The Privilege of Being in God's Presence

Day 4: Prayer & Fasting Week

My wife has a keen sense of smell which is very helpful to me because my sense of smell is almost non existent at times. She has also been blessed with an ability to hear things from a great distance. My mother in love tells an amazing story of when my wife was still a toddler and how she would at the end of each day lift her head up & stop whatever she was doing and say Daddy is here. At first this puzzled Mom because Dad was still at work, and had not come back yet, but this child would keep insisting excitedly that Daddy was back. However within a few minutes, Dad would walk into the house back from work. This continued and it puzzled mom until they solved the mystery. On one particular day Mom was out and Dad was with the baby when again she lifted her head up and this time said, Daddy car. It dawned on dad that this was what mom had been trying to figure out, the baby was hearing his car . He stepped out of the house and sure enough there was mum a few hundred metres away driving up towards the house. They soon realised that this toddler was so familiar with her dad's car and the soothing sound of the engine because of her very good hearing she was able to differentiate the sound of her dads car from other cars going up and down the road.

Knowing God

Spending time with God in his Presence brings us to a place where we become familiar with who God is such that we are able to discern and understand God when he is about to move in a situation. Just like my wife knew her Dad was about to arrive without seeing her, being in God's presence teaches us to become aware of God even when we don't see evidence of him, we just know that God is up to something and that he is working out all things for our good.

The Privilege of being in someone's presence for prolonged periods is the opportunity to really get to know that person. It is the same privilege that we have when we enter into God's presence, we have the awesome privilege of talking to God, hearing his voice and learning from God and really knowing Him.

In God's presence we learn what God looks like and what he sound like and what He feels like, so that as we go through life and face life's tough issues we are able to discern as God begins to move which builds up our faith knowing that God is on the way and He is coming to our rescue.

When Moses was in God's presence and talking to God face to face he did NOT ask for riches or power or victory. His desire was that God would show him and teach him His divine ways and that this privilege of being in God's presence would be what distinguished Moses and the children of Israel from the rest of the world. So lasting is this distinction that to this day the world recognises that there is a blessing upon the Israelites that people can't quite put their finger on... I believe that is the Power of being a people that depend on God's presence and get to know God and his ways in his presence.

When like Moses, we desire to know God's ways; God will show us his ways and teach us in his presence. We are then able to differentiate between what God is doing and what the deceit and lies of the enemy are in this world. Just like my wife was able to differentiate the sound of her father's car coming home to her.

As we are crossing over the halfway mark in our 7 day journey of prayer and fasting. Make knowing God a priority. Take time to pray and to read God's word. Ask God to teach you his ways. Ask God to show you who he is and as he does that you will get to discover who you really are. We are looking forward to. seeing you and your View Group tonight at the 5x5 worship encounters at Camps Bay, Melkbos & Table View. I believe these worship evenings will carve out a way for us to make God's Presence our HOME.

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SCRIPTURE READING

Exodus 33:11,13-14 (NLT)

'Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

One day Moses said to the Lord... "If it is true that you look favourably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.” The Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” ' https://my.bible.com/bible/116/EXO.33.11,13-14

Philippians 3:10 (MSG)

'I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, ' https://my.bible.com/bible/97/PHP.3.10-11