As believers in Christ Jesus our practice of the presence of God as a way of life, is what makes our relationship with Him more intimate and authentic.
In order for any Christian to be practicing God’s presence as a way of life, it’s important to learn how to get used to being in the spirit with Him. The Lord God alone determines such moments in our daily walk of faith with Him. However, by cultivating a lifestyle habit of praising and worshipping God, you are setting the stage before Him for a closer relationship.
There is no spiritual profit in the flesh of mankind (John 6:63). A man is a spirit being, who has a soul and lives in an earthly body (human flesh). We are living in a natural world; even though we were created in the image of God – Who is Spirit (Genesis 1:26-27).
Our ability to practice God’s presence through praise and worship, makes our contact with Him in the realm of the spirit real and authentic to us.
Those who are spiritually dead can’t praise and worship God. It’s possible for them to sing songs of praise and worship, without necessarily being devoted to it. However, the Praise and Worship of God is a spiritual exercise that involves the active participation of the spirit, soul and body.
The way we contact God is only in the spirit, because He is Spirit. When the human spirit of any child of God is yielded to praising and worshipping Him, both the soul (mind) and the body automatically falls in line by expressing the same thing.
It is our ability to practice God’s presence as a way of life while we are alone by ourselves, that makes our intimacy with God real. When we are spending more time with God in the spirit, then our inner man becomes stronger in understanding His mind. By spending time with God, you are fellowshipping with Him.
The things of the spirit can be understood or grasp better, when we are in the spirit rather than when our physical or mental senses are guiding us. The human senses and feelings are deceptive when it comes to the things of the spirit. We can’t judge spiritual matters basically by what we see or feel. We are only able to relate with God in the spirit, because He is Spirit.
There are however different ways by which we can get in the spirit. We can get in the spirit by praising and worshipping God; by opening our mouth to continually give thanks to Him; by reading, studying or meditating on the Word of God, or by praying in the spirit. Any one of these spiritual activities can get anyone into God’s presence.
There had been many occasions, when I had personally been taken into the realm of the spirit, while being involved in each one of these spiritual exercises. God desires for us to be in His presence at all times. He desires to fellowship with us in the spirit always.
It is important to note that the Almighty God can reveal Himself to us, while we are partaking in any one of these spiritual activities. When we are practicing any of these activities regularly, then we are in the spirit. God ministers to us in the moment of our total involvement with a heart of devotion in any one of these activities with Him.
Any believer in Christ Jesus who wants the presence of God in his life, needs to be practicing any one of these spiritual activities as a way of life.
Let it become a way of life.
Jesus Himself once made this statement:
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:24 NKJV
Worshipping God as a way of life, enables us to stay in touch regularly with our Heavenly Father, who is Spirit. It strengthens our spirit man to the extent that, we are able to perceive the will of God in every situation of our lives.
The spirit man becomes smeared by the Spirit of God, who lives in us to guide, lead and direct our pathway in life. And since we are able to perceive the will of God in this way, it then becomes easier to be able to follow Him by faith in His revealed will for our lives. God’s peace will always guide your heart in Christ Jesus, as you are worshipping Him.
God lives inside of our spirit man by His Spirit, for the purpose of helping us to follow in His Way. As we praise and worship Him, His presence becomes real to us.
The righteous state of the spirit man is very important for us to be able to grow up into spiritual maturity, through praise and worship with thanksgiving. Praising and worshipping God is much easier, from the heart that is full of thanksgiving to God; especially when it is being done by faith.
The scripture says:
“Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
Hebrews 13:15 NKJV
Our continual offering of sacrifice of praise with thanksgiving to His name moves God (who is Spirit), as He draws closer to us while we tarry in His presence.
Praising and worshipping God has to be with a heart that’s devoted to Him. It’s not necessarily about singing. We can sing songs without devoting our hearts to it. And anybody can sing Christian songs, but it’s not everyone who can actually praise and worship God.
