Today we will speak about: Experiencing The Presence of God!
Hallelujah…Are you ready to experience more of God? Are you ready to try something new from him?… I hope that by the end of this message, your heart be open and prepared to experience a supernatural power, the love of the presence of God.
The bible says:
“Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
Psalms 51:11
This is a prayer of King David, when He was repenting from his sins against God. He knew that the most precious thing he had was the presence of God.
He said: God, you can take everything from me….my health, my dreams, my family, my strength….but Please do not cast me from your presence….do not take your Holy Spirit from me…
This is a prayer of a person who already experienced God…..he had tasted the presence of God… he was desperate at even the possibility of losing the presence of God… because He knew what the presence of God felt like. He had experienced God and his presence before…
What is your prayer today? What are you asking God for?
Are you asking for things or are you asking….
Please Lord , do anything, but do not remove me from your presence….
I ask you:
Have you ever experienced the Supernatural?
Have you ever heard something powerful from God?
Have you ever had a real experience with God?
Experience The Presence of God.
There is a way for us to go into God’s presence. There is a recipe for it…
The bible says:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:7-8 NIV
Submit yourself to God.
Resist the devil.
Come near God with clean hands and purified hearts.
Throughout the whole bible, we can see God seeking out mankind to have a relationship with us. He wants us in his presence, every day, every time… every second of our lives… He has been offering His presence since the beginning of creation… listen to me…
At the beginning, Adam and Eve had some time in God’s presence every day…
Usually, at the end of the day, Adam and Eve would hear the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. He was there to have Fellowship with them…to give his presence to them…
But, one day they committed sin against God and the sin broke the relationship between God and mankind.
But God didn’t give up of us… listen… God doesn’t give up of you!
Since the beginning, He has been trying to have Fellowship with us, and so He put a new plan in action, a plan of redemption, a plan of restoration to bring us back to his presence.
So, mankind started giving offerings, sacrifices, and God began to speak to them once more…
Time passed, and when the people of Israel were in Egypt, they cried out to God for a liberator and God answered them and sent Moses.
Moses delivered the people of Israel from Egypt and he guided them to the Promise land…
Look at what happens in Exodus:
“Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Exodus 33:12-15
Moses experienced the Presence of God.
He climbed up a mountain, he spent time in God’s presence, he saw heaven, he had a vision about a tabernacle, he got the ten commandants… He taste God’s presence… but the people of Israel missed this opportunity. They rather be represented by Moses… they missed the opportunity to be in the presence of God.
Do not miss the opportunity to be in the presence of God!
How many times have you let the presence of God pass you by?
Because a sin….
Because a fight… an argument… because of pride, or coldness of heart…
Moses cried out to God saying: Lord, I have tasted of your presence, I know that your presence is the best place I could ever be, so please, If your Presence does not come with us, do not send us away from here.”
Through the whole bible, God tries to give his presence back to mankind… he speaks through prophets, priests, kings, and our Saviour Jesus.
When Jesus came, he died for us on the cross, he resurrected on the third day giving us life, forgiveness and salvation…and also he sent the Holy Spirit to us, to walk with us, to live in us…and every day we can experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit.
So, my brothers and sisters, please experience the Presence of God and you will know, There is no better place to be.
And, what can we find in God’s presence? I have some points here to show you.
What can you find in God’s presence?!
-There is Joy in the Presence of God
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalms 16:11
Maybe you have lived through something like this: you are sad, mad at something that happened to you… and then you decide to pray… you start to pray, start to worship God and suddenly the Presence of God comes… the atmosphere changes, your body start to shake, your mind becomes clean, you cry… but you cry not because you are sad, but because you are happy now… you found God… God’s favour comes upon you and you are filled with joy.
There is Joy in the Presence of God.
I have a testimony. When I was 18, my friend and I set up a night time prayer for the whole Church. We invited everyone in Church, we were very excited about living the supernatural of God… we were experiencing God’s presence all the time by then, I was going up to the mountains to pray with friends very often… I was felling God in a such powerful way… I was thirsty for him… So my expectations were high to be with the Church and have a time this time of prayer for the whole night… We planned to start at 10pm and go until 6 am…
At 10pm, we look around the Church, and there were only my friend and I there…
At 10:30pm, still only the two of us ….at 11pm… my friend and I…
We were so disappointed that no one showed up… not even the Pastor came. Nobody came… so we decided to start praying by ourselves…
But look, when we started to pray, we felt something different… We were so upset… but suddenly, we started to be filled with joy….and we began to worship God, I played the piano, my friend sang… and we went until 6am in the morning praying and singing….we knew God had touched us… It was on Friday… On Saturday, we went to practice at church and a lady who lived in a house at the of the Church, she came to us and said:
What an amazing time of prayer you had yesterday !
I looked at my friend and we didn’t understand….
I asked her: What? Nobody came… it was only my friend and me…we were in 2…
When I said that, this lady who was a good musician, she said…
That’s impossible! I know what I heard…I woke up during the night and I heard a beautiful music coming from Church. There were many beautiful voices singing and playing instruments along. You were not alone!
She was a serious lady, so we felt that joy again in our hearts and we understood… We were in the presence of God… the angels came and praised Jesus with us….hallelujah….We we’re not alone…The angels were there because of the presence of God and we were filled with joy.
I want to say to you: There is Joy in the Presence of The Lord!
