The Prophet Isaiah once described how he was led into the presence of the Lord to hear Him, when he declared:
““The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away.”
Isaiah 50:4-5 NKJV
We need to note first of all that it was the Lord who initiated the move for Isaiah to be able to hear His voice. The Prophet Isaiah never did anything to get there. He never fasted and prayed for him to be able to hear the voice of the Lord. He never worked himself out to be able to get there.
But he had positioned himself with the right attitude before the Lord, for the Lord to be able to initiate that encounter with him.
It’s not by works, but by faith through grace. You don’t need to do anything else but to maintain that right attitude of faith, as you are standing in God’s presence. It’s going to be as if He is not there. But yet He is there. He sees you, and He is watching at your attitude of heart in His presence very closely.
Most especially in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, the Lord has His eyes upon the attitude of your heart. He is watching every move that you are making in the midst of it all. Are you walking by faith or walking by sight? The Lord is watching your attitude during these times.
And it’s often at the time when you feel like getting out of His presence, that you really need to stay in there. That’s the moment when you need to keep up with your good confession of faith in His presence.
As the Bible says:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NKJV
Why do you have to be holding fast to the same confession of your faith, when it seems as if nothing is happening? It’s because things are actually happening which you are not seeing at all. And if you hasten out of His presence, then you would have wasted your time there.
The Lord has a word for you to give to those who are weary from His presence. The only thing that Isaiah did as he was resting in God’s presence, was to maintain the right attitude of faith before the Lord. He had maintained the right attitude before the Lord which caught the Lord’s attention for some times. He had kept himself steady and steadfast before the Lord.
Isaiah himself said in another place:
“You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
Isaiah 26:3 NLT
That’s the attitude that pleases the Lord, as you are waiting before Him during this pandemic.
We are more privileged today than the Prophet Isaiah, because we do have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. It was not possible for Isaiah to had have that experience, since the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit – Jesus had not yet come to the earth to give him access into that glory.
But we can initiate any conversation with the Father today which Isaiah could not do at that time, by speaking in our Heavenly language (the Holy Spirit) in His presence. It’s something that every child of God can do today.
You do have free access into the presence of the Lord, at any time that you want to go before Him. God’s presence is always there with you. He lives in you with His presence. What a privilege and a blessing to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says:
“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”
I Corinthians 14:2 NKJV
The enemy may be around you listening as you are speaking in other tongues. But the moment you begin to speak in tongues you are throwing him into confusion. He does not understand what you are saying to the Lord. You are speaking mysterious things into his ears. It’s only the Lord who understands what you are saying.
Your spirit man understands, but your mind is unfruitful. What is mysterious to you, is not mysterious to the Lord.
The Prophet Isaiah never had that type of advantage, but the Lord had to be awakening him every morning with a word for His people. Every word of prophecies were given to Isaiah in this way. It was like a man who woke up from his sleep every morning, with a fresh word from the Lord for someone who needed to hear it.
And the Prophet with the right attitude was quick to speak, what he had heard from the Lord to the people. A quick obedience to the voice of the Lord is very important for us, to have a constant flow of fellowship and communication with the Lord.
There are many people who had heard the Lord, but who are not walking in quick obedience to His voice. And their lack of obedience has made their hearing dull to the voice of the Lord. Many of them are not growing in the things of the Kingdom of God, because they are just being disobedient to Him. Spiritual growth comes only to those who are quick to obey the Lord.
We can see from the life of the Prophet Isaiah that his ability to hear from the Lord increases, as he was being obedient to speak what he had heard from the Lord. This was how he walked before the Lord in knowing exactly, what the will of the Lord was for the nation of Israel. This was how he increased in the grace of the Lord with the anointing over his life. And you can do the same thing also.
Some people have heard the Lord, but they are not growing in their relationship with Him, because they are doing nothing with what they had heard in His presence. Many are procrastinating even before Him to do what they had heard.
When God’s presence is with us our spiritual antenna is sharpened. You will have to be alert to listen for His instruction. You will also become open and alert to all the deceptions of the enemy at that moment. It’s normally when you are being instructed by the Lord, that the enemy likes to eavesdrop on you. He is seeking to obstruct your attention away from the Lord, or to even disrupt your ability to listen and hear Him clearly.
You are in the spirit whenever you are in God’s presence. And when you are in the spirit, you must be prepared to get into spiritual warfare against the enemy also. You will have to use your spiritual authority in the name of Jesus, to shut him down and send him away.
The Lord will not do anything in those moments, because you alone do have the authority over the devil and his demons. Jesus had given you all authority in Heaven and on the earth over the devil and his agents (Matthew 28:18-20). If you are not exercising your authority over them, they will not leave the presence of the Lord.
And there is nothing that the Lord can do about the them anymore. They had been defeated already by Jesus. And all authority had been given to you over them.
