An Invitation into God’s Presence

I want to welcome you into God’s presence as we encounter Him this year in a more profound way, growing in intimacy with Him. Let’s invite Him to come and meet with us today.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you reveal yourself to us and bring us a revelation of who you are and how much you love us. Holy Spirit, breathe life upon this time and minister the heart of the Father to us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

We are created to encounter His presence, to experience His presence and His love. We experience His love as we spend time with Him. Let His loving presence wrap around and overwhelm you. Call out His name and know He is there. Rest in His loving arms, believing He will make all things right. He is faithful.

It is vital to develop a relationship, friendship, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. As believers, He dwells in us (1 Corinthians 6:19; Titus 3:5) and manifests the presence of God in us and to the world around us. His manifested presence changes us, our attitudes, the atmosphere, and the environment. His presence is the evidence of His person. He is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7), but we are not always aware of His presence, although we can be.

God says He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). He is with us always and in all ways, and by His Spirit, we can experience His presence. We need Him to go with us, and we need to be in His presence (Exodus 33:14-15). It is glorious to walk with Him in the constant awareness of His presence! We can have a living, breathing encounter with God.

The glory of God is the manifestation of God’s presence, power, and goodness on the earth in a visible way, i.e., fire, cloud, light, healing, deliverance, etc. (Exodus 13:21, 22; 2 Chronicles 5:14; Luke 5:17; 11:20; John 11:40-44; Acts 2:3; Acts 9:3).

Jesus was God’s glory manifested in the earth when He was here, the Lord of glory (Luke 9:32; John 1:14; 2:11; 17:1-5; 22, 24; Colossians 1:27; Hebrews 1:3; 2 Peter 1:17). Now that Jesus is in heaven at the Father’s right hand, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit was sent to manifest God’s glory in the earth (Acts 2:17; 1 Peter 4:14). It is the Holy Spirit’s presence when you sense changes to the glory’s environment or atmosphere.

People may experience, sense, or feel His presence in different ways based on how God chooses to manifest Himself and each person’s differences of personality, i.e., weeping, shaking, falling down, laughing, light or shining face, etc. (Exodus 19:16-18; 34:30; 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14; 7:1, 2; 34:27; Ezekiel 3:23; Daniel 10:7-11; Psalm 16:11; Matthew 17:6; John 18:5, 6; Acts 2:15; 4:31; 9:4-6; Romans 14:17; 2 Corinthians 5:13; Hebrews 5:7). We may feel or sense His peace or love.

How do we develop a relationship and have communion with the Holy Spirit? Start by welcoming Him and thank Him for coming to you and bringing all that He is and has. Acknowledge and enjoy His presence, His Gifts, His nature, and His functions. Invite Him to take control of your life and decisions and ask Him to lead, direct and counsel you. Spend time in fellowship with Him by soaking in His presence, by waiting on Him in worship, and listening to His voice as you would in talking to a friend. Be aware of Him in the activities of your day and make yourself available to Him, then obey Him when He asks you to do something. He is always with you and wants to be your best friend!

Every time we encounter God through His Word, prayer, worship, or dreams and visions, a shift should happen. Something new or fresh should occur. The Lord loves us too much to leave us the way we are! He wants to lead us into a lifetime of divine encounters with Him. All we have to do is open our hearts to Him and ask!

Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11 – 13
‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Matthew 7:7 – 8

Do you hunger for God and to be in His presence? In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 42:1 – 2
How lovely is your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:1 – 2

I like to begin my time with the Lord in thankfulness, praise, and worship.

Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Psalm 100:2
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. Psalm 100:4

Then I ask the Holy Spirit to show me what the Lord has to say today in His Word, meditating on it. Next, I spend time in prayer, listening to hear what the Lord is saying to me. It is essential to quiet ourselves, fix our eyes on Jesus, and tune to the flow of the Spirit. You may want to write down what He says in a journal.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10

It is important to prioritize our time to spend time with Him, focus on Him, and hear His voice and heart in His presence. He is inviting us to a deeper place of intimacy with Him, to come into the secret place and return to our first love. We walk with an awareness of His presence through a lifestyle of worship, repentance (Hebrews 6:1; Acts 3:19), and prayer. We become like the One we worship.

We pray from the presence of God, not merely as a Christian discipline only. We partner with Him and pray with Him, not just pray to Him. Let the Spirit of God rest upon you and pray through you. Use your faith to discover the ever-abiding presence of the Lord in your life. When your heart focuses on His heart and presence, everything else falls into place.

We are to host God’s presence and glory, then release His glory into our sphere of influence until the glory of the Lord covers the earth!

Prayer

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14

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