What are you looking for? Are you sad? Are you experiencing bad feelings? Are you fighting against depression?
Come to God’s presence, and he will fill you with JOY! Amen?
-There is Freedom in the Presence of The Lord
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
There is freedom in the presence of the Lord.
God casts away all the fear and doubts from our heart and He sets us free!
Many times, during worship I’ve seen witnessed people being set free from demons, possessions, addiction problems…because when we worship God, he comes, and he sets us free from all evil…
Years ago, I had a huge doubt in my heart… I had to decide to go to a new Church or to stay where I was…and I prayed: God, it’s a big decision to make…I cannot do it alone… please, show me clearly what you want, and I will follow your guidance. But, please show it to me in a clear way… After that prayer, I went to work.
I was a Bank manager, and I had many rich clients under my supervision… A lot of good looking people would pass by, everyone was well dressed, suited up, and all that….suddenly an old man, a simple man, he was so simply dressed, everyone was staring at him, he came to me, he sat on a chair and asked for help.
I could not help him, because he was not a client of the bank… but I had compassion, and I started to help him… I asked him for a card so I could contact some other bank to help him… when he handed me the card, he touched my hand… at the touch of my hand, he began to speak in tongues….loudly… everybody was looking at him and me…
I had to hold back my tears… it was so powerful…God was there… I was working, but God came to answer me… He visited my work place only to deliver the answer to my prayers…How precious God is…
The old man told: I came here to say tell you: The presence of God is here because of you. Nobody believes in God here, but you believe, you are a son of God… when you come to work, God’s presence comes with you… when you go home, the presence of God leaves and goes home with you, You are asking God for an answer.. and here is your answer….wow….Praised be God!
He came! He answered me! He set me free from the fear I was to change Churches… and I changed Churches and 7 years later they were sending me to be a missionary in Ireland. Hallelujah!!
God set me free from my doubts!
God wants to set you free! There is nothing impossible for God! He went to my workplace just to give me answer for my prayer!
What are you facing? God is here right now and he wants to answer you… he wants to set you free from your fears, he wants to set you free from your thoughts…
Are you fearing someone? Are you afraid of something?
Do you have any doubts about God? About your purpose on earth?
I tell you: Go to his presence, he will answer you and set you free!
In the presence of God there is freedom!
-There is Revelation and Direction in The Presence of The Lord!
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.”
Genesis 17:1
God was telling to Abraham about his nature!
I am God Almighty! Along the way, God showed himself to Abraham many times and talked about who He is.
When we seek God, he reveals himself! He show us the beauty of his name! Every time I read the bible, I get some new revelation of God, about his word….when I am in his presence alone, with my family, here
in the Church, I pursue God and I get a revelation of his love, a revelation of his Spirit.
I had many experiences with God. I have been a Christian since childhood… I’ve seen many miracles in my parents’s lives… I experienced it when I was a child, teenager, youth, and now as an adult and I can tell you… I haven’t had enough… Because the fountain of God’s knowledge is never ending…we can have a new revelation every time we go to God’s presence!
And I tell you, what is God revealing to you? During the past few days, what has God been speaking to your heart?
At home, we have time with God every day. We have been reading the entire bible together… and it’s a good time…we share experiences, thoughts, we laugh together, and God always speaks says something to us…
The other day I told my kids: Today we will experience God.
So, I guided them on how to seek God and spend time in God’s presence. I said: Be sensible, God will speak to you through situations, people, or through the Holy Spirit and tonight you will tell us what happened…We prayed and we wait in God….He wants to have this relationship with us…so I knew he would come and speak to our kids…
That night, we gather together and the kids started to tell us:
Ellen said: God spoke to me. Today I was at School praying to God, seeking his presence, and suddenly I had a vision! God showed me a big river, a bit of nature, and he told he was the God of creation and He cares about me! Hallelujah…God is available to kids and adults… we just need to seek Him.
In the same week, She asked me to come to our prayer meeting here at church at 6am…I agreed, of course… while she was here, She told me: dad, I saw a white horse but I don’t know why… So I asked her… do you know what white horses means? No, she answered….
Jesus has a white horse… it’s written in the book of revelation…you saw the horse of Jesus Christ! It means Jesus was there with us ! He was there…hallelujah…
After this, my son said: While I was reading the bible in my bedroom, God spoke to me. He told me what I was doing wrong through the bible and I agree with him. God spoke through the bible! He reveals his glory and he guides our path!
God has a direction for your life!
God is here today, and he wants to guide you. Maybe you are lost, you don’t know what will happen in the future, or how to deal with some situation, person…but I tell you, if you stay in God’s presence, he will reveal his glory, and he will give you direction!
So, I come here today to remind you of the Presence of God!
Many times I prayed and I didn’t want to go away from his presence….it was so good to be in God’s presence! He is real, He is almighty God, He offers Relief to your soul, Comfort, Joy, Freedom…He wants to reveal himself for us, He has guidance to our lives.
You are here and I don’t know how long you don’t experience God.
How long you just believe, read the bible, but you don’t taste God, his love, his power, his supernatural presence.
I want to challenge you today to start Pursuing God! Seek God with all your heart, seek God and you will find him, knock at the door and he will open it, ask Him and he will answer you.
Experience The Presence of God! God is here, enjoy this time in His presence and ask God, I want to feel you!