The enemy likes to show up when you are in God’s presence. If he did it to the saints in the old and the new testaments, he will do it to you also. He fears those who are keeping their hearts stayed on the presence of the Lord.
He will do everything to get them away from there, because he knows that they are getting inside information from the Lord, which are devastating to him. He is aggressive and stubborn. You will have to exercise spiritual violence with the words of your authority to wade him off every time.
Listening to hear clearly in His presence
Your spiritual antenna as a Spirit filled child of God becomes balanced and sharpened in the right direction, when you are resting well in God’s presence. You don’t grow in faith by fasting and praying, but by feeding on the word of God (Romans 10:17) day and night.
The television will not make you grow in faith. Neither will the internet or social media do it for you. In fact these things will stiffen your faith to death. You grow in your faith by exercising it, even while in the presence of the Lord.
For example the Bible says:
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
The throne of God’s grace is the most holy place that you want to be. You can’t approach the throne of grace (God’s presence) boldly without exercising your faith:
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
God is a rewarder of the people who are exercising their faith boldly in seeking Him. When you are seeking the Lord, you are seeking His presence. And by exercising your faith you will get into that place of rest in His presence.
The Lord wants you to grow and increase by exercising your faith. Faith grows by exercising it, even if it’s the thinnest mustard seed faith. That little faith that you have now, can do a lot more for you if you are exercising it.
But you do deserve a good rest in God’s presence, as you are exercising your faith in His presence. Just as the Prophet Isaiah was resting before the word of the Lord came to him, your spirit man needs to be well rested to hear the Lord clearly. This is very important for you during this pandemic.
This is very important as it will prevent you from going into the extreme of spiritual things, and keep you in the middle of the road in your spiritual walk with the Lord. The flesh will not be able to dominate you when you are well rested in the spirit, soul and body.
So why is it important to stay in the middle of the road by faith in the presence of the Lord? The middle of the road is the place where you get spiritual protection from the attacks of the enemy. Standing on the authority of the written word of the Lord will keep you in the middle of the road, with spiritual truth that you know.
As a representative of God’s people before the Lord, it’s important for you not to get distracted by what the enemy is doing to take you away from God’s presence.
And a lot of things are happening during this pandemic which are distracting many preachers and teachers of God’s word. They are being distracted by the devil from staying in the middle of the road, in their spiritual walk with the Lord.
From the devil’s tricks with the restrictions and lockdowns, to the masks and the vaccine mandates; some are getting off the middle of the road with these distractions of the enemy. The devil is using all of these distractions to hinder the flow of their anointing to save the lost, to heal the sick and to set the captives free. Be very careful of these tricks of the enemy.
The Prophet Malachi said:
““For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”
Malachi 2:7 NKJV
You are a priest of the Lord of hosts. You stand before God to represent God’s people and not those in the world. God’s people needs your guidance, knowledge and wisdom at this time. The only place where you can get it from is in His presence, and not from the world’s system.
The television or the opinions of men and their so called experts, can’t give you the wisdom of God for His people at this time. God’s written word as you are in His presence will eventually come to you, if you are spending enough quality time with Him.
We don’t rush out of His presence just because we have heard a word from Him. Stand still in His presence and fellowship more with Him there, until you are released by the Lord Himself. He does not want to just give you a word. He wants to consume you with His presence. That’s where the power comes for you to be able to declare His word with demonstration.
And that’s all that’s needed of you to be protected from these distractions of the enemy. So stand on the authority of His word, even as you are standing in His presence. Keep up with the good confession of your faith in His presence, without wavering in your faith.
The enemy will surely attack you as long as you are in the middle of the road. He will attack you in the flesh with sicknesses and every filthy things of this world. He will target your mind with the thoughts of evil. But you do have the power in the name of Jesus to resist him. In your persistency to resist him is your victory over him.
But he can’t get close to your spirit man at all, where you and the Lord are fellowshipping together. He can’t take you from the presence of the Lord, if you are standing on the authority that you have in Christ Jesus to resist him.
It’s often during those moments of the enemy’s attacks, that the supernatural gift of faith will become available to you, causing you to stay in the middle of the road, and not be distracted by the devil through his attacks, so as to push you into the extreme of spiritual things.
That’s exactly the reason why he is attacking your faith – to get you into the extreme of spiritual things. He wants you to get freaky, and miss out of the Lord’s goodness to you from His presence.
And there are people who had gone to the extreme ends of spiritual truth, and had missed out on the Lord. They are lost and the enemy has entrapped them in their extremism.
The spiritual gift of faith is there to give you supernatural protection from the enemy, while you are in the presence of the Lord. The evil one can’t touch you, as the gift of faith will cause you to be doing certain things, that will marvel the people who are observing you.
That’s the moment when your spiritual gifts will begin to make room for you, in healing the sick and delivering the captives. It’s the moment of the supernatural exploits by faith in God’s presence for you.
