God's Hand; God's Face

At our men's bible study this morning, one of the men made the comment that we often err by seeking God's hand instead of His face. How true that is. Ironically, when we seek only His face, we receive His gifts, the greatest of which is His presence. On the other hand, when we seek only His hand, sometimes we don't even see the blessings that he sends our way in spite of our selfishness. I wonder how many times I have been wrapped up in my own self and have failed to see that God is still blessing me. When we walk with God, does He bless us more, or do we simply see and appreciate His blessings better? I believe it is some of both. When we walk with God, that is a monumental blessing in and of itself. But, I think when we walk with Him we are more likely to see and appreciate the blessings He showers us with.

Let go, but be single minded in your pursuit of God

I was rereading Frank Laubach's comments about practicing God's presence and saw a wonderful passage about one of the weeks when he had a struggle in this discipline. He said,

Yet strain does not seem to do good. At the moment I feel something "let go" inside, lo, God is here! It is a heart-melting "here-ness," a lovely whispering of father to child, and the reason I did not have it before, was because I had failed to let go.


Fellowship with God is something one dare not cover, for it smothers to death. It is like a tender infant or a delicate little plant, for long nurturing is the price of having it, while it vanishes in a second of time, the very moment indeed, one's eye ceases to be "single." One cannot worship God and Mammon for the reason that God slips out and is gone as soon as we try to seat some other unworthy affection beside Him. The other idol stays and God vanishes. Not because God is "a jealous God" but because sincerity and insincerity are contradictions and cannot exist at the same time in the same place.

How often do we walk away from God because we have put some other lesser desire in the place of honor in our heart? Have we placed work or money or things or the praise of men in first place in our heart? When we do so for even a moment, we are rejecting the ultimate gift, the only truly valuable gift, the presence and worship of God.

God's Presence is a Gift

For me, one of the hardest parts of practicing God's presence is remembering that God's presence is a gift, not something that can be earned or achieved. There is a bit of a paradox in practicing God's presence. On the one hand, it is a discipline. We must open our hearts and minds to God and we must constantly turn our thoughts to Him. We must pray and talk with God constantly. On the other hand, there is nothing we can do to force God's presence in our hearts. He is omnipresent, but we cannot follow a specific path or course of conduct that guarantees that God will touch us in a certain way. He is sovereign. His presence in our lives is unmerited, undeserved and the product of sheer grace. . . . and that is simply one more of the infinite number of reasons that our God is so wonderful.

When I find that I am not sensing God's presence, I often find that I have been trying to force things rather than simply asking God to be with me and trusting that He is.

A Word of Encouragement; A Word of Caution

There are both highs and lows that come with practicing God’s presence. The benefits of practicing God’s presence are both subtle and profound. There is nothing higher or better than spending time with our heavenly father. Practicing God’s presence has lead me to the breathtaking sense of God’s love, knowledge that He is involved in even the smallest events of my life and at times a profound sense of peace and joy.

At the same time, do not expect this discipline to throw you into a constant state of ecstasy. Practicing God’s presence has often lead me to a keen and painful awareness of how far I fall short of the glory of God. The more we are in His presence, the more intensely aware we become of the sin in our lives. While this is not a happy experience, it is a wonderfully good experience. It brings us to our knees to confess our sins, it makes us aware of our desperate need for grace through Jesus Christ and ultimately, it makes us grateful to have such a loving God. Just remember if you decide to embark on this journey to know God that He will use the experience for His purposes and for your good. For me that has often meant learning about areas of my life that require significant clean up. Don't let that discourage you though. It's like a doctor setting a broken bone or cleaning a filthy wound - it may be extremely painful, but it leads to healing!

What is Practicing God's Presence?

Practicing the presence of God is a simple discipline - one that can be practiced by a child. Basically, it just involves turning to God constantly in prayer and discussing with Him everything we say, think and do. It means praising Him for every good thing that happens in our lives, trusting Him through all of the difficulties we face, asking for His guidance, strength and peace, and desiring to know Him. Frank Laubach described it in this way, "For the past few days I have been experimenting in a more complete surrender than ever before. I am taking by deliberate act of will, enough time from each hour to give God much thought. Yesterday and today I have made a new adventure, which is not easy to express. I am feeling God in each movement, by an act of will - willing that He shall direct these fingers that now strike this typewriter - willing that He shall pour through my steps as I walk - willing that He shall direct my words as I speak, and my very jaws as I eat!"

Practicing God's presence means following Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing. What could be better than spending all of our time with the Creator of the universe? He is always there. We are the ones who hide from Him as Adam and Eve did in the garden. Practicing God's presence means seeking God without ceasing - or at least making every effort to do that.