Sometimes we may wonder, “Is God really concerned whether or not I make this promotion or big sale at work? Is God really concerned whether or not I meet this deadline? Is God really concerned about whether or not I make a good grades in this test?” The answer is, always, “Yes!”
Whatever it is we do, God wants to be involved; He wants to be in the midst of it all. There’s nothing about our life that is unimportant to Him. He actually wants to have a friendship with us, to be our “buddy.”
God wants us to have what Rick Joyner calls a “holy addiction to His presence.” That 24 hours a day, seven days a week He remains central to our thoughts.
To do that we have to make a decision to pause, to quiet our racing hearts and minds and look at the good, and the praiseworthy reflections of who God is all around us. It’s an easy way to recollect Him, and become more aware of His presence throughout our day.
All of us can experience God’s presence in our life; we can experience God’s peace in our life. It is there. It is available.
It does take practice to remain focused on Him. There are so many distractions and concerns, so many things that would seek to draw our attention away. But we can all come to the place where we can experience God’s presence more fully and more deeply in our life.
Some practices I’ve found that will help to practice the presence of God’s are:
1. Solitude:
How much time do you spend alone with God? Just you? It is difficult to have friendship with God when you spend no time with Him.
“My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises” (Psalms 119:148 )
We will never deeply know God’s presence in our life if we don’t spend time in solitude with God. It is so simple, so basic, but how often do we do it? Perhaps we are afraid of solitude of being alone. But something I have learnt is that in solitude and even at times loneliness, we find intimacy.
Studies show that how we spend the first hour of our day plays a major role in determining how the rest of our day will go.
It makes sense that if you are going to live in God’s presence, you need to start your day with Him.
A lot of people don’t spend time alone with God in the morning, because their mornings are too hectic; believe me I understand hectic having had 6 kids. But when I organise my time purposely, get up a little earlier, sort the next days clothes the night before, (including finding socks) and try not to stay up too late, it helps prevent starting the day in crisis mode.
When we wake up earlier, we can move a little slower, can be a little more deliberate in the choices we make, and we can enjoy a little time of solitude with God.
When our children were babies sometimes mornings were just not going to happen, but I learnt that up at 3am feeding a baby can be a very special time communing with Jesus.
Even Jesus needed times of solitude with the Father. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed”. (Mark 1:35)
King David also sought times of solitude, “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up”. (Psalms 5:3)
If you are going to practice the presence of God, a good place to begin is to start the day off spending time with Him, reading His word in the Bible, and talking and listening to Him. Write down what you learn and what touches your heart.
In the pursuit of living continually in God’s presence make time for solitude.
Prayer: Lord help me to quiet myself. To take time in solitude with you each day. Where I need to be more organised please help me to make wise choices. Where I am complacent about my time please give me clarity and wisdom to choose what is of most value in my life. In Jesus name Amen
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