Prayer Presence - being with God

In the early years of my marriage, before Laura and I had children, we had a dog—an English Setter which we got as a puppy. In those first years there was plenty of activity with a pet dog. We would go for walks and play fetch by throwing a tennis ball. The dog loved to play tug-of-war with her favorite toys. The activity of an energetic dog kept us active as well. In later years as the dog got older, her energy and activity slowed down quite a bit. But after so many years with us in our house, one thing remained: she would always follow us around to be wherever we were. Even if there was no activity like fetch or tug-of-war, the dog simply just wanted to be near us at all times.

So, if I was sitting and working in the living room, you could always count on the dog laying somewhere nearby in the same room. If I got up and moved to the kitchen for something, the dog would get up and move to the kitchen as well. We didn’t have to be doing any kind of activity; she just wanted to be in the same space and that was enough. My presence was enough, just being together.

This becomes true in other relationships as well—whether it is a marriage relationship or a good long-lasting friendship. What begins as a relationship that is filled with activity and going places and doing things together begins to embrace a closeness of just being together. Eventually, you discover that it no longer seems to matter what it is we do together or where it is we go together, as long as we are together. I simply love and cherish being with that other person regardless of what we happen to be doing—if we happen to be doing anything at all. A close and loving friendship can reach a point at which just being present with each other is meaningful in and of itself.

“The whole reason why we pray is to be united into the vision and contemplation of him to whom we pray.” —Julian of Norwich

Practice — talking to God Pattern — talking with God posture — listening to God presence — being with God

As we have been working through the faith practice of prayer, we have noticed several different aspects of prayer. We began with prayer practice—talking to God. This focused on learning to pray by using scripted form prayers written by others. We looked at prayer patterns—talking with God. This explored how it is we open our hearts before God and bring our thoughts, feelings, and needs before God. Last week we looked at prayer posture—listening to God. This began to stretch our understanding of prayer in some new directions as we considered what it looks to hear from God in our times of prayer. Today we stretch even further to consider prayer presence—being with God. This kind of prayer presses our faith practice of prayer to a level of intimacy with God that simply embraces an awareness of God’s presence.

As in past weeks, I am using the Psalms as a roadmap for considering how these different modes of prayer are displayed for us in scripture. Today we turn to a Psalm of David in which David expresses a prayer that simply embraces the presence of God.

Psalm 27 (NIV)

Psalm 27 NIV

Of David. 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. 7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. 10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 11 Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Catch how this psalm goes so that we can figure out a few things about the ways in which David experiences the presence of God. On the sermon notes sheet I broke this psalm into five sections. It might help to see it as something of a mirrored outline.

A. Trust (vs 1-3) B. God’s presence revealed (vs 4-6) C. David’s pursuit of God’s presence (vs 7-8) B’. God’s presence hidden (vs 9-12) A’. Trust (vs 13-14)

A. Trust (vs 1-3) B. God’s presence revealed (vs 4-6) C. David’s pursuit of God’s presence (vs 7-8) B’. God’s presence hidden (vs 9-12) A’. Trust (vs 13-14)

vs 1-3, 13-14 — prayer for God’s presence begins and ends with trust

David’s prayer in Psalm 27 is wrapped in trust. It both opens and closes with words that affirm David’s trust in the Lord to be his salvation. The ending verse places that trust within an acknowledgement that David cannot be the one to demand his own agenda; David must trust God even while waiting for God to act on his behalf.

vs 4-6 — with increased awareness of God’s presence comes increased assurance of God’s presence

location of God’s presence: house, temple, sacred tent

Everything else inside of this psalm tells us of God’s presence with David and the ways in which David experiences the presence of God in his life. Verses 4-6 are filled with words of assurance because David knows the presence of God is with him. In typical Old Testament fashion, the presence of God is referenced in specific locations. We see three examples of this in these few verses: house, temple, sacred tent. David desires to simply linger in these places because this is where God dwells. You get the sense that David desires to increase his awareness of God’s presence—he wants to spend his time gazing upon the beauty of the Lord. David is filled with assurance as a result of being in the presence of God.

vs 9-12 — when God appears hidden, David prays for God to teach/lead him back to awareness of God

There is another side to this experience for David as well. Verses 9-12 speak of God’s presence as though it is hidden from David. It is a marked shift in tone within this prayer. When David cannot perceive the presence of God, he is filled with despair rather than assurance. His plea in these verses for the Lord to teach him and lead him back (verse 11). David’s desire is for his awareness of God’s presence to be restored.

when David looses his awareness of God’s presence, his communion with God feels diminished as well

It is not as though God is absent from David in these verses. Rather, David seems to have moments when God appears to be hidden from David. God is there, David just can’t see it. When David looses his awareness of God’s presence, his communion with God feels diminished as well. This is why David feels a sense of despair rather than assurance in these verses. Note David’s request of God here. It is not a request for God to come back—as though somehow God is absent. The request in verse 11 is for teaching and leading. David knows that what he needs from God is a restored awareness. David does not need God to somehow find his way back to David. And David does not need to somehow find his way back to God. What David needs is a renewed realization of the ever-present God whom has been there the whole time, even in these moment when David is unaware.

