Prayer and pursuing God’s presence

I have a vivid memory where my mother had me recite my first childhood prayer for bedtime comfort: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” That prayer gripped my heart with fear, not comfort! Since then, I’ve learned to express better prayers and I am devoted to prayer (Acts 6:4; Col. 4:2).

Problems with prayer

We all have problems with prayer. We’re busy and preoccupied. Life’s tragedies and challenges foment our anxiety. We feel overwhelmed with unfinished jobs around the house, Mom has a stroke, or we lose our job. We should pray more but prayer can feel dull or futile.

Even though Jesus taught “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Matt. 21:13), we might experience church as a house of singing and sermons lacking vibrant prayer. And prayer leader David Butts announced, “The reason most people don’t attend prayer meetings at their church is they have been to prayer meetings at their church!” Ouch!

The problem of prayer isn’t prayer, it’s God – our wilted view of him or our inattention to him. Church historian Richard Lovelace stated, “Deficiency in prayer both reflects and reinforces inattention to God.” We can live as if God doesn’t exist. The less we pray the less we’re aware of God, leading to less prayer. And yet, theologian John Calvin wrote, “Prayer is the chief exercise of faith.”

Prayer and pursuing God’s presence

To revolutionize God-finding prayer, practice Psalm 105:4, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presencecontinually.” This means to “beat a path” to the Lord and his power as you “diligently pursue” his presence (face) without interruption. God rewards those who believe he exists and diligently seek him (Heb. 11:6).

Just as we’d diligently seek for our child lost at a playground or for our lost laptop, we must seek God’s face – God himself, his presence, his glory – and find him through diligent prayer. Prayer is communication and communion with God through “FaceTime.” Here’s what’ll happen, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy” (Psa. 16:11). 

There are countless private and public prayer times where God’s presence has been so strong, I couldn’t talk or walk, where the weight of his manifest presence was electric, radiant with holiness, buzzing with euphoria, enthralled by sublime worship and joy.

Let me suggest two ways to inflame your prayer to pursue God’s presence.

Talk to God

We all generate relentless conversations in our heads . . . with ourselves! “Why did I work so much overtime on that project? You should set boundaries. But I felt pressure to perform.” Or “My sister died of cancer so quickly. I should’ve visited and prayed for her more.” What if we converted this harangue of self-talk into God-talk through prayer? 

The Bible’s packed with conversations with God. Everywhere God is, prayer is. People asked questions, pitched complaints, submitted requests, and launched appeals to God. Consider this, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer. 33:3). 

Watch the 1971 movie Fiddler on the Roof and how Tevye the poor milkman conversed with God about his poverty, his five daughters, and Russian tradition! Try this, “Lord, help me to set boundaries at work and not feel like I have to perform.” “Lord, I grieve the loss of my sister and wish I could’ve done more. But I know life and death are in your hands.” Listen for his quiet, penetrating voice.

Engage Scripture and Spirit

When prayer is Scripture-fed and Spirit-led it unleashes God’s presence. I always pray in private and public with an open Bible. God sets the focus and content of my prayers with Scripture and Spirit, not with lists and my needs first. I’m awake around 5:30 a.m. My practice is to slowly read a Scripture passage, meditate on and pray its exact words, reflect in my journal, and enjoy gulps of McCafé Keurig coffee! I sit upright, calm my anxiety by taking a few deep breaths, quiet my racing mind with silence and solitude, and pray as I sense the flow of the Spirit within me. I then “pray without ceasing,” talking to God throughout my day (1 Thess. 5:16).

Paul advises, “Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:18). To engage Scripture and Spirit is to encounter God’s presence in Spirit and Truth through all prayer and supplication at all times. He’ll meet you. Use Lectio 365 and You Version apps. To explore how to seek, experience, and host God’s presence, see my new book, Pursuing God’s Presence, on Amazon.ca. 

Roger Helland is the Prayer Ambassador of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. He’s devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word, to Scripture and Spirit, to kingdom ministry and disciple-making, to piety and holiness. His passion is to stimulate spiritual and missional renewal in the Church. He lives with his wife, Gail, near Calgary.