Cultivating God's Presence

 When I am at home, I have been keeping a candle burning almost all the time. For me, it represents the Presence of God being near. I started doing this after I heard my friend, Elizabeth’s explanation for doing the same thing in her home.

Elizabeth was having trouble with knowing the Presence of God was right there with her everyday. As she prayed about it, God told her to light a candle in those times of doubt. In that way, she would have a physical focal point to concentrate on when she was having trouble feeling God near. This simple habit strengthened her faith in God being present with her.

The candle helps but what does it mean to be in God’s Presence?

Learning to be in God’s presence means we are looking to foster intimacy in our relationship with God. To do that, we determined to keep Him in the forefront continually. Our desire is to learn everything we can about Him. What He likes and doesn’t like. We long for His will above our own and His ways above the world’s. We communicate with God about everything.

Learning to be in God’s presence is a process. It is learning to live in your present reality while also being aware of the eternal reality where God lives. As our determination to pursue both realities matures, our relationship and His presence become stronger.

How do we come into God’s presence?

As His child, God’s presence is a promise to us. (Hebrews 13:5) We need to develop this promise by faith so our circumstances do not change our mind.

We cultivate His presence by:

Praise

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Psalm 100:4

Singing:

 

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come His presence with singing.

Psalm 100:2

Thanksgiving

Let us come to him with thanksgiving.

Let us sing psalms of praise to him.

Psalm 95:2

Reading and mediating on His Word

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

John 1:1

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall

meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make you way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Joshua 1:8

Being able to be in God’s presence is not dependent on how we feel.  Our feelings are so unpredictable. It is easy for us to come into His presence when our lives are going well. However, when our lives are upside down, we may not ‘feel’ like seeking God out. At those times though, feelings have to be dealt with and what better way then in the presence of your loving Father.

God wants to radiate the awareness of His presence through us inwardly so that we can radiate His presence outwardly to the world around us. By cultivating God’s presence in our lives continually, we will know we can accomplish anything.

How about you? What do you need to do to better cultivate the awareness of God’s presence in your life?  You may want to start with a candle or several minutes of praise and thanksgiving. Whatever you decide to do, God is ready to meet you right where you are and the benefits begin with joy.

Come near to God and He will come near to you.

James 4:8