How to Live in God’s Presence

Living a Jesus Kind of Life
How to Live in God’s Presence

I. Introduction

A. The Bible teaches that God hears —and that miracles happen!

II. A Life of with God

A. Psalm 16:8-9 (NLT) ⁸I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. ⁹No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.

B. We must practice .

1. Luke 5:16 (NLT) But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

C. In solitude—we from people and noise—cell phones, computers, iPads, social media, etc.

1. And we do that so we can be with !

D. The idea of solitude is that it’s supposed to be a time.

E. Solitude is a place where you’re with God, and you’re not .

1. Psalm 23:1 (NAS) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2. “One of the difficulties that I find when I pray is that when I go out to pray, the thoughts jump around in my mind like monkeys on a banana tree.” (Henri Nouwen)

F. needs to spend some time with God!

G. We need to be open to the possibility that God will to us in our solitude.

H. John 10:3-4 (NLT) ³“The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.”

1. John 10:27a (NAS) “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

I. God really lead us and guide us!

1. It’s really hard to hear the voice of God if we’re never with Him in solitude!

2. God’s voice never tempts us to do .

3. God’s voice never what He says in the Bible.

4. God’s voice may lead to pain when it convicts me of sin. But, He will never lead me into or discouragement.

J. We need to be fully with when we practice solitude!

K. The essence of prayer is just being with God!

1. “Nobody likes to be a beginner. But we all have to come to grips with the fact that when it comes to prayer, none of us will ever be anything else.” (Thomas Merton)

L. We need to connect prayer with the stuff that we’re in life.

M. “Prayer is talking to God about what He and I are doing together.” (Dallas Willard)

III. Conclusion