How often do you think about the Lord’s presence in your life? In Exodus 33:15, we find Moses declaring to the Lord, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”
What we should thirst for more than anything in this life is the manifest presence of God—in our lives, our homes, our churches, in our relationships.
We know that the Bible teaches God is omnipresent, meaning He is in all places at all times, which is true. The same Scripture that teaches us about God’s omnipresence also says there is a special manifest presence where He reveals His power, glory, and might to us in life-changing ways.
Maybe you would say yes, that you are a follower of Jesus. Yes, you know His Spirit lives in you. But how aware are you of His presence as you go through each day? In my own life, I want to seek His presence in my relationships and choices. I want to walk in His presence as a husband, a father, a friend, a coworker, and a leader. I want to stay aware of Him, communicate with Him, and continually dwell upon Him. If that’s your desire, too, I would love to share a list the Lord placed on my heart recently after I had the opportunity to spend time learning from Pastor Bill Elliff, author of The Presence Centered Life.
Here are seven words to help you seek God’s presence daily:
1 — RETURN to Him daily for communion. We will feel the pull of the world continually; that’s why we need to be sure we are pursuing a relationship with God actively and faithfully. Choose a time and place you will meet with Him daily, and keep showing up.
Psalm 5:3 – “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”
Mark 1:35 – “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
2 — RECEIVE His wisdom through reading His Word. The Bible is to the soul what bread is to the body. Consuming His Word daily feeds our souls. It’s not a time we approach as some heavenly homework assignment. It has to be a daily intersection where we say, “The God of heaven wants to speak to me through His Word, and I want to receive what He has for me.” You don’t have to guess where or what to read in your Bible. Find a good reading plan, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you understanding.
Psalm 119:10 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
3 — RELATE your heart to His in prayer. Seeking the manifest presence of God in our lives is not a one-way street. Not only do we need to hear from God through His Word, but God desires to hear from us. We don’t have to pretend we don’t have fears or struggles. We can pour out our hearts to Him because we trust and love Him.
Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
4 — REPENT of any sin that He reveals. One of the greatest misconceptions of Christianity is that mature Christians are mature because they don’t struggle with sin. It’s actually the opposite. Godly men and godly women become godly because they fight their sin. If we want the anointing of God, if we want to walk in the power God has promised, if we want to be aware of God’s will, if we want to see God honor our prayers, rest assured, He’s going to deal with our sin. He does so through the loving hand of a Father who uses the gift and tool of conviction.
Psalm 32:1-5 – “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
5 — RELEASE your will and yield to His. There’s no greater picture of yielding to the Father than the example set for us by our Savior. Jesus, knowing the anguish coming His way, prays these words in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
This needs to be our prayer every day. Not that we are called to die on the cross for the sins of the world. That’s already been done. But every day, we can emulate our Savior in surrendering our will to the Father’s. Many of our struggles are caused because we go about the business of doing what we want to do, and then tack on a prayer for God to bless it. But there is freedom and even clarity when we start our days praying, “Lord, I want to walk in Your presence and do Your will today. Even when it’s hard, help me yield my desires to Yours. Amen.”
6 — RESPOND to His will by obeying. When we love the Lord, we obey him. That doesn’t mean we will be perfect, but genuine love for Him will produce a deep desire to obey Him. I find that the more I seek His presence, the more I want to obey Him. And as He changes my heart to be more like His, I begin to want what He wants, and obedience becomes easier.
2 John 1:6 – “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”
7 — REMAIN by consciously trying to “abide” with Him. If we start our day by returning to the Lord, receiving from His Word, relating our hearts to His in prayer, repenting of any sin He reveals, releasing our will and yielding to His, and committing to walk in obedience, we can’t stop there. When we head out into the day, we must continue thinking about Him. Keep yourself close.
John 15:4-5 – “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
How different would our lives be if we returned, received, related, repented, released, responded, and remained day after day? All of our greatest needs are met in His presence. Let’s live like people who believe this truth. I believe our lives and the lives we come into contact with will be blessed by the resulting fruit.
—
To read the original blog on Pastor D.J.’s website, click here.