And in many cases that is why some people do go to Church. They just like to sing during worship, without necessarily devoting the heart to God in worship. So, they get nothing out of it, except the satisfaction of their feelings during such moments of singing.
David said:
“I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving”.
Psalm 69:30 NKJV
When we praise God’s name with a song, it has to come out of the heart that’s devoted to Him. By doing this we are expressing our ‘agape’ love for Him. We glorify Him by the giving of thanks to Him with our lips.
There is no way we can give thanks in praising and worshipping God, without a heart that’s full of devotion to Him. We can do this effectively by creating a positive spiritual atmosphere around ourselves during Praise and Worship.
Unfortunately, not every believer in Christ Jesus does this regularly. But by creating a positive spiritual atmosphere around our praise and worship of God, we are preparing our hearts for Him to minister to us.
That’s why you can’t be hiding any unconfessed sin in your heart, while praising and worshipping God. Repent first of your sin and ask God to forgive you.
You thereafter have to make a quality decision never to go back to your sinful past again. Start living righteously before God. Start living by putting your faith in Him for all things. The presence of sin in any heart, is the absence of God in that heart.
If you can get rid of sin in your life, then Jesus will come into your life to reign as King. Invite Him into your heart. Then you will begin to reap the benefits of praising and worshipping God.
There are some who see the praising and worshipping of God with songs, as being fun and entertaining. To them there is nothing spiritual about it.
However, Praise and worship is not just about singing. It is the spiritual exercise of our faith before God, as we are ministering to Him at that time. If you do not have the right attitude towards praise and worship, you are depriving yourself of intimacy and fellowship with God.
God is seeking to fellowship with you always; but if your heart is far away from Him, He cannot draw close to you. He will speak or whisper into your heart, but if you are not listening to Him, because your heart is not devoted to Him, you will miss out of that moment of intimacy with Him. The desires of the flesh during praise and worship, is depriving many of the ability to experience God within their heart.
When we are praising and worshipping God, we are actually fellowshipping with God. We are in Communion with God, as we are lifting His name up in worship. We are sharing our intimacy with Him during such moments. God is always pleased with our worship of Him.
We do not need to necessarily be singing songs, before we worship or give thanks to God. Every time we are giving testimonies and thanking Him for who He is, or for what He did in the past for us, we are worshipping Him. Or every time we are thanking Him for what He is doing, or about to do for us – we are also worshipping Him.
And we do not need to do this in the spirit alone. We can do it in our natural language also, as long as it is coming from the heart that’s full of gratitude to Him. When we do this in our natural understanding, we are affirming His Lordship over our lives.
And most importantly is the fact that, the Devil hears us when we are making such affirmations or confessions before God. He flees away from us, as we open the mouth to praise God in our understanding. He can never stand to watch us praising and worshipping God with the mind. He slips away from us whenever we do this.
Are you being tempted by the Devil lately? You probably need as a believer in Christ Jesus, to be praising God more with thanksgiving. It will draw you nearer to God and take you far away from the evil one. Do not get yourself trapped in the deceptions of the enemy. Start praising God now in your own understanding. It helps in creating a good spiritual atmosphere around your life.
You’ll therefore need to cultivate the habit of opening your heart and your mouth, to give Him thanks and praises at all times. This is the expression of your faith before Him, whenever you’re doing so.
God will always minister back to you, as you minister to Him. Your spirit man will open up before Him at any of those moments by ministering to Him. God speaks during such moments into your heart, or He may open up your spirit man by His Spirit within your heart; so that you may be able to start perceiving certain things that, He wants you to know.
We are spiritually being enlightened when we are continually giving thanks to God through praise and worship. The light of God comes into our hearts to brighten us.
As we continually practice this habit of giving Him thanks, and praising Him in our own understanding, the mind and the flesh begins to crave for the desires of the spirit man to worship Him more.
