We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Wake Up to God’s Presence
Jesus taught us to “remain” in him. We read this in John 15:4-5:
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The Greek word translated “remain,” means “to take up permanent residence.” Jesus makes this clear when he said that just as branches are attached to a vine, we are to be attached to him. Branches don’t visit a vine once in a while on special occasions. Rather, branches are permanently attached to their source of life. So too, we are to take up permanent resident in Christ, remaining attached to him at all times as our source of all life.
One way that do this is to “wake up” to this reality. I find that the most uncomplicated time of the day is when I first open my eyes in the morning. My heart and mind is clearest before I get filled with the cares and concerns of the day. Biblical authors expressed the preference for worshiping praying, and meditating on God as the first act of the day (see Ps. 5:3; 59:16; 88:13; 90:14).
Frank Laubach, a missionary who wrote about ways he remained in Christ, testified that he found it helpful to practice the presence of God when he first woke up in the morning. Each morning, he wrote, “I compel my mind to open straight out toward God.”
He also wrote, “I wait and listen with determined sensitiveness. I fix my attention there, and sometimes it requires a long time early in the morning. I determine not to get out of bed until that mind set upon the Lord is settled.”
I too have found the practice of surrendering the first moments of waking consciousness to God to be profoundly helpful. At first it was hard to remember to do this before getting out of bed, but now I find that, more often than not, God is automatically the first thought on my mind. For ten to fifteen minutes, I lie in bed and simply try to remain aware of God’s every-present love. Then I preview my day and offer up each part to God.
This practice sets the tone for the rest of the day. I find that when I do this, it affects my remaining in Christ throughout the rest of the day. Try it and see how you become more aware of God’s presence with you.
—Adapted from Present Perfect, pages 34-40
Category: General
Tags: Being Present, God's Presence, Practicing the Presence of God, Presence of God, Present Perfect
Related Reading
In Darkest Times, God is Present
“However much evil was there, it would have been far worse if God was not there pushing back on it.” There is never a time when God is not present, no matter how bad the situation. In this short sermon clip, Greg Boyd talks about how we need to be watchful of the spirit world…
Don’t Be a Functional Atheist at Christmas
All of us raised in Western culture have been strongly conditioned by what is called a secular worldview. The word secular comes from the Latin saeculum, meaning “the present world.” A secular worldview, therefore, is one that focuses on the present physical world and ignores or rejects the spiritual realm. To the extent that one…
What, Father, Do You Desire This Minute?
Frank Laubach, a 20th century missionary to Philippines, wrote about the challenge of being continually aware of the presence of God and learning to respond to God’s promptings. He wrote, “I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself. This sense of cooperation with God in…
Believing Is Not Enough
One of the core elements of evangelical church life is the conversion experience. From old-time revivals, to seeker-sensitive church services, to post-modern outreach strategies, evangelicals have placed a very high emphasis on the point of conversion. This practice is based on a theological perspective; it’s not just a tactic to get people in the church.…
Dancing with the Triune God
What does it mean to live in the presence of God now? How do we do this? What does it mean to be in the presence of God for eternity? In this video produced by The Work of the People, Greg Boyd shares what it means to for us to be in God’s presence and allow…
Beyond Theoretical Salvation
Profession of Christ’s lordship in our lives isn’t a magical formula. It’s more than a theory about how we can get saved if we confess the right doctrines. The confession has meaning only when it’s understood to be a genuine pledge to surrender one’s life to Christ. (See yesterday’s post.) But I want us to…