Practicing the Presence

taken from facebook arrow group discussion board: Exaltation, Encouragement and Edification by Coach Gary

Practicing the Presence
by Max Lucado

How do I live in God's presence? How do I detect his unseen hand on my shoulder and his inaudible voice in my ear? A sheep grows familiar with the voice of the shepherd. How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer. Personally, I don't get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal. Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it's nothing more than "Thank you for a night's rest. I belong to you today."

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. The mature married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don't need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10 niv). Awareness of God is a fruit of stillness before God.

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting.

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as "Thank you, Father," "Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord," "You are my resting place, Jesus" can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn't leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank him for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: "He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4 niv). If you fall asleep as you pray, don't worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

Yay! i feel dat by doing so, u r conscious dat e Lord is with u, doing everything with u, den like u juz noe everything will prosper in ur hands lor. n really, juz everything falls right into place nicely n perfectly. Even if something happens, n u question bout it. but at the end of the day, actually it was alr planned for, n ended well. I mean e Lord is so good.

Ya lor, once Pastor Prince question us like y do we admire or wish to be like superheroes or e characters in the show 'heroes' with all e special special abilities. His reply to us was we dun have to and dun need to envy them because we ourself are even much more special than all of them combined. ya, i used to wonder y. as in like i do envy superheroes even though they aint real coz its so special lar.

but i realise that actually Pastor's words did made sense. u noe, those superheroes have to fightfightfight all e bad guys and sometimes their ability got problem one, as in limitations that e bad ppl can use against them. ya, but guess wat? With our Lord with us, we dun even have to fight, n He has even alr defeated e bad guy, Satan long long ago. yea, how great is dat?

den those days that i noe i have favour with e Lord, i really feel like a superhero lor. really. like things like u walk to e lift, e lift door open for u, u walk to e bus stop, ur actually very slow bus appears in front of u. as in like all dat makes u feel very special, as though ur e apple of God's eyes, which is true but it makes u actually believe in it which makes e difference. ya lor. n the difference between a God-conscious day and a worry-conscious day is so different n wide.

this happens when u practice God's presence constantly. not saying dat He isnt there with u, but only u gotto believe in it n dat makes a huge difference in everything. Yea so, beloved JCsouth! let's feel like a superhero tgt everyday!=)=) wahaha

Practising God's Presence

Matthew 1:23
23“… and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated “God with us.”

God has promised you His constant presence (Hebrews 13:5), but are you conscious of His presence daily? When you are conscious of His presence every day, you will experience a peace that gives you rest, great joy in your spirit and a power nothing in this world can offer. In fact, you will begin to be peaceful and powerful like Jesus. You will speak like Jesus and behave like Jesus. This is because you cannot be in God’s presence without His beauty, love, peace, power and glory rubbing off on you.

So how do you practise being conscious of God’s presence? Start by seeing God with you in what you do and wherever you are. For example, at your board meeting, while deliberating on issues, see the Lord there in the boardroom with you, guiding you in your thinking. And you can be sure that His presence will bring clarity of thought and wisdom to you. You will find yourself flowing with great and sound ideas.

If you are going for an interview, see the Lord there in the interview room with you, putting answers in your mouth. Your nervousness will melt away as you see His favour on you bringing on smiles and approving nods from the interviewers.

Perhaps you are going for surgery. Well, see the Lord in the operating theatre with you, guiding the hands of the surgeons. Your worries will dissipate because nothing can go wrong in the Lord’s presence.

If you are in the middle of an argument, see the Lord standing within earshot. Your words will change and your body language will become more reconciliatory as you see the Lord right there with you and the grace He extends to you. Somehow, supernaturally, there will be self-control which is not borne of willpower, but which comes supernaturally by knowing that the One who loves you and watches over you is with you.

Beloved, when you become conscious of God’s presence in your life, worries and fears have no foothold in your mind. You will see Him maximising your joy and fun, and prospering you in what you say and do!

Practising God’s Presence

Heyz, Beloved Southies!

Today's daily devotional really struck me today. It's about, "Practising God’s Presence". See the link if you haven't read it. http://www.newcreation.org.sg/resources/dailydevotion/dailydevo.asp (read it today or it will be different tomorrow)

Somehow it just struck me that practising His presence is something that I did not really try. The devotional gave a lot of practical examples and it just inspired me to try.

Even while eating my cereal I imagined Jesus was across the table smiling as I ate.

I was running late and needed a taxi and I saw Him already at the street helping me flag a taxi.

Can you imagine how many cabs will be attracted to that place because Jesus is there? It's like the boat-sinking, net-breaking load of fish that was attracted to Peter's boat.

It's really cool. Today even as I am on duty I will imagine Him in the island making sure that everything is alright so I'm looking forward to a relaxed duty.

I'm on duty on Sunday again (see my blog for details on that) so I will not be able to see you all on Sunday.

Have a blessed weekend, people!

Resting in His Love and Practising His Presence,
John Gabriel

Our very first entry

Hi jc south! We finally have a blog! yay. Its still very new and im sure, still has a looong way to go. So.. i will need all your email addresses that you use for blogger so that i can add you as a contributor to this blog (tt means you can post!), and if you have any IT skills you can change the template.. etc etc.

SO what is this blog for?
Well, i thought it would be nice if we share a blog where we can put up pics, thoughts and rants on ALL the things we do together! Such that maybe 10 years down the road we can still talk about .. the day we laughed at a v. funny email from our leader orrr a really random unexplainable pic that six people actually posed for. wouldnt it be nice to look at how blessed we looked in our late-teenage early-aduthood days when we're old (thats if blogger is still around)? Also, it'll be a place for people who did not turn up catch up on whats happening/what they have missed. And not to mention.. to document how we've all grown from glory to glory in the Lord.. and the Godly alliance we've built with our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ.

the reasons are aplenty, and im sure the desire to start this blog will have a really good purpose that i may not be aware of.. SO, into His hands i place this blog. may it be a blessing for all!

Alright.. Jc southies! feel free to change anything, and tell me your email add! (post in comments till someone/ i get a tagboard)