Practice His Presence
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Psalm 139:7 (KJV)
God is always with us, whether we notice Him or not. We can experience His constant presence on an ongoing basis as we practice His presence. How do we practice the presence of God? I’m glad you asked!
Pray without ceasing. I Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)
One way to practice, or encourage and identify, His presence is through prayer. When we maintain continual communication with God, we can tell Him how much we need, love and appreciate Him. We can sing to Him and He sings over us. It creates an awareness that God is near and helps us keep our minds on Him. That is one way to practice His presence.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)
A benefit of practicing God’s presence is the peace that comes from keeping our thoughts focused on the Lord. It brings comfort and reassurance to remember God is always with us.
As we worship, we focus our attention on Him, thus practicing His presence. When we talk about the Lord we are also practicing His presence. As we go about our daily tasks, if we offer what we are doing to the Lord as an act of service to Him, that is a way of practicing His presence. After all, it’s only through Him that we can do anything anyway.
Practicing His presence is not us trying to get God to come near to us- it is our recognition of His continual nearness. As our hearts are turned toward the Lord, we will hear Him speak to our hearts. As we pray in tongues, we are speaking to Him and when we get the interpretation, it is Him speaking to us. Even as we read and study His Word, we are practicing His presence.
Practicing His presence involves ongoing relationship and fellowship with our Lord. In all we do, we should make the practice of His presence an integrated part.
We actually experience three aspects of God’s presence:
God’s omnipresence, meaning that God is everywhere. There is no location where we can run from Him (Psalm 139:7-10).
God’s abiding presence, which means He will never leave us. As His children, He dwells in us and with us always and does not intend to forsake us (John 13:23)
God’s manifest presence, which is sometimes called His tangible presence. This is a presence you can feel. This is when He makes Himself known to us in a way we can physically experience (John 14:21).
As we are aware that God is everywhere, and as we invite Jesus into our hearts, He comes to live and dwell in us. As we practice His presence, we draw on the Lord who lives inside us, experiencing the God who leads us and fellowships with us. As a result, we know Him more deeply and intimately, feeling the touch of His love, His glory, and His presence.
