Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health: Question 4 – Are You More Sensitive to God’s Presence?

 

Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health,
Question 4 – Are You More Sensitive to God’s Presence? (excerpts and highlights from Chapter 4 of Dr. Whitney's book)*

The author begins the chapter asking, “When was the last time you thought, ‘God is here’?” He then lists possible circumstances or places where this might have been the case, including: during an unusually Spirit-anointed preaching of Holy Scripture; during passionate prayer with God’s people; reveling in God’s magnificent works of Creation; during a time of solitude while walking in a quiet place that was calming and peaceful; during an emotionally-charged moment (e.g., a split-second, adrenaline-rushed deliverance from an automobile accident); while watching in awe at your newborn sleeping; during an especially moving exultation of praise and worship to and before the Lord – times when God’s presence is almost atmospheric.

He then follows this with the question: “how often are you aware of the presence of God?” He offers that through careful consideration of Bible teaching and in growing closer to God, we should be able to discern His inborn presence more readily and more often. The author quotes the Barna Group survey results that show a surprisingly low percentage or no percentage of professing Christians can attest to being aware of God’s presence. He concludes that what results from a true Christian’s dullness to God’s presence may mean that the person is thinking less often of God, His Word, and His will.

Some scriptural references:

-        Proverbs 15:3 – do we believe that “the eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good”

-        Exodus 2:12 – passage that speaks of a young Moses who believed that he could murder someone without anyone’s knowledge. 

The author says: “’No matter what we do not see, we must never forget the One whose presence is unseen yet more real than any other.’ Living apart from a conscious sense that the Lord is present is to live as though God really is not there… relationship with God is reduced to mere religion.”

Discerning God’s Presence

-        The universal presence of God, or God’s omnipresence. -Psalm 139:5-12 and Jeremiah 23:24. Some religions teach, and some Christians believe, that since God is everywhere, then it must mean that God is “everything”. Scripture does not support that teaching. It does not teach that God is "in" animals or in their spirits! God’s omnipresence places Him outside of what we call time and matter. If God is everything as some teach and believe, then we would be compelled to worship that ‘thing’. Which would be out of harmony and conflict with God’s own solemn warnings not to worship anything created. (compare Exodus 20:3-5; Isaiah 46:5) God’s universal presence surrounds us. (Acts 17:28) In truth, God must first reveal Himself to us; He has generally done so through creation. (Romans 1:20) He more specifically does so through His Word in two ways: through the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, the Bible.

-        The Christological presence of God. God was and is present in Jesus Christ. (John 1:1,14; Colossians 2:9). Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

-        The indwelling presence of God. God is present by His Holy Spirit in a unique way within Christians. He is a second, distinct Person living with us in our bodies. (John 14:16-17; Galatians2:20; Romans 8:5,9-11,15-17)

-        The perceptible presence of God. God’s presence is often perceived through His work or influence in situations and persons so powerfully that only God can be its author. (Luke 1:66; Acts11:21) It is through the Incarnate Word and Holy Scripture that our experience with God, including our perception of His presence, is mediated or conveyed. Some professing Christians and some theologians have believed that God can be perceived through so called Christian mysticism – which is false teaching. The essence of that belief is that one would attempt to experience God without the means God has provided. Such persons say that they just “open up” to the presence of God – conjuring up a cosmic experience, or practice a deep “looking into one’s soul” to meet up with the indwelling presence of God; to imagine Him sitting with you. As “spiritual” as this may sound, this is opposite what God teaches in His Word. He tells us that (1) we must seek Him through His Word; (2) seek Him through experiences that are founded on His Word; (3) seek Him through daily life in ways that are informed by His Word. (1 Chronicles16:11; Psalm 25:4,14; 27:4,8) The true Christian will pursue and perceive the presence of God, mediated or conveyed through God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible; He has done so in every way that can be understood by humans through His Holy Word and His Son. (compare Hebrews 1:1-3). Our experience with God cannot be limited to just knowing of His existence and referring to Him as “God” – even the demons can do that. (James 2:19) Rather, we are to become acquainted with Him intimately, through His Word and prayer. We come to know His character; He is not merely present – He is holy! We will come to realize that He is not only merciful – He desires to have us talk with Him. We learn that He knows our thoughts and words even before it begins to take shape in our brains and appears on our lips. (Psalm 139:3-5) He knows our fears, our motivations, our desires, our aspirations, our emotions, our anxieties, our mental and physical condition, and still loves us beyond comprehension. The author notes that if God seems imperceptible – if we are not able to sense His presence – we who have inculcated His Word must stop and meditate on His Word about His omnipresence, His indwelling, His character, His deeds, His holiness and become drawn by God into the reality of His presence in so doing. (compare Matthew 27:46; Psalm 77; Psalm 119:1-18)

-        The heavenly presence of God. God’s presence is manifest in heaven as in no other place. It is the presence of God that makes it "heaven". His glory and splendor are displayed there as nowhere else. (Matthew 6:9;18:10; Isaiah 6:1-5; 2 Samuel 22:14; Psalm29; 33:6; Acts 17:24))

