This past Sunday, February 1st, I felt a holy presence at the close of our morning service at Calvary. I love it when the presence of the Lord can be felt. Just to be sure, I asked the congregation if they felt it also. Several said they did. There was an awesome heaviness at the close of our service. Thank you, Lord, for your manifested presence.
There have been many times throughout my ministry where I have felt the presence of the Lord in a service, either one of which I was a part or one in which I was ministering. It never ceases to amaze me and sometimes even stuns me to sense his presence moving in our midst. Sometimes when I preach I know I am doing what the Lord wants done. Sometimes I have to proceed by faith, preaching what I know to be the Word of God. Sometimes I feel like a complete failure, but I do not allow those feelings to guide me. However, when you feel the presence of the Lord, you want to embrace that feeling of guidance to the fullest extent.
Another thing that is exciting about the Lord’s manifested presence was the subject matter I was preaching on at the time. I started a new Sermon Series Sunday called The Ways of the the Lord. In this series we are looking behind the deeds of the Lord to discover his ways. His ways are why he does what he does. There is a depth and a richness to understanding the ways of the Lord that outweighs the things he does. Knowing the ways of the Lord reveal the intensity of his love for us. Knowing his ways allows us to walk in his ways and reap the benefits of them in our lives.
“Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them?
for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them:
but the transgressors shall fall therein.”
Hosea 14:9, KJV.
I am convinced that some believers struggle in their walk with the Lord because they do not know the Lord’s ways. They do not have a clear understanding of what he wants of them. I could say they are still stuck in a performance based religion, but it’s deeper than that. They have not fully understood the underlying motivation of the Lord in all he does. Simply put, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1st John 4:16, NIV.)
When we try to base our relationship with the Lord on anything other than the love he has for us, then we get a distorted concept of who he is and what he wants to do in our lives. God wants fellowship with his people because he loves us. He wants to be near us. He wants to manifest himself to us.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21, KJV.
This brings me back to what I got just a taste of Sunday throughout the service—the manifested presence of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Why? Well, there are actually two reasons. One, I was preaching on the ways of the Lord and God was confirming the truth of the message. I believe this series is very dear to his heart and life-changing, if we will embrace it. Two, the new Weekly Prayer Circle is meeting in the Prayer Tower each Saturday night and it is already making a difference in the atmosphere of our Sunday morning services.
One of the things I pray daily in the tower, and during the prayer circle, is for the manifested presence of the Lord to fill our church, our lives, and this entire community. We don’t need to just be preaching about what he can do, we need to also be demonstrating his presence and power in our lives. His presence brings joy and peace. His presence brings victory in the midst of our battles. His presence lifts us up above the stresses and difficulties of this life. With his presence, we can soar on the wings of eagles.
I’ve always struggled with spending time with God. There are many believers who do. Yes, I pray, study his Word, and fellowship with other believers, but time in his presence has always been difficult. Then the Lord laid on my heart to build a place of prayer at Calvary—the Prayer Tower. It’s been a labor of love. It’s not complete, but the most important part of the tower is the prayer that goes forth from it. Some may feel completing it is important, but I’m not building a monument to prayer, I building a place for prayer. The prayer is the focus. The first thing that needs to be built at Calvary is a culture of prayer in everything we do.
Through this place of prayer I had hoped to see miracles, healings, salvations, and deliverances. I am sure that will happen, but the Lord thinks differently than I do. He has another priority. What he wants our place of prayer to do is usher in his presence. In his presence all of those other things become a reality. That’s what I have been sensing him doing through our Weekly Prayer Circle—bringing froth the manifested presence of the Lord in our church.
When the presence of the Lord is manifested in our church, the drawing power we want will be there. God is not drawing people to hear our music or even listen to the preaching. He is drawing people to himself. He wants to manifest himself to people who need him. He wants a place to meet with his people and to pour out his Spirit upon them. We are not meeting the needs of the people. He is!
That’s what I felt this past Saturday night in the circle. There was a leading in prayer to pray for his presence to be manifested in our services. When God shows up, many will come and receive all those miracles, healings, salvations, and deliverances we so desire for them to have. More importantly, they will be swept into the presence of the Almighty God who gives life and breath to everyone.
“And he is not served by human hands,
as if he needed anything,
because he himself gives all men
life and breath and everything else.”
Acts 17:25, NIV.
May the Lord keep us on track and continue to direct our prayers into his perfect will. He intensely desires for us to discover, cling to, and share his presence with others. This direction leads me to think that after this series on the ways of the Lord I might be preaching about the presence of the Lord in March. That would be a great way to lead into the Easter season and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church.