Dear Heavenly Father,
You are awesome and amazing. There is none like You. Holy be Your name and glory to You in the highest! Thank You for forgiving us for the wrong that we do, and for giving us Your Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins. Because of him, we can approach Your throne with no sense of guilt, sin, or condemnation. You have given us Your righteousness through Jesus Christ, and we cannot say thank you enough. You desire that we come to You with anything that is on our hearts, and You will respond to us because we are Your children. 1John 5:14-15(NLT) says, “14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” I’m so thankful that You communicate with us through Your Word, and through dreams and visions also. It is wonderful to be confident that You will always respond to Your people.
Some believers are longing for a supernatural encounter with You, but they lack confidence when it comes to hearing Your voice and coming into Your presence. You have not made it difficult. You tell us in Acts 17:26-27(NLT), “26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.””
When I have calmed my mind and soul and made the decision to zone into You through the Lord Jesus Christ, I block out the world and all its noises. I make the conscious choice to keep my mind stayed on Jesus because I know that he alone is the only way to come to You. He tells us in John 14:6(NLT), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” I get peaceful as I pray in the name of Jesus Christ and ask for permission to come into Your presence, all the while keeping my mind and heart occupied with visions of Your goodness. Being very intentional and reverent about my time with You is the way to grope for You, and to show You that we understand the kind of reverence and respect required to be in Your presence. This is how we feel our way towards You, as it says in Acts 17:27, and we must have confidence that You are not far, for Your Holy Spirit abides within us.
You are worthy to be pursued with all that we are. Many people will stay glued to the television or computer, watching a football or basketball game. They will give sports their undivided attention for hours but will not pursue You for 30 minutes. They will not read their Bibles or think on Your goodness for more than a few brief moments. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that You reward our diligent efforts. We must show ourselves attentive to You and Your Word, and when we do, we are rewarded in ways we can’t imagine.
Spending time with You is the greatest, most rewarding and fulfilling experience in life. I have developed such a deep gratitude for the privilege of being with You and encountering Your presence. I feel exactly as the psalmist did when he prayed in Psalm 51:11(KJV), “Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Thank You for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and for helping us through him to experience the preciousness of Your presence. Nothing compares to spending time with You. Thank You for all Your many blessings, in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Spending Time in God’s Presence”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.