Be very careful however because you can’t build your ministry on spiritual gifts alone. Many have failed by relying on spiritual gifts alone. Anything that we do for the Lord has to be done on the authority and on the foundation of His written word:
“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”
Psalms 119:89 NKJV
The written word of God settles and establishes your spiritual gifts. Your spiritual gifts are nothing without the word of the Lord, to settle and establish them before the Lord in the heavens.
That’s why the teaching ministry is very important to the Body of Christ today. Every strong ministry begins under the Bible teaching anointing. The teaching of God’s word forms the foundation of every ministry gifts within the Body of Christ.
The Sunday school teachers, children’s school teachers and other teachers within the Body of Christ are all doing a great work for the Body of Christ. They are laying the foundation for every ministry gifts within the Body, and making us stronger every day.
But if you are not well rested in the spirit of your mind, you will be tempted to move into the extreme of spiritual things, and miss out of the goodness of God. Many have done this mistake and are no more functioning in their ministries today.
Those who are not standing in the middle of the road with their spiritual gifts, are often the ones who are not in line with what they had been taught by their Bible teachers. They will surely err.
Don’t make the very mistakes that they are making with their false teachings and prophecies. Stay in the middle of the things of God, so as to hear from Jesus clearly and become a receiver of those things that the Lord has in store for you, as you are coming out of this pandemic.
Be a good receiver in His presence
The Lord wants us all to be fully rested, so as to renew our spiritual strength in His presence. You need spiritual and physical strength to do the will of God on this earth. That’s why you need to be wisely using your time during this pandemic.
A good rest will help you to be mentally prepared to act on God’s behalf. Not only that. You are able to hear the Lord very clearly after a good rest in His presence.
As a soldier for Christ you need to be fully rested, because your next spiritual encounter requires that your spirit, soul and body are well prepared to face the enemy.
A good rest is good for you as a soldier for Christ. Remember that Elijah was fully rested in God’s presence before beginning the later half of his ministry. The Apostle Paul was fully rested at Tarsus before the Lord called him out to go the gentile world (Acts 9:30 and 11:25-26).
This is something that the enemy does not want you to have during this pandemic. So he will do everything possible to prevent you from having a good rest. He knows that when you are spiritually, mentally and physically strong as you are resting in the presence of the Lord, then he will be no match to you at all.
A man who does not rest from his works on the earth, will become like the man who is full of sorrow. Bitterness, anger and frustration are his reward. He gets this as a reward for the wrong attitude that he has before the Lord.
This was the reward of Cain after yielding to the temptation to kill Abel (his brother). The Lord had told him:
“Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.””
Genesis 4:11-12 NIV
Cain became a restless wanderer on the earth, away from the presence of the Lord. He had responded to this judgment of the Lord after being caught and found guilty of killing Abel (his brother) by saying:
“Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.””
Genesis 4:14 NIV
Cain knew that he was being banished from the presence of the Lord. He became a wanderer on the earth, restless without anyone to comfort him.
This was the reward of his sin. A negative attitude before the Lord always has a reward in store. Restlessness in life is the reward of those who are not pleasing to the Lord with their attitude. They will be seeking for the Lord, but they won’t be able to find the rest, that they desperately need in His presence.
Note that Cain from this moment after the judgement of the Lord upon him, became a wanderer on the earth. He became restless and lived the remainder of his life, without the presence of the Lord. He lived a wasted life without finding fulfillment on the earth. He tried to build new cities for himself and his descendants, which were never completed.
People like that today are struggling to make ends meet. They are struggling with all kinds of wasting sicknesses and diseases (Deuteronomy 28:59-61). They are struggling to pay their debts, because of their wrong attitude before the Lord.
What a horrible life to had lived for Cain. It is the type of life that is making many to eat the bread of sorrow today, instead of prosperity and a life full of abundance from the presence of the Lord. Their lives are being wasted away, because they have refused and rejected the presence of the Lord, for that of the world.
When Cain lost the presence of the Lord, he lost everything. His parents ended up giving birth to Seth who eventually took his place:
“Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.”
Genesis 4:25-26 NIV
People returned back to calling on the name of the Lord after the seeds of Seth populated the earth. Righteousness was again restored on the earth, even up till Noah came as a direct descendant of Seth to save the earth. What do you want your seeds to be remembered for? Noah was able to save his generation, because he had the right attitude before the Lord, as he stood before Him in righteousness always. The legacy of faith in seeking the Lord was passed down from Noah to his children.
There is so much at stake ahead of you right now. Get into the blessing lane by not leaving the presence of the Lord in a hurry. Stay in the middle of the road and don’t let the devil pull you away from there.
There are good things waiting for you as you are standing in God’s presence. Don’t be moved even when it seems like others are getting ahead of you. The best things are always reserved by the Lord, for those who are waiting till the very end (Matthew 20:16).
That’s the right attitude that you need as you are waiting in His presence. Welcome into your blessing place.