-        The eternal presence of God. God’s presence will be forever enjoyed in heaven, or forever forfeited in hell, as the author notes. In heaven, His presence characterized by His glory that imprints on those surrounding His throne, His lovingkindness, righteousness, and amazing love – among other attributes will be fully experienced by those who eternally live with Him. Those who forfeit God’s presence - rejecting God, a road that leads to a forever death -- their experience of God in hell will only be wrath and judgment – no love, no mercy. (Revelation 21:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3)

All access to God is through Jesus Christ; no one comes to the Father except through Jesus – He is the only way (John 14:6). 1 Timothy 2:5 further notes that “there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” The author notes that to discern the presence of God, one must first be “Immanuelized” - a person can’t reliably recognize the presence of “God with us” until he or she experiences “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians1:27) And to know the indwelling presence of Christ, one must first, in Jesus’ words, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Opening our Spiritual Eyes to His Presence – Practical Steps

-        Go often to the place where God has revealed Himself most clearly – the Bible. Martin Lloyd-Jones, a Welsh Protestant minister of the 20^th century notes: “The more we know the Bible and read it, the more it will take us into the presence of God. So if you want to set the Lord always before you, spend much of your time with regular daily reading of the Bible.” This will involve meditation on a part of the passage  - absorb it, linger over it until it percolates the soil of our soul, and listen long enough until we hear it for what it is – the voice of God.

-        Acknowledge His presence with you by talking with Him. The author states that when a person’s prayer life is decaying by silence, is it any wonder that he or she feels unaware of the nearness of God? He is very real and very present. The author further reminds the reader of the privilege and meaningfulness of praying through a passage of Scripture, e.g., one of the Psalms or whatever passage one may be guided to by the Spirit. Letting the words that originated in the heart and mind of God Himself become the vehicle to carry the burdens of our heart and mind back to God.

-        Seek Him in the manifestations of His presence given only in congregational worship. We are commanded by God to meet together corporately for worship; it’s not just a ‘blank’ command for the sake of commanding, but it is for our benefit because in such a gathering a release of God’s Spirit in a special way that allows us to corporately experience the presence of God shall occur. (Hebrews 10:21-25; Acts 2:1-3,17-18,43-47; Acts 9:31; Ephesians 5:18-20; 2 Timothy 4:1-5) In a true church, where the Word of God is preached, God’s Son is presented in the Lord’s Supper. His Spirit seeks to minister to us through many and diverse gifts He has bestowed on God’s people. Without the members of the congregation present, it diminishes what we were created to do and we are deprived of critical opportunities to sense God’s presence. It is like a missing chromosome in a person causing a gap in their development.

-        Continually reaffirm the truth that He is omnipresent. Ruminate on Jesus’ words at Mathew 28:20 – “I am with you always.” The Lord is with us even when we don’t sense His presence; we must, though, reaffirm that this is true as we have a tendency to forget, or if we are not feeling it to be true, when it seems He is far away and is not watching us. (Psalm 34:15) Faith responds in the truth, “God is here. He has promised He would never leave me nor forsake me. Whether I sense His presence or not, the truth is that God is here with me now as at any moment in my life. I will believe the truth.” (John 10:27-29; Hebrews 13:5; Romans8:31-39). The author uses an exercise where he asks the reader to look around for a moment and notice everything in our sight that is blue. After we have sought out those things – you will be surprised at how many you may identify – we could say that we developed ‘blue’ eyes, i.e., eyes sensitive to the things around us that are blue. Similarly, we need to develop “God eyes” he says. We need to develop the sensitivity to see evidence of what we know to be true, i.e., God is with us. In our everyday activities, remind ourselves – even out loud – that “the Lord is here.” Pumping gas, grocery shopping, waiting for a bus or train, teaching in a classroom, working in your cubicle at your office, cooking a meal, bathing an infant, attending school classes, sitting in traffic – remind ourselves that the Lord is present. Practice that often. Doing so trains our minds and hearts towards awareness of God’s presence; we become more and more like Jesus who always recognized His Father’s presence.

The author closes with this prayer from A. W. Tozer:

Our Father, we know that Thou art present with us, but our knowledge is but a figure and shadow of truth, and has little of the spiritual savor and inward sweetness such knowledge should afford. This is for us a great loss and the cause of much weakness of heart. Help us to make at once such amendment of life as is necessary before we can experience the true meaning of the words, “In thy presence is fullness of joy.” Amen.

 

*The foregoing represents my personal reflections on a study by Dr. Donald S. Whitney, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. (2001. By Donald S. Whitney. NAVPRESS. ISBN 978-1-61747-187-2) Quotations and excerpts are from that source, unless otherwise identified. For the 2023 Lenten season I provided these thoughts to my local congregation's Bible study group. The questions are not, however, constrained by a particular liturgical season, holiday, or age group: these are questions every Christian may find useful in fulfilling God's command at 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!" The church at Corinth looked a lot like many of our churches today.