PRACTICE BEING WITH GOD

 

  1. Introduction: We have been working on a series about learning to live with the awareness that God is with you.  If you can learn to live with the awareness that God is truly with you, it will give you peace and hope no matter what difficulties you encounter.  Let’s briefly review the main points we’ve made.
  2. God is with each of us, whether we know it or believe it, because God is Omnipresent or present everywhere at once. There’s no place God is not.  Wherever you are, there He is.  Wherever you go, He’s already there. Ps 139:7-12; Jer 23:23-24
    1. We tend to think of God as far away because we think of Him up in Heaven, and we’re down here. God is in Heaven, but He’s bigger than Heaven—He actually created Heaven. Col 1:16
    2. It is true that God is present in Heaven in a special and active way (lessons for another day). But He is still Omnipresent or present everywhere at once.  Bible references to God in Heaven are meant to emphasize His bigness and greatness, and the fact that He is above and over all.
    3. God is in Heaven, but He is also right here with us (with you), perfectly present, loving and reigning, and upholding all things. And because He is Infinite (without limits), He is with each one of us as though we are the only person in the world.
    4. God’s message to His people is always: Fear not, for I am with you.  Nothing can come against you that is bigger than me—and I am you.  You are mine by creation and by redemption, and I will get you through until I get you out. Isa 41:10; Isa 43:1-2
    5. Because God is Invisible (beyond the perception of our physical senses), we cannot see or feel Him unless He chooses to demonstrate Himself to us in some tangible way (which is highly unusual).
  3. However, God has given us a tangible, touchable revelation of Himself which tells us who He is, what He is like, and what He has done, is doing, and will do—the Scriptures, the Bible.
  4. God’s written Word is our only fully reliable, completely trustworthy source of information about Him. Jesus said that the Scriptures testify of Him. John 5:39
  5. When we read about the Lord in His written Word and see how good and how big He is, and it produces faith (trust or confidence) in God, in us. Faith is trust in a Person, Almighty God, who cannot lie, cannot fail, and does no wrong to anyone.
  6. Although God is Invisible, we can relate to Him and interact with Him by faith. We can talk to Him as though He is really there, because He is.
  7. When we acknowledge His presence (talk to Him and about Him, and purposefully think about the fact that He is with us) it increases our awareness of His presence with us.
  8. We’ve stressed the fact that God is relational. He created us for relationship—to be His sons and daughters who live in loving relationship with Him.  Almighty God invites us into relationship with Him, through Jesus. Gen 1:27; Eph 1:4-5; I Cor 1:9
  9. We were created to know God, not just know facts about Him, but to know Him relationally, in a way that affects how we live as we interact with Him. John 4:41-42; I John 1:3-4
  10. Before Jesus left this world to return to Heaven following His crucifixion and resurrection, He told His followers: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20, NKJV).
  11. The Greek word that is translated behold is a form of a word that means to know, to be aware. It’s more than trying to remember things about Jesus because He’s not here anymore.
  12. It’s a conscious interaction with Him, interaction based on the fact that you believe He is right there with you. It’s supernatural because God is truly there and engages with you.
  13. I’ve been encouraging us to take time each day (five or so minutes) to get quiet before God. Turn all devices off (including music).  Then acknowledge His presence with you, and intentionally focus on Him.
  14. Make yourself think about and softly say what is so—You are right here with me. Stillness and quietness put you in a position to know Him more fully and to become aware of who has been there all along.
  15. Ps 46:10—Be still and know that I am God (KJV); Pause a while and know that I am God

(Jeru); Wait quietly and you will have proof that I am God (Knox).

  1. When you do this, you are choosing to consciously be with God, your Creator and your Savior. Sitting in God’s presence by faith is a time of both welcome and refreshment for us.
  2. Eph 3:12—Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome (NLT).
  3. Remember, you can’t get somewhere that you already are. You are in His presence whether you know it or believe it.
  4. But you can become more aware of where you are and who is with you, which then affects how you think and feel.
  5. Peter the apostle, in one of his first public sermons, proclaimed Jesus to a crowd and said:

Turn from you sins and turn to God so you can be cleansed of your sins.  Then wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord (NLT); (turn) so that spiritual strength may come (to you) from the Lord’s presence (Acts 3:19, Good News Bible).

