be present in His presence

Be Present 

Wait on the Lord ; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord !
Psalms 27:14 NKJV

Psalm 139 states Gods nearness wherever we find ourselves. We know He isn’t confined to a church building or only available at certain times of day. But we can still miss God at work even when He is right in front of our eyes.

Why? Because we are still learning the art of knowing and following the voice of the Holy Spirit as He speaks. Two people hear the same song. One experiences God, and one daydreams about something that needs to be done at work next week. Two people face a crisis in life. One experiences an over-whelming sense of grace flood over the pain—after all, He is not just present but very present help in our time of trouble (see Psalm 46:1)—while the other feels nothing but hurt, betrayal, anger and loneliness. Why? It’s all about how and where we place our faith and expectation. By God’s grace, I have a growing revelation of the love of God toward me, so that even on the hardest of days I am expecting Him to turn it around.

If I can encourage you in one way today, it would be for you to cultivate your attitude of expectation so that you will be present in His presence. Don’t wait until you have things figured out. Don’t wait until you feel spiritual. Expect Him right now. King David said with much confidence in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (NIV).

Each of us has had conversations with someone when we knew the other person wasn’t really there. Physically they were there. Words came out of their mouth. They looked in our direction, but we could just tell they weren’t present. It is so easy to get distracted and not fully be in the moment. Its an art to learn to STOP and experience God in the present. He is with us now. Emmanuel, God with us. All you have to do is be aware, whether you are driving in your car, shopping for groceries, reading a bedtime story to your child, waking up and putting the coffee on, or standing with other believers with arms stretched high, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior. He is with us.

One enduring Christian devotional book is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century Carmelite monk. It was this precious saint’s goal to do nothing out of selfishness, but to do everything out of love for God, whether working the soil or studying God’s Word. For him that meant realizing he was always in God’s presence and living every moment in that realization. His simple but profound teaching was “to form a habit of conversing with God continually, and referring all we do to Him.

” So what if you do that and still don’t feel His presence? 

Brother Lawrence continues in his writings: “We must at first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care, we should find His love inwardly excites us to it without any difficulty.”

Oh how I love this thought. It was early in my Christian experience that my attention and awareness of the presence of God became very real, that I was so aware that if I drew near to Him, He always would draw near to me. He hemmed me in, behind and before. Laid His hand upon me, gently, not heavy-handed. And my heart continues to be overwhelmed by the fact that the God who created the heavens and the earth actually is here and delights to draw near to me.

His presence defines us, sets us apart, strengthens us, penetrates our very being, gives direction to our pursuits, fuels our passions and brings joy and strength as we draw near.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (NKJV).
Take these scriptures into your day today and let His presence set your stance and direction.

ACTS of prayer life

Mark 1:35
Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

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Many years ago I learned about a spiritual discipline that literally changed my life: a half day of prayer. I learned about this concept through leadership training with The Navigators, and it has stuck with me ever since. One of the most dynamic experiences I have come to enjoy in life is to take a half day to get away to a place of solitude and just … pray! I highly recommend it to any who are reading this post.

But as you ponder this concept, you are likely asking yourself something like, “What in the world would I do for 4–5 hours of prayer? What would I say to God? What would I do with that much time?” Great questions! Let me give you some suggestions!

First of all, I would suggest that you break the time up into two key divisions: speaking to God and listening to God.

Speaking to God

For the first division of your time, you can take time to pray according to the acronym ACTS. Each of those letters stand for a specific theme of your prayers to God: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

AdorationA great way to begin your half day of prayer is to spend some personal time in worship with the Lord. Sing. Listen to worship music. Contemplate everything you can think of that makes God so great. Write down everything you can think of that demonstrates the awesome majesty of God. And then ponder the things you have written. Contemplate the greatness of God while you are there before Him.

ConfessionAfter your time of adoration, then take time to confess to God any sin you can think of in your life. David said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Ask God to show you any sin that you have in your life that is interfering with your journey with Him. Ask for God’s forgiveness, and then ask Him to help you to turn from those sins.

ThanksgivingNow spend some time thanking God for every blessing you have in your life. I have found it helpful to write these items down as they come to my mind. Make a list, and make it as exhaustive as you can. Don’t leave anything out. Thank God for every single way He has blessed you and those around you.

SupplicationFor the supplication portion of your prayer, invest time into praying for every single person who is close to you in your life.  Remember every family member, every coworker, every friend, every neighbor, every church member you can think of, etc. Again, write down the names of the people as you pray for them.  This will help you to think of others who should be on that list.

Listening to God

The next section of your half day of prayer will be the “Listening to God” section. This is likely to become the most important, life-changing experience of your half day with God!

