Worship
“And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.” -Mark 7:24-26, ESV, emphasis added
Understanding God’s Presence Through Scripture
There’s something sweet and all-consuming about God’s presence. It’s something we long for and invite to come when we worship or gather. Oh, to just linger in the presence of the Lord is a gift that the very cells of our beings absorb. To be transformed in His presence is the blessing we receive when we simply come, undone before Him. Just to dwell with Him in His presence is our longing; to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. His presence is full, and what comes with it is the abundance of who He is. In His presence is fullness of joy, life everlasting, glory, and light, all of which can change us in a moment. Nothing is hidden in His presence. We are received and embraced, healed, and commissioned in His presence. It’s where we long to dwell and the place we will inhabit for all of eternity. Oh, the sweet, sweet presence of Jesus!
God’s Work Among the Nations
This passage reminds me of an encounter I had in Latin America in 2020. We were sitting in a home, down a little alley, sharing the gospel with a family. About 10 minutes into the conversation, a woman showed up at the door and said, “I don’t know why I am here, but I live down the street and something drew me to this house.” We invited her inside and began to share the gospel with her. As she prayed to receive Jesus, the darkness inside of her overtook her, and she fell out of her chair and onto the floor. My translator and I began to pray over her and commanded everything that was spiritually afflicting this woman to come out, in the name of Jesus.
When she came to, we ministered to her and continued to pray deliverance for her. Jesus was drawing her to His presence, but the enemy didn’t want her freedom—he preferred her bondage and a place to dwell inside of her. But Jesus came to set her free and give her new life. It all started with an invitation to come into His presence as the Lord directed her down the street, down the alley, and to this little home so He could set her free. (You can see her standing to my right, wearing a leopard tank top). I saw for myself that day the magnetism of the presence of God, which flows down streets in order to set captives free.
Although it was not Jesus’ preference to do public ministry in that area that day in Tyre, this Syrophoenician woman came looking for Him for the very freedom and deliverance of her daughter, which only Jesus could offer. He had traveled 50 miles to an area where the Gentiles were living. He was switching focus in that moment from “‘the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24b),’” or the Jews, to the Gentiles. He was bringing the gospel of Himself to both Jew and Gentile, breaking the distinction between the clean and unclean. His presence does not show favoritism, and He wants no one to be separated from His presence for eternity. He arrived on a scene of a desperate Gentile woman who was magnetized to His presence and His salvation. Her faith drew her to Him.
He could not be hidden, nor does He want to be for those who were hungry. You cannot keep the presence of Jesus contained; He goes to the hungry and hurting, the destitute, and the bound. And one word in His presence sets captives free!
The Power of Faith and Humility
This woman stood in the gap (intercession) for her demon-possessed daughter, in the presence of Jesus (just like the Centurion did for his servant.) At His very word, her daughter was set free. Saints, let this be the greatest encouragement to you today. All you need to bring in your petition to the Lord is a hunger for His presence, a humility in His presence, and the faith appropriated to Him. It is something to believe that what you are asking Him to do for another in intercession He hears and longs to respond to. The woman did not debate about her Gentile standing or her low place in that culture; instead, she responded in humility before Him, and Jesus responded with a miracle.
Oh, how Jesus responds to our hunger, humility, and faith.
“It is humility that brings a soul to be nothing before God and that also removes every hindrance to faith and makes it only fear lest it dishonor Him by not trusting Him completely.” -Andrew Murray, “Humility”
Would we dare to become people of His presence? Could we bear that title before Heaven and Earth? When He looks, could He see you and your family or you and your closest companions as ones who hunger for His presence and so say about you, “Those are My people who long to dwell in My presence?”
“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.” -Malachi 3:16
- We win victories in His presence.
- We fight battles on our knees in worship in His presence.
- Captives are set free, and souls are healed in His presence.
- In the courts of Heaven, the enemy accuses, and Jesus intercedes in His presence.
- We are filled with joy and delight in His presence.
- We find our true being and deepest longings fulfilled only in His presence.
- When we find the secret of living, we realize that our truest habitation and existence is lived only in His presence.
“What an honor and blessing to be attendants-in-waiting on the everlasting God, always on the watch for every indication of His will or favor, always conscious of His nearness, His goodness and His grace! ‘The Lord is good to them that wait for Him’ (Lam. 3:25). ‘Blessed are all they that wait for Him.’ Yes, it is a blessing when a waiting soul and a waiting God meet each other. God cannot do His work without His and our waiting for His time. Let waiting be our work, as it is His. And if His waiting is nothing but goodness and graciousness, let ours be nothing but a rejoicing in that goodness and a confident expectancy of that grace. And let every thought of waiting become to us simply the expression of unmingled and unutterable blessedness, because it brings us to a God who waits so that He may make Himself known to us perfectly as the Gracious One.” -Andrew Murray, “Waiting on God”
Scripture’s Testimony About His Presence
There are ample books written on the very presence of God. He manifested His presence to His people from Genesis to Revelation—every book speaking on an attribute of His presence. A devotional could never describe the multifaceted aspects of what His presence truly looks like and means for us and do it justice. But today, I bring you an invitation to just simply get hungry for His presence. Simply just come with an agenda or no agenda, in humility before Him and wait and worship and fix your faith on Him. He is worthy of your time and attention and your heart’s affections. And in His presence, you will find rest for your soul, and you will find joy that strengthens you in your innermost being. Let’s be people who experience revival and transformation in the only place we will ever receive it—right with Him in His presence.
“So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” -1 Thessalonians 3:13, ESV
‘After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” -Hosea 6:2, ESV
“The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.” -Nahum 1:5, ESV
Lord, would You, by the power of Your Spirit and the graciousness of Your heart toward us, pour out hunger on Your people so that we long and desire to live in Your presence? Remove the pride and self-sufficiency that suggests we can live a moment without You. Untangle us from the web of lies that have caused us to believe life exists outside of Your presence. Will You take us today into a deeper longing to only be satisfied with You, Jesus, and the place Your glory dwells? You can’t help but let Your presence be known all across the Earth. Right now, may we not miss our invitation to come and live and dwell and find our being truly as people of His presence. In the name of Jesus, amen!
