Some of the words I write most often are simple: pray and watch. They started as a phrase. Over the years they became a testimony, and eventually a foundation for something I never planned to build.
If you read Part 1 of this story, Secret Place of Prayer, you already know where the seed was planted. Long before there was a retreat or a name, there was a private secret place of prayer, and years of learning that God’s delays are never His denials. What follows is where that quiet season led.
The Longing Behind Her Secret Place
I never set out to build Her Secret Place as a ministry. It grew out of a longing. I wanted to create a space where women could step away from the noise of everyday life, somewhere they could simply be with God. Honest prayer and unhurried worship mattered to me more than polish. Above all, I wanted women to gather without pressure to pretend they have it all together, a place where women share their stories without shame and surrender their burdens without fear.
Our First Her Secret Place Retreat
That longing became real in May 2026, the day before Mother’s Day. We hosted our very first Her Secret Place prayer retreat. It was beautifully intimate. There were no grand expectations, and no elaborate plans to impress anyone. Our only aim was to make room for God, and He met us there.
The day held space for all of it. Quiet moments of prayer, held hand in hand in a circle. A creative session where women picked up a paintbrush, some for the first time in years, and let colour say what words could not. A corner set apart under the trees, dressed simply for anyone who needed a few minutes alone with God before rejoining the group.
Retreat guests with their paintings from the creative reflection session.
What God Did That Day
His presence filled that space in a way words can hardly describe. We laughed together, we cried together, and we prayed together. We left knowing something sacred had taken place. Every woman walked away feeling loved, seen, and certain that God had not forgotten her.
As I reflect on that day, gratitude overwhelms me. Not because everything unfolded perfectly, but because it reminded me of something true: God can do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. What had lived for years as a private secret place of prayer had become something we could hold together, in one room, hand in hand. I still carry many dreams for what Her Secret Place may become. I pray it continues to be a place of healing and restoration, somewhere women encounter God in a personal, life-changing way. Above all, I pray it becomes a place where women form lifelong friendships and discover they do not have to carry life’s burdens alone.
More than anything, though, I pray this ministry stays God’s. I never want to move ahead of His voice, and I never want ambition to grow louder than obedience. If He says go, we go. If He says wait, we wait, because His timing has proven itself trustworthy again and again.
The quiet teepee corner, set up for solitude and prayer.
What Does It Mean to Pray and Watch?
What does it mean to pray and watch, in practice? For me, it is Namata urinde: pray and watch. Those words are more than a phrase. They carry a testimony. Years of trusting God when I could not see what He was doing shaped them. So did prayers that seemed to go unanswered, and waiting that stretched my faith further than I expected.
There were moments I questioned, and moments I doubted. There were moments when holding on to His promises was all I could manage. Yet through every season, God proved faithful. Not always in the timing I expected, and not always in the way I imagined, but always in the way that was best. That is why I keep saying pray and watch. I know it works.
Namata Urinde: A Testimony, Not Just a Phrase
Prayer does not change God, because He has always been faithful. Prayer changes us instead. God’s delays, I have learned, are never God’s denials. Surrender takes the place of striving, and hope takes the place of fear. Even when we cannot trace His hand, prayer teaches us to trust Him.
Somewhere between praying and waiting, God is always at work. Sometimes He changes the situation. Sometimes He opens a new door, and sometimes He closes one. Every single time, though, He is shaping our hearts to look more like Christ.
The same corner at night, lantern-lit – a still place to pray and watch.
What I’m Praying Her Secret Place Becomes
Today, prayer is no longer simply something I do. It is the rhythm of my life, and my daily refuge. There I find peace when life feels uncertain, strength when I feel weak, and hope when I cannot yet see what God is doing.
If my life points to anything, I pray it points to Jesus. If Her Secret Place becomes known for anything, I pray it is never about me. Let it be known because women encountered Jesus there, because weary hearts found rest there, and because hope grew again there.
Pray and Watch: My Prayer for You
Whether you join us for a retreat, pray with us from afar, or simply find yourself here reading these words, my prayer for you is the same. God’s presence, I hope you discover, is still the safest place to be. No prayer offered in faith is ever wasted, and I hope you find the courage to trust Him, even in the waiting.
Pray and watch. Those two words carried me through seasons I could not navigate alone. I believe they can carry you too. Their faces shall never be covered with shame (Psalm 34:5, NIV). To God alone be all the glory.
The Her Secret Place wax seal.