In most cases that is when the spirit man, becomes more open to worshipping God in the spirit, or in the heavenly language (other tongues), which only God who is Spirit understands. The Worship of God in our understanding or in the spirit, brings the presence of God to us.
Paul said:
“What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.”
I Corinthians 14:15 NKJV
God speaks to us at this moment of our intimacy with Him. Intimacy with God is cultivated as we praise and worship Him, and as we give Him thanks as a lifestyle pattern. His Spirit ministers back to us, as we minister to Him during such moments.
We therefore can worship God in the spirit and in our understanding. We can sing in the spirit and in our understanding also.
The depth of the knowledge of God’s Word in our hearts, is often reflected in our songs of thanksgiving to God. The Holy Spirit has the ability to dig into our heart, in order to bring out Bible scriptures during praise and worship so as to bless us.
That’s why Paul told the Colossians:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Colossians 3:16 NKJV
When our songs in praise and worship are rich with scriptures, faith begins to rise up within us, enabling us to do exactly what we are perceiving in the spirit, while we tarry in God’s presence.
Practice God’s presence by worshipping Him.
Paul and Barnabas had been doing this as a lifestyle pattern, before they received direction from God concerning their ministry. The scriptures say on one occasion that:
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So, after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”
Acts 13:2-3 NIV
The scriptures says that as “they were worshipping the Lord”; the Holy Spirit spoke to them about their calling into the ministry. We need to note here that, all the preachers who were together with Paul and Barnabas at the time weren’t fasting and praying, to know what God wanted them to do next. That was not their motive, as they were waiting on the Lord.
They were just practicing the presence of God. They were just doing what they were used to doing every day. And the Holy Spirit spoke to them as they practiced God’s presence.
Praise and Worship with the giving of thanks to God can open up our hearts to receive from God. Great things happens when we are praising and worshipping God, especially during the most difficult situations of our lives as Christians.
When we are unable to see the way out of difficult situations, we need to be praising and worshiping God. Such moments of fellowshipping with Him, in the midst of troubles, trials and tribulations can bring His great hand of deliverance to us.
Paul and Silas did this while locked up in jail at the city of Philippi. They could not see a way out of their situation, but they opened up their hearts and mouth to God by just worshipping Him. If they had not been practicing this before, they would not have been able to do it at that point in time. Praising and worshipping of God was a lifestyle pattern for them.
The scriptures say that:
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
Acts 16:25-28 NIV
Paul and Silas were fellowshipping with the Lord, as they prayed and sang to Him. They were not really seeking a way of escape from jail. They were waiting on the Lord, while in His presence for Him to reveal His purpose for their being in jail.
That was why they never tried to escape, even after the chains had been broken. You do not need to be worrying about many things in life. What you need mostly is for God to show you; His purpose for letting you go through certain things in life which you are encountering. God wants to be glorified in the midst of your trials and tribulations.
Praise and worship help us to perceive the purpose of God in the midst of troubles, trials and tribulations. God does this in order for Him, to be able to put us on display through them for His glory to the unsaved world. He wants to reveal His glory to the people around us in the midst of those trials, so that they can see and acknowledge Him as Lord.
He may not necessarily want us to be relieved from those situations at that moment of His glory, but He will show us His purpose in them, as we are praising and worshipping Him.
For Paul and Silas, they were practicing the presence of God in jail, so as to know the purpose of God for them being in jail at that time. When we praise and worship God as a way of life, He will often come down to our level so as to fellowship with us.
God saw Paul and Silas in jail, and eventually revealed His will to them. He saw their situation and He delivered them, even when they never prayed for deliverance.
But their deliverance also led to the salvation of the jailer and his family – which was God’s perfect will for them at that time, as they went through what they were going through.
Everything that God puts us on display for in the sight of the unsaved world, are meant to glorify Him. When souls are being saved, even while we are being persecuted, then God is being glorified.
