«Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that on of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples» (Luke, 11:1)
The disciples understood that the presence of God in the life of Jesus was closely related to His ability to pray, and they decided to watch Him no more. They realized that they also can come into this presence; that is why they asked Jesus about it.
Why was God with Him? Was it because He was the Son of God? I don’t think so. Don’t forget that Jesus also was the Son of Man. He was born in flesh, was raised in a family, and grew physically, intellectually and spiritually.
«And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men» (Luke, 2:52).
We have been talking about God’s presence in our lives. As we have discussed, God’s presence makes all the difference in our lives. It makes us strong. It makes us wise. We can experience God’s presence through fervent praying, through cleansing and purifying of our hearts, though brokenness and humility before God, and through holy and godly living.
Moses made prayer a priority in order to secure God’s presence in his life and ministry; for this reason he set up a special tent where all the seekers of God were invited to come.
«Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up» (James, 4:8-10)
From the verses above we see that sin and adultery distance a person from God and block His presence, His power and glory from manifesting. So, besides prayer, there are other things that bring us closer to God and bring His presence into our lives: those are repentance and commitment to live a holy life.
How can we experience God’s presence in our lives?
Possibly, there are several ways to do it, but it is very important to realize that it is impossible to experience God’s presence without prayer. God left the recipe of how to experience His presence in His Word.
«Draw near to God and He will draw near to you» (James, 4:8а)
«For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth» (Exodus, 33:16).
God’s presence makes us stronger and more glorious. If God’s presence is so necessary, then how can we experience it in our lives?
During the past few days we have been talking about the idea of a person being the main initiator of the miracles he needs in his life. In order for God to be able to do something supernatural in the individual’s life this individual must create the natural platform or foundation for this miracle. When you mix your distress with prayer, then the miracle will surely happen and you will have true and undisputable proof of God’s miracle and His supernatural intervention.
If you desire to see and experience a miracle from God in your life, then you must forget about what other people think of your prayer style. At the period of seeking God, you must be concerned about one thing only, – how sincere your heart is during praying and how big your desire is to experience His intervention. Keep trusting and crying out to God even when everybody else have grown weak and lost faith in any possibilities for your life to change. God loves consistent and faithful people. He always has a reward for that type of people.
We talked about Hannah who did not give up even though she was barren and was being humiliated by other people; she kept on believing God and trusting that He would send her a miracle into her life and give her a baby. She did not plunge into despair and sense of helplessness, but daily brought her needs before God in fervent prayer.
Many people expect miracle in their life and sometimes the waiting continues many years. I want to help you today to see that we should not wait for a miracle to come, but we need to call forth and cause these miracles. Any miracle that a person desires to experience in his life can be brought about by this person. It is possible that the miracle won’t come right away, but when you build the necessary (natural) platform for it, it will absolutely come into your life. And when it happens you will have undeniable proof for your faith and trust in the Lord.
