Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
John 17:24

  • The Presence of God is our birthright as sons and daughters of God.

  • The Presence of God is where we are healed.

  • The Presence of God is where our imaginations come alive with vision.

  • The Presence of God is where any misconceptions that have grown with distance melt away in renewed love.

  • The Presence of God is where we remember the burning Holiness of our Father.

  • The Presence of God is where we remember the covering mercy of the Son, our Savior Jesus.

  • The Presence of God is where we remember our truest identity, our new names.

  • The Presence of God is where the Spirit sings and speaks and pours out love.

  • The Presence of God is our joy, rest, reward, and the distinguishing feature of God’s people.

  • The Presence of God is available to you today!

The Presence and the manifestation of the Presence are not the same. There can be the one without the other. God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. He is manifest only when and as we are aware of His Presence. On our part there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work it is to show us the Father and the Son. If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.

Always, everywhere God is present, and always He seeks to discover Himself. To each one he would reveal not only that He is, but what He is as well. He did not have to be persuaded to discover Himself to Moses. “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.” He not only made a verbal proclamation of His nature but He revealed His very Self to Moses so that the skin of Moses’ face shone with the supernatural light. It will be a great moment for some of us when we begin to believe that God’s promise of self-revelation is literally true: that He promised much, but promised no more than He intends to fulfill.

Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us. The revelation of God to any man is not God coming from a distance upon a time to pay a brief and momentous visit to the man’s soul. Thus to think of it is to misunderstand it all. The approach of God to the soul or of the soul to God is not to be thought of in spatial terms at all. There is no idea of physical distance involved in the concept. It is not a matter of miles but of experience.

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Practicing the Presence of God - a few ways to begin

 
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#1: Postures in Prayer

Sit with you hands open in front of you and breath deeply.

Pray Come Holy Spirit and ask God to make it clear that He is near.

Wait for a few moments.

Pay attention to what is on your mind or what you sense in your body. 

Kneel before God and offer Him anything you sense causing anger, worry, frustration, distraction, or sadness in your mind or body.

Ask God to be with you in these challenges and use your faith to practice surrendering them to God.

Go back to sitting down. Breath and trust that God is with you.

Breathe slowly through this prayer a few times.

Inhale: Abba.

Exhale: I am yours.

Repeat 5 times or more.

Lift your hands and spend a few moments giving praise to God. Name what you are thankful for.

Pray a prayer of surrender with your hands still raised. 

in Jesus Name. Amen.

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#2 Worship Walk

Get outside with access to some worship music or playlist you have made.

Ask God to fill your walk with a sense of His presence. 

Listen through a few songs and let your heart be lifted up towards God.

Join in with the worshipers in the music. 

At some point you may want to begin to pray your own worship in your own words.

Remember as you walk to be aware of where you are and that God is with you.

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#3 Psalm Journal

Choose a Psalm - whichever you like or from your daily reading plan.

Pray and ask God to speak to you through the Word.

Read the Psalm slowly.

Ask God to direct your attention to what in the Psalm is for you today.

Read the Psalm again.

Choose a section or phrase or word you believe God has brought to your attention.

Write that word or phrase at the top of a page in your journal.

Ask for the Holy Spirit to guide you and free write your thoughts and/or prayers to God in response to the word from the Psalm.

After you write be silent for a few moments. 

Ask God to make clear anything you should do in response to what you have heard.

Commit in faith to obey. 

Offer your commitment to God in prayer.

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