Thursday, November 19, 2009

Lack of God's Presence

I believe it true, all men truly desire to know the Lord. I don't know if there is a single person who has not desired an encounter with Him. Too often, however, people have been caused to believe, "You can't experience God."

Jim Morrison of the Doors said, "You can't petition the Lord in prayer."

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull said, "God is not the kind you wind up on Sundays."

Because men in the churches have chosen to not wait on the Lord and follow Christ's example of departing to a solitary place (as was his manner) well before dawn to pray, the Holy Spirit has left the churches. If someone goes to a church to find an experience with God, he finds only religious structure. The Holy Spirit has left. God's presence is not there. God can't be wound up on Sundays.

The presence of the Holy Spirit in a man's life can only be evident as he spends intimate time with Him. It was said of the disciples, "they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Ac. 4. 13)." Follow His example, watch and pray as He said, "Can you not watch with me for but one hour?" God's presence will become undeniable in you.

Jim Morrison had it wrong. You CAN petition the Lord in prayer. You MUST petition the Lord in prayer and be contrite and repentant before Almighty God. Living that way will cause you to move the hand of God in prayer. To any person who stays out of the place of defilement and regularly waits on the Lord, will the Father send a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The presence of the Holy Ghost will be undeniable in his life.

Since this is an individual event, all those in each church must similarly wait on the Lord every day for the presence of God to be evident in their lives and in their church once again. I pray, O God, those leaders in the churches will live this way and teach the people accordingly. Your message to the churches is, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Re. 2. 5)."

Cause them, O God, to see the candlestick (from which comes the presence of the Holy Ghost) has been removed. Cause them to remember from whence they have fallen. Grant them, O God, repentance. May each individual be of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Every day, O Lord, you remind me how far I had fallen, the shame of choosing the pleasures of Egypt and you show me your mercy. I'm no better than anyone. I'm simply a beggar who has found where there is food.

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