bearer, and not for my own power, control, or glory. I am thankful that You draw near to me. Jesus, cover me with your blood. I will stand still and see all that You are doing in my life.

Team, within these 40 days I had an issue with my knee degenerate rapidly. A small meniscus tear went from bad to worse; requiring surgery. I am now out of surgery and healing. However, it is a very challenging time for it to happen for two reasons. I was moved up to a new and important position at work, but I had to get surgery within my first five days of moving up. It was very awkward to have to ask for immediate time off. The other reason this is challenging is work is where I am weakest at faith. It is where I seek validation as a man. It is a very slippery slope into sin for me. I had started to address the issue in my heart and put things that were coming to light in the Crucible into practice on the battlefield. Now I’m sidelined. I’m feeling down for not working and also not working on good practices from the crucible in the field. So I ask for prayer for healing because it does need to heal correctly. I can mess it up if I try to do too much. But more importantly, to let go of my desire to work and earn healing (physically and spiritually). I still think I have something to do. Something to put into practice. Disciplines to cement into my life. But right now, I definitely can’t do much! So I ask for prayer to accept these challenges and to be changed by God outside of my own work (which my work is very little at this point). I would like to thank you for any prayer ahead of time and appreciate what is happening for all of us right now. Have a great day and God bless.

My heart feels very tender before God right now. The messages, reflections, and conversations coming out of the Crucible have meant a lot to read. It’s clear God is moving in the lives of many of you, and I’m grateful to be walking through this together. Right now there are about 130 men across 5 continents going through the Crucible. Next week we’re recording a Forge Tribe Podcast episode with Pete Stone (who wrote the devotionals) and John Thompson (who’s been writing the newsletters). Instead of us just talking, we want to bring your questions into the conversation. If you’re going through the Crucible, send us what’s on your mind: • Reflections from the readings • Things that challenged you • Parts that confused you • Where you're wrestling to apply it in real life • Anything you'd like Pete and John to unpack further You can post your question here on the wall or DM me directly if you'd rather keep it private. We’ll work to get as many of the questions answered as we can in the podcast. And yes… this was John’s last cinnamon roll before the Crucible. A small but meaningful sacrifice for the cause. — Joe

We are nearing the end of the first week of the CRUCIBLE! These devotions have hit me hard, and the disciplines have exposed many of my weaknesses. In honor of the Sabbath, we intentionally relax one discipline on Sunday. Of course, our goal is not to go wild, but to intentionally enjoy something that you've abstained from throughout the week. The Sabbath was designed as sacred rest, reordering our hearts to receive God’s gifts with gratitude instead of gripping them with control. Everything we have is a gift from our Almighty God. We should reflect on that as we engage in our choice (see the GIF below for a sneak peak at @Matt Coapman praising the Lord as he gets into his hot shower). I haven't decided what I plan to relax yet. What are you going to enjoy?