Coming into God’s Presence

15 Apr 2009

The Bible talks often about God being 'with' his people or 'among' them or 'within' them. Clearly, the real, tangible presence of God can be expected where God’s people gather, whether we are a few or many.

Jesus promised before he left the earth: 'And surely I am with you always …' (Matthew 28:20). This is not an isolated experience for a few, but the inheritance we should all enjoy. 

Cultivate God’s presence

There is no place we can go where God cannot be with us (see Psalm 139:7).

It is possible to come together as God’s people and yet be very unaware that his presence, which he promises, is with us. We need to both deliberately cultivate his presence and also learn to be more aware of him with us. When we do this, God often has his own unique ways of ‘visiting’ us afresh in response to our seeking hearts.

Become aware of God’s presence

A simple way of becoming more aware of God’s loving and life-changing presence is to speak about him and to him as if he is among us in all his love and power. As we praise God and thank him, as we declare that we love him and need him, as we give testimony to who he is, something happens among us. Our awareness of him becomes more and more real.

In the Old Testament, people talked about walking into God’s presence as they moved into the Temple. There were three areas in the Temple: the outer court, the inner court and the most holy place.

The Psalms call us to ‘enter his gates with thanksgiving, and to enter his courts with praise’. Putting our focus on God and speaking or singing our thanksgiving and praise can take us closer to him. The Holy Spirit, who lives in us, responds by making us more and more aware of God. Our hearts become open to God’s love, our ears become open to his voice, our spiritual eyes become open to the glory of who he is.

If there is a heaviness or a sense of distress or fear, thanksgiving and praise can dispel the works of darkness and bring the presence of Jesus. Sometimes we may need to persist in this exercise until we are uplifted and enjoying the Lord’s presence. When God’s presence is more real, our faith rises and we can then approach God with confidence and not just express our complaints or fears.

If we each take upon ourselves the responsibility of cultivating God’s presence, there will surely be many more times when he comes very near to lift us up, bestowing his peace, pouring his love into our spirits or bringing a revelation. How much we need this, and how much he longs to come!  This is our birthright. Let us not neglect it.

By Kath Wells (from War Cry magazine)