God Be With Me I Pray
One of the greatest benefits of being in a love-relationship with God, is to enjoy His presence. Unfortunately, being aware of His presence is not a real experience for many of us. We don’t “feel” His presence, or we “once” felt it, but no longer do. When we first became a believer, we were very aware of His presence, but for many of us, as the years have gone by, the awareness of His presence, has become less and less.
Very often, it is precisely this lack of “feeling” His presence that makes us question if we are in a love relationship with God, or that God even loves us. When talking about the presence of God, most of us are aware of the promise in Hebrews 13:5b:
“…be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
It is a guarantee that throughout my life, no matter what, Almighty God promises to be with me personally. In the Amplified Version, this verse has an even more adamant, passionate tone:
“…be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”
God has given many assurances of His abiding presence throughout scripture.
God’s presence and His love are tied up together. God is not absent from the one His love is focused on, as we would and can be absent from our loved ones here on earth. God by His divine omnipresent nature is capable of being present with us always. His love for us means that we are never separated from Him.
“Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:37-39 (AMP)
There are many reasons why we may not sense the presence of God in our lives, but scripture is very clear about the fact, or truth of God’s presence. Psalm 139:7-12…
“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.”
God’s presence is unchanging, but the evidence of His presence is not.
God may purposely alter our experience of His presence in order to achieve His purposes. At times, we may need many visible impressions of His presence, seeing His invisible hands, particularly in difficult seasons. At other times, He may purposefully withhold these impressions, requiring us to trust Him and His love, with fewer evidence of His presence in our lives. In these seasons, we are required to “live by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7)
We cannot be like Thomas in John 20:24-29, always demanding that we see evidence before we believe. Jesus said very clearly that there is a blessing in believing without physical evidence: “…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” God wants our response to His love to be without the prompting of anything external, but to well up inside of us by conviction.
The lesson for me today, dear friends, is firstly that God is present with us, even when there is no evidence to prove it. Secondly, God does not love us less when He gives us fewer evidences of His presence. He simply desires us to grow in faith so that we live by faith and not sight.
Thank You, Father, that You are always present with me and never leave me, nor forsake me. Thank you that no matter what happens in my life, I can take courage, because You, Almighty God, are present with me in all circumstances and I can trust Your love for me. Help me not to count on evidence of your presence to confirm Your Love for me, but to count on the trustworthiness of Your Word that tells me that You love me and that nothing can separate me from Your Love.
Hello Michelle,
I don’t have a pastor as I don’t have a church. I am poor. I can’t even afford to get to church let alone pay tithes and offerings. Cupboards are bare. Barely surviving. Since I don’t have access to a church or pastor, I have no fellowship or Godly people in my life. God just isn’t here for me. I am completely ignored and neglected by God. Zero experience/interaction with God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Nothing. God is always hidden and absent. If God is hidden, then He is not here as promised.
Hello Kenneth
I am so glad that while being so poor you have access to the internet. At least you can watch church online and read blogs.
I want to remind you that church is not a building and a pastor, it is a fellowship of believing people. A group of people who love Jesus and worship him together. Please find other believers in your area and fellowship together. I am sure they will encourage and build you up.
If you cannot immediately identify other believers to get together with and pray together, please pray about it. God will bring other believers to you. How do I know this, because God does not want us to be alone in our faith.
You just need to engage in learning from God’s word with other believers and I am sure you will grow and experience even though you are not going to a church, or have a pastor.
God’s people are His church.
Michelle
Hello Michelle,
The only reason I have access to the internet is because it comes with the phone. I don’t need, can’t afford two phone lines, land line and cellular. Thus I chose cellular. I have a discount plan, which is cheaper than a land line would be. I just felt that I had to clarify that. Been praying for God to send Godly people my way, but like everything else, nothing. I have asked God for a lot of things over the many decades since I became a Christian. Nothing has ever happened or manifested. What I ask God for most is a tie between two things. One is for the resources to get homeless people off the street and back into society, thus bringing glory to God. The second is for God’s “tangible” presence. A presence that I can perceive. See, hear, feel. Before you go on the “we live by faith not by sight” rant; I would say that I already do that. I have never seen, heard, or felt anything from/of God/Jesus yet I still believe they exist. If that isn’t believing without seeing then I don’t know what is. Basically put, I need God to be interactive. Make His presence known. Seen, heard, or felt.
God bless you through the Holy Spirit, in Jesus holy name, Amen.
Hello Kenneth,
God is present with us because the bible tells us so. God does not lie and when He says in Hebrews 13:5b that never will He leave us, never will He forsake us, He means it.
Our experience of His Presence is dependent on us, not on whether God is there. Scripture also tells us that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in us 1 Cor 6:19. It is not over for debate – God has said it is so. Either you believe scripture, or you don’t. Experience does not validate scripture, scripture is validated by the character of God. Are we always sensitive to the Spirit inside of us? No.
Perhaps the answer does not lie in the absence of God, but the sensitivity of your heart to Him.
I have never heard of anyone who reads their bible regularly and spends time seeking the Lord, not finding Him.
He promises that if you seek Him with all of your heart, you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13.
Seek Him and nothing else, make that your start.
Praying Michelle
Hello,
I have never experienced God’s presence, love, compassion, mercy, etc. I gave myself to God through Jesus over 44 years ago. In all that (long) time I have never experienced anything from God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. All I get is silence, absence, broken promises, and unanswered prayers. I have lived in poverty my entire life. God has never helped me in anyway, no matter how much I plead with Him. I hate having to beg God to do something that He promised He would do. This nothingness from God is a stumbling block that I can’t get past. I have asked God to help me with this but like everything else, God does nothing. The Bible says that God loves me but since I have no proof of that, I don’t know. I guess God doesn’t know that actions speak louder than words. What the Bible says is useless when God doesn’t back up His word. Doesn’t get noticeably involved. No interaction. Thanks.
God bless you through the Holy Spirit, in Jesus holy name, Amen.
Hi Kenneth,
This is not the God I know and what you are experiencing is not true to His character.
Have you been responsible and discussed this with your local pastor?
Or even other believers? Have you been attending church and are you part of a fellowship?
The body of Christ is there to help us in our relationship with God.
Before you write God off, please do the above
Will be praying for you
Michelle