Practice the Presence comes from last weekend’s message, as we looked at what it means to love God with our minds, I talked about Practicing the Presence of God and mentioned Brother Lawrence. Of course, following God’s voice is not just for saints from the past, it is an essential practice in our lives and is crucial for daily living. I believe that as we walk with the Father, our longing will increasingly be to do His will, rather than our own and to live lives that He will delight in.

As we seek to Practice the Presence of God there are three ways which might help strengthen our sensitivity to God’s Presence and the Spirit’s leadings.

Firstly, we must keep our ears alert to God’s voice and Word. Paul the Apostle tells us that “faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.” I am sure that this means that as believers we should guard what we expose ourselves to and allow to influence us. In addition to this, we need to listen to the things of God, whether through worship, audible Bible readings, encouraging conversations and podcasts or other things that are uplifting to our spirits.

Second, our spirit should long to hear what God has to tell us each day. People are wired to hear what they listen for, so we must increase the desire to hear God’s voice. As we hear what He tells us, our faith will grow, and we know that those with faith ‘please the Father.’

Lastly, listening to God requires devotion and patience. He might not answer us in the timeline we want Him to but He is more interested in growing trust within us. We will probably need to ask yourselves if we are sitting in the presence of God long enough to hear Him — oftentimes He wants us to be fully present before He answers us. The reality is that we can all be so distracted by everyday disruptions that we are not ‘still’ with Him.

Ultimately, God is a God of revelation. The Lord longs to speak regularly to us! Once we crave to know and hear His voice, we will set aside unhurried times to talk with Him and the promise that God gives us is that those who seek Him will find Him. This is the beautiful promise to those of us who earnestly seek Him in our daily lives.

So, this week, lets make sure that we take time to patiently sit with God and quiet ourselves to listen for His voice!