This is captured in the center point of this prayer, verses 7-8.

Psalm 27:7–8 (NIV)

Psalm 27:7–8 NIV

7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

vs 7-8 — prayer for a heart that seeks to be present with God

Hebrew paneh = face, presence

“God, I desire to be in your presence; help me to become more aware of your presence that is right here with me.”

David’s prayer in Psalm 27 is a prayer of presence with God. David is articulating for us a faith practice of prayer—particularly a faith practice of prayer which focuses on being in the presence of God. If we need a starting point for what this kind of prayer looks like, I think praying these same words of David in Psalm 27:7-8 is a great place to begin. It is a prayer that says, “God, I desire to be in your presence; help me to become more aware of your presence that is right here with me.” And that is all that this prayer is asking. It is not a means to an end of some other kind. It is not a formality with which to open in order that I can then move on to the more pressing matters of prayer. It is not a check mark in prayer which has to happen so that I can proceed with an agenda of my own requests. For David, being in the presence of God is an end in itself—it is its own reward.

prayer to be in God’s presence — music

What are some of the ways we can pursue this kind of prayer in our lives? Here is an area of prayer in which I think that music is huge. Songs can be such amazing expressions of prayer that simply centers us within the presence of God around us. We may all have different musical preferences; so there is no one right kind of music for this sort of prayer. However, I tend to suggest some of the more repetitive types of worship songs for this style of prayer. Becoming more aware of God’s presence does not necessarily happen at the snap of a finger or the reading of one verse or the singing of one hymn. I like the way some of the more contemporary worship songs tend to take a single word or phrase and repeatedly dwell upon it. It helps to park our thoughts and feelings upon a single word or phrase which can enlighten our sense of God’s presence.

It is not just contemporary music. I also like the way this plays out in classical opera or oratorio music. There are two types of solos in an oratorio: recitative and aria. A recitative moves along a narrative storyline and keep the music going in a linear direction. However, an aria is a solo which takes a single line and repeats it over and over again so that our thoughts my simply slow down and dwell upon a single idea. Often, this kind of slowing repetition of a single thought or idea works as a contemplative prayer which brings us into greater awareness of God’s presence.

true genuine renewal happens in prayer

I want to close this up by starting to lay out a roadmap of where all this attention on the faith practice of prayer is going. In the two years that we had a team of people working on the Church Renewal Lab material, there were a handful of essentials that bubbled up to the top. Of the hundreds of churches that have engaged in renewal activities, there are a few key ingredients that show up in every single one of those churches that come to experience genuine renewal. True renewal does not show up in cosmetic appearances like changing up the programming or worship style or building renovations. True renewal begins with an inward change of heart. And an inward change of heart begins with prayer. Of all the churches in the Renewal Lab project that have come to see and embrace real significant and lasting revitalization, every single one of them point back to the centrality of prayer as an absolutely essential ingredient.

take a step forward in a life of prayer

What I want most for each one of us is that we can all grow to become the most complete disciples of Jesus that we can possibly be. For that to happen, Fellowship Church needs to be a house of prayer. I invite and encourage every single one of us to take steps forward in a life of prayer. And beginning this fall we are launching some new initiatives for us to be a congregation of prayer. In the coming month we will begin sharing what these opportunities will look like.

I have two more messages in this series on prayer that will take us to the end of July. And here is where we want this sermon series on prayer to become more than just helpful information about prayer. We want this to be the springboard that helps you take that next step into a life of deeper and more fulfilling prayer. The thing I want you to consider in the next month before we launch fall ministries is not should I or shouldn’t I join one of these prayer initiatives, it should be a question of which one of these initiatives will I join.

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” —Martin Luther

It is Martin Luther who once famously wrote, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Luther recognized that his life was too busy not to pray. John DeVries in his book, Why Pray tells it like this. One day while driving to an important appointment he notices that his car is running low on gas. But because he is busy and running a little late he decides he does not have time to stop at a gas station and fill the car with gas. Invariably, the car runs out of gas and he has to get out of the car and begin pushing it down the road. He pushes the car right on past a gas station without stopping to put gas in the tank. When asked about why he did not push into the gas station, his response is that he is now running late and he does not have time to stop for gas.

prayer that spends time in the awareness of God’s presence is fuel for the soul

Living a life that feels too busy to pray is like pushing your car down the road past a gas station. Prayer that spends time in the awareness of God’s presence is fuel for your soul. Pray this week that God will make you aware of what that next step forward in your life of prayer will look like in the coming months.