These days people have lost the ability of sustaining God’s presence for a longer period of time till it completes its work. God sends His presence to carry out a planned work. This work may consist of giving comfort to a person in need, reviving the Spirit, healing someone, etc. Sometimes because of our negligence God’s presence leaves before it has finished the necessary work.
We receive a visitation, word, or touch from Jesus when in God’s presence.
As soon as we experience any of them, we need to figure out how to maintain/sustain this presence. God’s presence is something we take for granted nowadays. There was a 400-year gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament during which it was extremely rare to experience God’s presence.
How can we keep God’s presence with us for a longer period of time? Follow the below points, if you receive a visitation, message, or touch from Jesus:
1) Start speaking the right words of worship and praise in response to Jesus’ word/visitation. For instance, when you hear from Jesus, begin by saying “thank you” in the appropriate way.
2) Start putting faith on these words
3) Show your hunger/thirst for Jesus.
4) Start exalting Jesus
5) Start highlighting or emphasizing your nothingness.
When we demonstrate the above the points, with the help of Holy Spirit, we can extend/prolong God’s presence by continuously drawing from God’s presence until it has completed its work. Jacob did the same. Jacob got hold of the person and wrestled with him until he received his blessing.
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Genesis 32:24-26
Today, we must follow Jacob’s example. We must get hold of God’s presence and draw from it until it has completed its work. God’s blessing in Jacob’s life was the name change from Jacob to Israel. Jacob benefited from this experience in other ways as well. Jacob asked for just one blessing but ended up with many other blessings listed below.
Saw God face to face
God literally touched Jacob in the socket– Jacob experienced a physical touch of God
Found an understanding that man can prevail over God
Got hold of God.
We receive some additional blessings when we stay in God’s presence until it has completed its work. Like Jacob we can see God face to face, experience a physical touch, and get hold of God.
When we start extending God’s presence, we start entering a phase where our soul responds to and receives life from God’s presence. There will be waves and waves of God’s presence when we set the communication appropriately (say the proper words of praise and worship) with the aid of the Holy Spirit. God’s presence is a reservoir with unlimited life-giving water in which there are numerous heavenly deposits of God’s knowledge, wisdom, miracles and healings. We can continuously keep drawing from this reservoir.
God offers us a taste or sip of this water every Sunday. Our daily task is to draw water from this reservoir for our needs.
These days, the only time we experience God’s presence is during a Sunday service, when it meets our needs, refreshes and renews our souls. We are so content and satisfied with this brief time spent in God’s presence. If we can extend or maintain God’s presence (in our heart) throughout the entire week by daily drawing from this reservoir, our lives will be so rich in Jesus. If we draw life from God’s presence, our Christian life will be solidly constructed.
The reservoir of life-giving water is Jesus. In God’s presence, draw life from Jesus, the living water of God. Anyone who drinks this living water—Jesus daily —will never get thirsty. Jesus is very powerful, very kind, and very full of love. Draw love, mercy, peace, joy, etc. from Jesus to give to others.