 

  1. God’s presence with you is automatic. He’s right there with you whether you know it or believe it.  But awareness of God with you is not automatic.  We must develop this awareness by taking time to acknowledge that He is with us, by taking time to consciously be with Him (sit in His presence).
  2. In addition to taking a few minutes each day to consciously sit with Him, you can develop the habit of talking to Him and acknowledging Him as you go through your day.
  3. When you’re walking to your car, making your bed, or going into a store, you can focus your attention on Him with you by quietly talking to or about Him. Any activity where you do not have to focus all your thoughts on what you’re doing, purposefully practice being with God.
  4. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by developing the habit of praising and thanking God as you go about your daily activities. As you do this, you’ll develop a greater awareness of His presence with you.
  5. Praise is not first and foremost musical. Praise is acknowledging God by talking about who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Ps 107:8; 15; 21; 31
  6. I spent many years as a high school history teacher. There were times when it was appropriate for me to praise a student either for his character or his academic performance.  It had nothing to do with music.  It was an acknowledgement of the student.
    1. As you go through your day, under your breath, softly acknowledge God by thanking Him that He is with you, and by praising Him for His goodness and salvation. This will help you become more conscious of God with you and will help you develop control over your mind and mouth.
  7. We need what I call an SOS phrase (Sight On Savior) that we can use to put our attention back on the Lord when the pressure comes, the thoughts fly, and emotions rage and God seems far away. Examples:  You are with me; You are for me; this isn’t bigger than You; praise You Lord; etc.
  8. We all experience anxious thoughts and fears in our mind and we try to fight against them by resisting and refusing them. But they keep coming.  Instead of fighting the thoughts, change your focus.  Put your attention on God with you and for you.  This is much easier to do if you have built a daily habit of practicing or acknowledging His presence.
  9. We pointed out in previous lessons that David was a master at acknowledging the presence of the Lord: What time I am afraid, I will trust in you (Ps 56:3, KJV).  When he was afraid, David put his focus on God.  He was able to do this because he practiced the presence of the Lord.
  10. David lived in a culture that understood the importance of praise to God. His people had a place to worship and praise God—first the Tabernacle (a tent structure) and then the Temple (in Jerusalem).  God visibly manifested His presence in both places for hundreds of years.
  11. All adult males were required to appear before the Lord, first in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple (Ex 23:14-17). Proscribed psalms for approaching the Temple were developed and practiced (many lessons for another day).
  12. But David (who worshipped in the Tabernacle) and his son Solomon (who built the Temple) knew that even though God manifested His presence in the Tabernacle and Temple, He is Omnipresent or present everywhere at once. Ps 139:7-8; II Chron 6:18
  13. David learned to live with the awareness that God was everywhere present and that he could experience and live in unending fellowship with God wherever he was.
  14. Yes, he could enter a building where God specially manifested His presence. But David understood that he was always in the presence of the Lord and that gave him peace and hope.
  15. David developed this awareness by purposefully focusing his attention on God, by making himself get quiet, sit before God, think about Him, and talk to and about Him as though God was there—because He was and is. Ps 27:4-8; Ps 16:8
  16. Ps 63:6-7—I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. I think how much you have helped me.  I sing for joy in the shadow of you protecting wings (NLT).
  17. David understood the value of praising God. He wrote:  Out of the mouth of babes and infant, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger (Ps 8:2, ESV).
  18. Jesus later quoted this passage and defined this strength as praise to God—Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise (Matt 21:16, ESV).
  19. Praise helps you focus on God and praise will still the enemy—the wild thoughts in your head—because it changes your focus.