It may not necessarily mean that the persecution will stop, but the salvation of the sinners is something that, the hosts of Heaven are rejoicing about in the midst of the persecution. The angels in Heaven are rejoicing, every time a new soul receives Jesus Christ as Lord during those moments of persecution.
We need to remember that even Christ during His crucifixion, was still able to assure a criminal who was hanging on the cross beside Him of his salvation. He was still getting people saved as He hung while dying on the cross.
Paul and Silas never saw their deliverance coming, but the Lord moved on their behalf anyway. When we learn to practice the presence of God through Praise and Worship, our ability to perceive the move of God becomes stronger.
On another occasion Paul was on the way to Rome, when his ship had encountered a storm. Everyone on the ship with him were panicking, but Paul continued in the presence of God. God’s presence led Paul into perceiving the danger that was ahead of them in the storm. Paul revealed this to the people who were traveling with him on the journey:
“Saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”
Acts 27:10 NKJV
Even though Paul perceived what was going to happen; he had to continue in the presence of God to understand His purpose in it. This purpose was eventually revealed to him from heaven.
The scriptures continue:
“But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it had been told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island.”
Acts 27:21-26 NKJV
Paul had to go into fasting, as he sought the purpose of God, in the midst of the storm. It was during this moment of waiting on the Lord, that an angel was dispatched to reveal God’s purpose to him.
Fasting and praying helps us in perceiving, the purpose for certain situations that the Lord allows into our lives. We saw that with Daniel also in Daniel chapter ten. At that time Daniel was deeply concerned about the captivity of His people in exile. He was fasting and praying to understand the purpose of their captivity, and the Lord dispatched an angel to him in understanding God’s plan.
We need to see here that Satan did everything, to prevent Daniel from understanding the purpose of God, as he waited in God’s presence. But his resolute and persistent spirit during the spiritual warfare defeated the enemy.
In the case of Paul on the way to Rome, the salvation of everyone on that journey with him, was more important to God than the storm which they had encountered.
God will always go to every extent to catch our attention. If He could use the storm on the sea, to get the attention of the people with Paul; He can do anything to capture your attention also.
When we are practicing the presence of God, the trouble of life becomes so little before us, as we begin to perceive God’s greatness and purpose for our lives in the midst of the trouble. The trouble may not necessarily go away, but we will receive the power from the presence of God to ride above the issue. His grace will be increased over our lives.
We will come out stronger, even in the midst of the trouble; as more souls are getting saved and delivered, even in the midst of the persecution that we may be facing.
God’s presence gives us the strength that cannot be matched during those moments. He expects us to do great exploits for His Kingdom, even when those persecutions and trials are getting tougher for us.
Turn on the light by worshipping Jesus.
We do worship God in Spirit and in truth. Darkness cannot thrive where truth and light reigns. The evil one has no hold over your spirit man, because you have been redeemed from his hand by the precious blood of Christ Jesus. You are able to worship God in Spirit and in truth, because the truth now lives and reigns in you. The knowledge of the truth was what delivered you from darkness (John 8:32).
A man who is fully devoted to worshipping the Lord, has no darkness in him (1 John 1:5-7). The spiritual perception of such a believer is precise and strong. He lives in the truth, and because of that darkness has no hold on him.
Our best way of fellowshipping with God is through praise and worship. When we praise God with our hearts’ devotion, it pleases God and He begins to draw nearer, and closer to us.
We cannot therefore serve God and mammoth (the god of this world or Satan) at the same time as we are being thankful to God through praise and worship. Light and darkness cannot thrive together. Darkness has to always give way to the light in our spirit man. The Holy Spirit gives us the light of God always.
The Bible says:
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.”
1 John 1:5 NIV
By continuously walking in the light through praise and worship, we are positioning ourselves where the blood of Jesus continually cleanses and purifies us. Our spiritual perception becomes stronger and sharper than ever before as this happens.
Let us continually keep the praise and worship of God flowing through the heart. God’s strength is being made perfect in your life through praise and worship (Matthew 21:16):
