Today my wife Ruthie was painting in the children's ministry area of our church building. At some point in the afternoon, I walked over from my office at the other end of the building to check in and see how she was doing. She laughed at me and shook her head. "Earlier you walked right past me two times and never even noticed I was standing here!"
I thought, "No way!" But then I did remember walking by that stairwell to take out some trash between meetings. Apparently, I had passed Ruthie once on my way to empty the trash, and then a second time on my way back to my office. My wife was there, but I didn't sense her presence.
The same can happen to us as believers in our relationship with God. The Lord is always with us, "for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'" (Heb. 13:5). Yet, just as I didn't have a clue that my wife was standing close by, because I was preoccupied with other things, so we can be unaware of God's presence for the same reason.
God is there, but are we aware? That's the question. And it's worth taking the time to answer, because in God's presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). So, what can we do to cultivate a sense of God's presence?
- Meditate on God's Word. Don't just read it; reflect on it. Mull it over in your mind. Apply it to yourself. In his classic book, Knowing God, James Packer describes meditation as "an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God." The prophet Jeremiah testified, "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts" (Jer. 15:16). By giving ourselves to meditation, we like Jeremiah can experience the joy of God's presence.
- Confess and forsake any known sin. Sin creates a gap between us and God (Isa. 59:2). In order to draw near to God, we must deal with our sin (James 4:4). "If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The word "confess" literally means "to say the same thing." It's calling sin for what it is, as God sees it, rather than making excuses or minimizing it. When David sinned, he was miserable until he confessed his sin to God (see Psalm 51). David asked the Lord to restore to him the joy of his salvation, so that once again he could sing and declare God's praise (Ps. 51:12-15). God forgave David's sin and restored his joy (Psalm 32), and God will do the same for us (1 John 1:9).
- Pray in the Holy Spirit. The New Testament writer Jude wrote, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God..." (Jude 20-21). Just as the Word of God is our foundation for living, so the Spirit of God is our fountain for living. Romans 8:15 refers to him as "the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" They Holy Spirit assures us that we are God's children, that we have been accepted into God's family, that God is our Father, and we can share with him all that is on our hearts. We can cast all our cares on him, knowing that he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). The Holy Spirit is the conduit through which God the Father pours out his love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5). By praying in humble reliance on the Holy Spirit, we can cultivate a greater sense of God's presence.
- Fast to the Lord. In his book, A Hunger for God, John Piper contends, "If we don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great." Fasting is a way of expressing, and even increasing, our soul's appetite for God. Jesus predicted that the time would come when his disciples would fast - the time when Jesus would be taken away from them (Matthew 9:14-17). Fasting is a way of saying that we're homesick for heaven (see point #9 below). Dave Butts wrote, "Christians today are returning to fasting and prayer as a means of waking us up to our great need for the presence of God."
- Sing to the Lord. I've heard people say many times that the job of a worship leader is to "lead us into the presence of God." Are you kidding me? Jesus Christ alone can do that, and he has already opened up the way for us through his death and resurrection (Hebrews 9:12-14; 10:19-25). However, we can remind ourselves and one another of what Christ has already accomplished for us by "singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:19-20). By exercising faith in the finished work of Christ, we draw near to God and are "filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). As John MacArthur notes in his commentary on this verse, "To be filled with the Spirit is to live in the consciousness of the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, as if we were standing next to Him...."
- Go to church. Not just any church, but a church that is centered on the gospel and the word of God as a whole. Go to a church where the the gospel is portrayed (through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper), sung, spoken, prayed, and lived out in the context of Christian community. Such a church is the temple of the Holy Spirit - God's dwelling place (1 Cor. 3:16). Become an active, participating member of such a church, and you will experience God's presence. In fact, Scripture declares that even an unbeliever who enters a church where God's word is clearly communicated will come under conviction, "and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you" (1 Cor. 14:25).
- Be a generous giver. John Wesley said, "When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, let it find a way into my heart." Scripture warns us that love for money and the desire to be rich entices people, ensnares them, and plunges them "into ruin and destruction" (1 Tim. 6:9). But generous givers experience great joy. Such was the case with the churches in Macedonia in the first century. The apostle Paul testified, "In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity" (2 Cor. 8:2). Even though these believers were physically poor, they were spiritually rich. They experienced the grace of God and enjoyed the presence of God. This should not surprise us, "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt. 6:21). When giving is a priority, we experience God's presence.
- Tell others about Jesus. When giving his command to "make disciples," Jesus assured his followers, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). One of the best ways to experience God's presence is to obey Jesus' command to make disciples.
- Think much of heaven. In his classic devotional book, The Saint's Everlasting Rest, the 17th century Puritan pastor Richard Baxter wrote,
Why are not our hearts continually set on heaven? Why dwell we not there in constant contemplation? ... Bend thy soul to study eternity, busy thyself about the life to come, habituate thyself to such contemplations, and let not those thoughts be seldom and curry, but bathe thyself in heaven's delights.
Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us, so that where he is, there we may be also (John 14:3). Jude says that one of the ways we keep ourselves in the love of God is by "waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life" (Jude 21). Paul says that we wait for God's Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1:10), and that we're to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1). Two verses later, Paul says, "your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). Boy, talk about the inner sanctum - the very heart of God's presence! Yet that is our position in Christ as believers. To experience that reality, we must be heavenly-minded.
Can you think of more ways that we can cultivate a greater sense of God's presence in our lives? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. I'd love to hear from you!