Years ago I read a great book by Bill Hybels called, Too Busy Not to Pray. One of the eye-opening suggestions for me in that book was the idea that we should actually take time to stop and listen to God. I realized after reading that book that, in my own prayer life, I had always been the one who did all the talking! I never stopped long enough to actually listen to God. Most relationships that operate like that end up failing, so we should assume that our relationship with God will struggle as well if we are the only ones doing the talking.

So, then, how do we go about “listening” to God? Bill Hybels gave some recommendations for that, and I have expanded on those a bit in my own practice of listening.

When I get to the listening portion of my prayer, after spending time going through the vital sections of ACTS, I then take out a notepad and write these questions on the tops of separate pages:

“What is the next step in my journey with God?”

“What is the next step for my family?”

“What is the next step in my ministry?”

“What is the next step in my career?”

“What is the next step in my finances?”

“What is the next step in my education?”

“What is the next step in my relationships?”

Sometimes I will add more pages with headings like these, and sometimes I will have fewer pages. After I have these pages ready with these questions at the top, I then just stop talking. I stop asking God for things, and I just let Him do the talking. You will find that if you stop to listen to the Lord, He will speak. He will begin to flood your heart with ideas around each of these questions. He may focus on just one or two of these areas of your life, or He may broaden to many of the subjects you’ve listed.

Of course, sometimes God will not speak as you want. There have been times when I haven’t heard Him say much. But more often than not, He has flooded my soul with myriads of ideas, thoughts, and impressions about how I am to move forward in my life. This is epic. It is life changing. In today’s fast-paced world of technology, we rarely take time to just stop and let God speak to us.

Furthermore, I must warn you to be aware that not all ideas come from God. Occasionally my flesh will start talking, and sometimes it might be Satan himself who is chattering in my ears. That is why it is so important to take time for worship, confession, and adoration before you begin your time of listening. It is also good to check the things you have heard with the Scriptures to make sure they are not in conflict with any biblical principles. If the ideas go against the Bible, then that was not God speaking. I have also found it to be helpful to check my notes with godly friends who can help me to make sure I am hearing God.

With all of that in mind, I have to say that the biggest step forward for me in my Christian journey was when I stopped talking and started listening to God! It’s one of the greatest experiences of my Christian journey!

The first step for you to experience a half day of prayer will be to put it on your calendar. Set aside a day, and then go out into a place of solitude to meet with God! You will never be the same afterward!

article by chris russel source bible study tools

words and thoughts

My Words & Thoughts

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord , my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalms 19:14 NKJV

David’s prayer in Psalm 19:14 is so perfect and such a lesson for us: My words and thoughts in every walk of life can express worship for God. Words of hope, love, optimism, encouragement, and truth are such an important aspect of my obedient worship to the God who is all worthy, that they literally have the power to transform my life and the lives of others. We shouldn’t be surprised. Worship changes everything.

Are you worshiping God with your words? Are you experiencing His transforming power? No one teaches on the power of words better than my dear friend Joyce Meyer. Listen to what she has to say:

‘I am sure you have heard someone say, “You are going to eat those words.” It may sound like a mere phrase to us, but in reality we do eat our words. What we say not only affects others, but it also affects us. Words are wonderful when used in a correct way. They can encourage, edify and give confidence to the hearer. A right word spoken at the right time can actually be life-changing…’

We can literally increase our own joy by speaking right words. We can also upset ourselves by talking unnecessarily about our problems, our insecurities or things that have hurt us in relationships.

The words that come out of our mouth go into our own ears as well as other people’s, and then they drop down into our soul, where they bring us life or death, peace or upset, depending on the types of words we have spoken.

 God desires that our spirit be light and free so it can function properly, not heavy and oppressed.

When we understand the power of words and realize that we can choose what we think and speak, our lives can be transformed... We can learn to choose our thoughts, to resist wrong ones and think on good, healthy, and right ones. I have often said, “Where the mind goes, the man follows.” And it could also be said that where the mind goes, the mouth follows!

Think about that last sentence carefully. Do you really believe that the words you say can change your life? I do. Because words of blessing and truth are one of the ways we worship our God and honor the others in our world. 

My words tell others—and myself—what I believe about God. They tell others what I believe about my-self and my life. They reveal my attitude. I want my words to show true worship—exalting the Mighty One—whether I am in front of a thousand leading worship or talking softly to my kids at bedtime or on the phone with a customer service rep who is not understanding my request. 

I want my words to be aligned with God’s truth.

Take some time today to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the ways you speak and think that are detrimental to yourself and others.. today is a new day.. a new beginning. 

Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.