We stay and abide in the presence of God by simply being aware of Him throughout our day. There are many ways to do this; prayer, worship, reading the Word, praying with brothers and sisters in Christ, evangelizing, etc.
Now notice, all of these have one thing in common: they require awareness of the Person of Jesus.
The Bible promises that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). The fantastic thing is that we can do this wherever we are. This does not require a special place or atmosphere to be performed, it only requires focus from the individual. [Related article: How to Enter God’s presence (Step-by-Step Guide)]
Have Consistent Alone Time for Prayer
The first step to establishing awareness of God throughout the day, and thus remaining in His Presence, is learning to develop a daily time of prayer.
If we look throughout the Bible we will find that every Man of God that dwelled in God’s presence had a consistent time of prayer where they fellowshipped with God.
It cannot be a coincidence that men who accomplished amazing things for God all had one major thing in common. We would be fools to not replicate this. If it worked for them, then it will work for us.
The perfect example of this is our Lord Jesus. (Related article: Prayer Life of Jesus & How to Pray Like Him)
The Bible says that He would wake up early well before everyone else so that He could spend alone time with His Father.
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35).
And this wasn’t a one-time event either. The Prophet Isaiah prophesied that this would be a daily activity for Christ.
“The Lord God has given Me (Christ) The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away.” (Isaiah 50:4-5)
I don’t have time to cover Isaiah chapter 50, but if you study it out you will clearly see that this passage is referring to Christ. Now this passage is amazing cause it reveals that God the Father would wake up Jesus every morning so that they could spend time together and so that Jesus could “increase in wisdom and stature.” (Luke 2:52)
The Lord isn’t the only one who lived this way. Peter, David, and the prophet Daniel all prayed three times per day. The apostle Paul would pray every evening and he would live in continual fellowship with God throughout his day. [Related article: Praying Three Times a Day (What the Bible Says)].
The point I’m trying to make is without time alone with God it’ll be near impossible to stay in God’s presence throughout the day.
Read the Word Daily
The second step to abiding in the presence of God throughout the day is learning to abide in the word of God. In fact, I would even propose to you that abiding in God is abiding in His word. Let me show you why I think that.
My first reason for believing this is in John chapter 1 we see that Christ is the Word made flesh.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
So my conclusion from these passages is if Christ is the word made flesh then dwelling in the word of God would be the same as dwelling in Him.
My other reason for believing this is in John 14-16.
In these passages, Jesus is talking to His disciples before He is taken to go and die on the cross and He is trying to communicate to them as much as He can before He leaves.
So, in John 15 we see Him introduce the language of abiding in Him, but the concept was mentioned even before this in John 14:15-24.
We don’t have space right now to quote the whole passage but verses 23-24 do the passage justice.
“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words..” (John 14:23-24)
Did you catch that? Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His word, and if we do this the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will make their home in us. In other words, God will abide in us as we keep His word. (Note: Holy Spirit coming to live in us was mentioned in verse 17).
Then again in John 15:7, Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
So again we see abiding in Him and abiding in His words are used interchangeably.
In short, abiding in the word of God by reading it daily and meditating on it throughout the day, we will find ourselves staying in the presence of God as we go throughout our day. [Related article: Spending Time Reading the Bible (Common Questions Answered)].
Commune with God during Mundane Tasks
The third step to remaining in God’s presence is to commune with God throughout the day by learning to pray during mundane and boring tasks. (Related article: 7 Tips on How to Spend Time with God Throughout the Day)
An example of this is while you are doing the dishes or taking out the trash, talk to the Lord. Thank Him for who He is and for His impact on your life. Ask God for help and worship Him.
Boring tasks are boring cause they require little to no brain power. What better way to utilize that time to get to know the Lord a little more?
Have Faith that you are Abiding and Dwelling in God
The final step to staying in God’s presence is to believe that you are remaining in God’s presence. I know that may sound a little strange so let me explain.
There are times when we can spend alone time in prayer, read the word every day, and talk to God throughout the day, and still think that what we are doing is not good enough to remain in God’s presence.
I know that this is possible to happen cause I have done it. I have fallen victim in the past to believe that if I didn’t pray a certain amount of hours or read a certain amount of chapters then I wasn’t abiding in God.
This is why we must approach God with what Christ has already done on the cross, and not with what we have done the last 24hrs. The truth is we will never measure up, but the good news is Christ measured us up! So let’s start where He finished so that true enjoyment of His presence can become a reality in our lives.
