The Pursuit of God’s Presence

Many people are under the deceptive impression of the enemy that their feelings somehow determine the presence of God and as soon as the feeling wears off God is non-existent in the atmosphere. Every believer must engage in a relentless pursuit of God that is biblically sound and not emotionally driven.

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Every blood-bought believer should never be content being without the presence of God manifesting in their life. We need the presence of God flowing in and through our lives daily. The Word of God declares that if we will seek Him we will find Him when we search for Him with our whole heart.

The word seek in Hebrew means being concerned about whether or not you have been with God. To beg, inquire, demand, or pursue God, and from this place, you will find Him. Jeremiah goes on to say that when you seek God this way you will find Him. The word found in Hebrew means that you will find Him, He will be discovered, and you will attain Him. The Word of God declares that God must be searched with your whole heart. The word search in Hebrew means to seek but it also means to consult with God. This is a real question in your pursuit of God’s presence, do you consult with God about your life on this earth? Finally, God must be sought with your whole heart. The word heart in Hebrew means your whole mind. Our minds must be engaged in the pursuit of God’s presence not wandering off thinking about other things.

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

Knowing that we must be in pursuit of the presence of God, I would like to give you 3 ways in which the presence of God is revealed as you are in pursuit of Him. As you pursue God in accordance with His Word it will become difficult for the enemy to cause you to feel like God is far away as soon as you don’t feel Him.

1. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD

Most of you who read this are aware that God is omnipresent. However, being aware of His omnipresence while being in pursuit of Him is important. God is omnipresent which means He is everywhere all the time. The kingdom of hell would love for you to believe that as soon as you don’t feel God He is not around. God is present whether you are in prayer or not in prayer, in worship or not in worship, reading the Word of God, and when you are not reading the Word of God. There never was a time when God was not present nor will there be a time when He is not present. Psalm 139: 7-10 says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.”

Jeremiah 23:24 says, “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.”

Job 34:21 says, “For His eyes are on the ways of man,

And He sees all his steps.”

Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

Keeping watch on the evil and the good.”

Hebrews 4:13 says, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

These verses should never push you into a place where you are casual or spiritually lazy in your pursuit of God because He is everywhere. If anything these verses should cause you to pursue God with the fear of the Lord. God is everywhere no matter what you are doing, you can’t hide from Him or hide anything from Him.

2. THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE BELIEVER

There is also what is known as the indwelling presence of God. This is defined by the reality that God lives inside of every blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ. When you give your life to Jesus Christ in full surrender and He becomes Lord and Savior of your life the omnipresent God moves inside of you and now you have the indwelling presence of God. This is where the pursuit of God goes to another level because you are pursuing the God of heaven and earth that lives inside of you. The deception of the enemy will use this against you by convincing you that since God will never leave you and never forsake you, you will be good no matter what even when you are in your sin. The enemy will also try to get you to forget that God is inside of you while you are in pursuit of Him. Giving you the feeling that you are pursuing a God that is a long distance away from you. Satan will use every tactic possible to twist the powerful truth of the indwelling of God’s presence to push you further away from God. This is why you must know that God lives inside of you and He lives outside of you and sees and knows all things. Consider these verses that reflect the indwelling presence of God that is inside every authentic Christian.

Romans 8:11-15 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Colossians 1:27 says, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

John 20:20 says, “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

3. THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF GOD

Finally, since God dwells around you and inside of you, He desires to manifest His presence until it is revealed. The manifest presence of God can be seen and felt. We must pursue the manifest presence of God in and through our lives. In Hebrew, the Glory of God is called the Kabod and the Shekinah. The Kabod means the weightiness of God’s presence and the Shekinah is the tangible presence of God that can be seen. Allow these verses about the manifest presence of God to stir your heart to pursue Him.

2 Chronicles 5:13-15 says, “Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,”that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.”

Acts 2:2-4 says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Matthew 17:1-2 says, “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”

We must be in pursuit of God understanding that He is omnipresent while knowing that He dwells inside of us, but be willing to allow His manifest presence to work in us and through us.