 

  1. Let’s look at a real-life example of putting your attention on the Lord by purposefully seeking Him and praising Him. It occurred during the reign of David’s descendant, King Jehoshaphat (873-848 BC).  Jehoshaphat ruled over the southern part of Israel, known as Judah. II Chron 20
  2. Three enemy armies joined together to attack Judah. When news reached Jerusalem that the armies were close at hand, with more troops than Judah had everyone, including the king, was afraid.
  3. At the king’s direction people from all over Judah came to the Temple in Jerusalem to seek the Lord. Two Hebrew words are translated seek, and both have the idea of seeking God in worship or prayer. II Chron 20:3-4
  4. The king stood before the people in the Temple courtyard and prayed. He began his prayer, not with the problem, but with the bigness of God (His omnipotence):  You alone are the God who is in heaven.  You are the ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.  You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you (II Chron 20:6, NLT).
  5. Then Jehoshaphat recounted how God had helped them in the past—(You) drove out those who lived in this land when your people arrived…(and gave) this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham (II Chron 20:7).
  6. Note that this is a relational statement. The king said:  You helped your people.  Abraham is the friend of God.  We are their descendants, and we are also your people.
  7. The king recounted that their ancestors who settled the land and built the Temple where they were standing, told them that: Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, disease, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored.  We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear and rescue us (II Chron 20:8-9, NLT).
  8. Note that in his prayer, the king acknowledged both the Transcendence and the Imminence of God. He recognized that Almighty God is both Transcendent (above, beyond the material universe) and Imminent (close at hand), and the fact that they were standing in His presence.
  9. Jehoshaphat ended his prayer with this statement: We are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us, but our eyes are on you (II Chron 20:12, ESV).  We don’t know what to do, and we are purposefully focusing our attention on you.
  10. God spoke to the people through a Levite named Jahaziel. The Lord said:  Do not be afraid!  Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s… Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you (II Chron 20:17, NLT).  Note that God reminded them:  I am with you (my people).  With is a relational word.
  11. The king and all the people bowed down with their faces to the ground, worshipping the Lord—Then the Levites…stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout (II Chron 20:18-19, NLT).
  12. The next morning as their army went out to meet the enemy horde, Jehoshaphat urged them to remember and believe what God said to them the previous day (keep your focus). II Chron 20:20
  13. Then he appointed people to walk ahead of the army “who were to sing to the Lord…as they went before the army and say: Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever” (II Chron 20:21, ESV).
  14. This is their SOS phrase. This is how they kept their focus on the Lord when all that they could see with their eyes was an enemy army much greater than them coming for them.
  15. II Chron 20:22—At the moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting themselves (NLT). Jehoshaphat and his army did not have to shoot a single arrow or hurl a single spear.  Note how their victory is described:  The Lord made them rejoice over their enemies (II Chron 20:27).

 

  1. Conclusion: There is so much more that we could say about all of this.  We’ve barely scratched the surface of what it means to have God with us.  But as we close this series, I urge you to develop the habit of making time to acknowledge the fact that God is with you all the time everywhere.
  2. Take time to simply be with Him by purposefully sitting with Him in His presence. Work on learning to focus on Him as you go through your day by thanking and praising Him.  Find an SOS phrase that works for you, when your emotions are raging and the thoughts are flying.
  3. Let’s close with one more passage from God’s Word. Abraham is called the friend of God three times in Scripture (II Chron 20:7; James 2:23).  The other time is in time is in Isa 41:8.
  4. The nation of Israel was deteriorating spiritually and politically because of repeated idolatry and worldly alliance. Isaiah the prophet spoke for God and warned Israel of impending doom if they did not repent.  They would be forcibly removed from their land, first by the Assyrian Empire, and then by the Babylonians.
  5. But through Isaiah, Almighty God said to them: (One day) I will bring you back to this land:  Israel my servant…descended from my friend Abraham…For I have chosen you and will not throw you away…Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isa 41:8-10, NLT).
  6. We live in a broken, sin-damaged world. You can do everything right and things still go wrong.  But it’s all temporary, it’s not bigger than God, and He will get you through until He gets you out.
  7. If you can learn to live with the awareness that He is with you and for you, you will have hope and peace no matter what comes your way. Almighty God is truly with you and for you.  Learn to practice His presence!!