January 18th, 2023 - Enjoying God's Presence

PAUSE
Welcome back to our prayer and fasting devotionals. I want to invite you, wherever you are or whatever you are doing to take a slow deep breath. Close your eyes if you can and focus on slowing down and allowing yourself to pause to hear from the Lord today.

As you focus on your breath, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what it might look like to just enjoy being with God.

Father, please come and teach us how to enjoy your presence today.

REFLECT
“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one[d] to rot in the grave.

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” Psalm 16:8-11

David, the author of this prayer, shows us both the beauty and benefit of learning to enjoy God’s presence. He shows us in this Psalm that in His presence we experience: instruction and guidance, boldness and courage, gladness of heart, security and peace, assurance of the future, stability, genuine joy, and the continued enjoyment of His presence both in this life and for all eternity.
 
Learning to just enjoy being with God is one of the most important skills for the disciple of Jesus. It’s what we were created to do. In Genesis 1 God made a garden, a place for Him to dwell and walk with humanity, His very own creation. God loves being with His people.

All throughout scripture we see God reminding us of His constant nearness and desire to be with us. He led the Israelites through the lonely wilderness with a pillar of fire and cloud. He instructed them how to make a tabernacle for His presence to dwell in their midst and then later a Temple for that same purpose.. In Isaiah we learn the Messiah will be called Immanuel, which means “ God with us”. John writes how The Word, God in the flesh, became human and made His home among us. Jesus promised, upon His ascension to heaven, there would be an advocate for us, the Holy Spirit to remind us that we are not alone and that The presence of God is always with us.
 
God loves being with us.
 
The question for us is do we love just being with Him? I know I can be guilty of filling the space of my prayers with a to-do list or trying to figure out what I need to do to be better. Silence can also make so many of us uncomfortable, or sometimes it might be hard for us to believe that God actually likes being with us.
 
David writes in Psalm 27:8, “ My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me’ and my heart responds, ‘ Lord I am coming.” The first thing The Lord wants from us and for us is our availability. Just being available to hear from Him is the first step to delight. Do you make a regular practice of recognizing God’s presence in your life?
 
When we make a practice of enjoying God’s presence, we are essentially practicing for heaven. We can enjoy the future of heaven now, by learning to delight in the beauty of God’s presence in every mundane space of our lives. Whether it’s sitting on the porch, going for a walk, driving, or working. He is always near to us, so we can always draw near to Him.
 
ASK
Do you regularly make space in your day to just be with God and to recognize His nearness to you? How do you make a practice of enjoying God’s presence?  Spend some time asking The Lord to show you what could be keeping you from truly delighting in and experiencing the Joy of just being with Him.
 
Is there a sin you need to confess and repent from?

Do you need to choose a time in your day to make a regular habit reading God’s Word and so He can show you what He is like?

YIELD
Go for a walk without listening to music or a podcast. Turn the radio off in your car. Ask The Lord to speak and just listen. Make space in your day to just enjoy being with God.
Read Psalm 16 and meditate on its words, making it your prayer. Allow The Spirit to teach you to enjoy God’s presence.

Lord, I know you are always with me. Thank you for wanting to be near me and calling me to rest in your presence. Teach me how to make a practice of recognizing and enjoying your presence throughout my days. I love you God, I praise you for loving me.
Amen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prayer and Fasting Devotionals 2023

Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Exodus 2&3
Pause:

Happy Tuesday and welcome back! I want to invite you to join me in asking The Lord to meet with us here as we seek His presence together. A beautiful part of the christian life is that no matter where we are or what we are doing we can always ask The Lord to step into our mundane moments with us.

So whether you are driving to work, washing the dishes, or taking a walk I want to invite you to take a moment to take a few long deep breaths. As you breathe in, invite the Holy Spirit to come and speak to you. Welcome Him into your space. As you breathe out, surrender what weighs heavy on your mind and heart at this time. Expect for Him to speak.

Holy Spirit, You are welcome in this space no matter how mundane it might be. As we breathe in your presence we ask that you would breathe new life in us today.


Reflect:

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[b] the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
“Here I am!” Moses replied.
5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your father[c]—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”
Have you ever felt like you weren’t up for the job? Like you weren’t qualified for the task ahead? This was certainly the case in Moses’ life when God met Him in an unexpected way in the wilderness on Mt.Sinai. The Bible tells us that Moses is the incredible leader that led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, through the Red Sea, through wilderness to Mt.Sinai to receive God’s law, and then to the borders of the promised land. He would go toe to toe with Pharaoh;  He would be God’s mouthpiece to the nation of Israel. Yet, Moses' story doesn’t begin as you might expect mighty leaders’ should. And His background does not suggest one that God might choose to carry the yoke of responsibility.

In Exodus 2 we learn Moses is born during a time of great tragedy among the Hebrews. As Pharaoh makes a decree that all male Hebrew children under 2 are to be thrown into the Nile river, Moses’ parents attempt to save his life by placing him in a basket and putting him in the river. Providentially, He is drawn out of the water and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. He is raised in the palace, as royalty, but all the while never really belonging to the Egyptian household. After all, he was still Hebrew born and His people were still enslaved. We also learn that when he grows up, in an act of unbridled justice he kills an Egyptian slave driver after witnessing him beating a Hebrew slave. He tries to cover it up thinking no one had seen, but the next day He is accused by a fellow Hebrew of trying to rule over them. He then runs away in fear of Pharaoh’s judgment against him for killing the Egyptian slave driver.

Abandoned. Adopted. Murderer. Run Away. Never really belonging to the Egyptians. Never really accepted by his own people. Now, 40 years later we find him, shepherding his father in laws sheep, in isolation in the wilderness. But this is exactly the position God met him, drew him, spoke to him, and called Him.

One of the most incredible parts of this story is that God met with Moses seemingly mundane circumstances. He was just doing his job. He wasn’t the boss, he wasn’t royalty, he wasn’t what one might consider “chosen”. In fact when God calls him to deliver his people he asks “ who am I to lead”. Often we can allow the voice of our past to discount the voice of God in our present and discredit the future God could call us into.

The way God responds to this question is critical for us to understand how He qualifies us. He says “ I will be with you…” It’s God’s presence with Moses that qualifies him for delivering His people and shepherding them out of slavery. It’s God’s presence that qualifies us for adventure ahead. The success of God’s mission for Moses does not hinge on who Moses is or what he has done, but on the very nature and presence of God in His life. In the same way, the success of our journey with God is not up to who we are, but in God with us.

Ask:
Consider asking yourself if you have allowed the details of your past to discredit the voice of God in your present? How might you make room for His presence in the mundane moments of your life? What step is God asking you to take in your journey with Him?

Are you available to be used by God?

Yield:
Spend some moments considering the elements of your past. Ask The Lord to bring to mind how you might be allowing those elements to hinder you from a flourishing relationship with your heavenly Father or from a fruitful calling.

Pray: Jesus. You are Emmanuel. God with us. It is your presence that calls us and strengthens us into the depths of the ministry of the mundane. We thank you for the fact that the success of our lives is not measured by who we are or what we have done, but by your character and might. Today I confess that I am available to you. I know that you are with me. Use me how you desire. .

Amen.