Picture Creator: Veronika Vasilyuk

Have You Been in God’s Presence?

2/28/2024

Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1 states, ‘’In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.’’

I know not many people have had a vision of heaven as Isaiah did.  Yet, does that mean that we can’t come before the throne of God and be in His presence?

We all are to live in the presence of God.  To give our hearts and lives to Christ Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to lead and guide us.  The more time we spend in prayer, reading God’s Word; the Bible, and spending time with other believers, the more our lives will be changed and we will become the people God wants us to be.

This is truly living in the presence of God.  As Paul wrote in 1^st Thessalonians 5:17, we should ‘’Pray without ceasing.’’  If we are doing that we will be living in the presence of God.

And I pray that we all are living in His presence, but that is not the presence of God to which I am referring today.

I am talking about being in the presence of God that John writes about in the book of Revelations.  In chapter 4 of Revelations, John describes what he sees in heaven.  He talks of seeing God on His throne and 24 elders that sat surrounding the throne.

In verses 10 and 11, John writes; ‘’10 The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created.’’

That is the type of being in the presence of God that I write about.  That you feel His presence so strongly that all you can do is fall to your knees or face to pray and worship Him.

Some people might say this doesn’t happen any longer.  That was only during Bible times.

To these people, I say this, did God lie in Hebrews 13:8, ‘’Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.’’  Since Jesus is God, and Jesus doesn’t change, then doesn’t that mean these things are for us as well?

See, I know feeling God’s presence in this way is still very true today.  I have felt it three times that I can point to.

Appleton, WI

The first time was when I was a part of Solid Rock Ministries.  This was an outreach group in Appleton, Wisconsin in the 1980s.  Every Friday night there would be a movie or a function for people to come in and find out about Jesus.

After the meeting, some of us would go up and down College Avenue witnessing to people and telling them about Jesus and His plan of salvation.

One Friday night, my best friend and I were teamed up for the street witnessing.  Greg and I did many things together for Christ through the years.

That night, we went back to the office on the second floor of a store on College Avenue when we were ready to go home.

Some people always stayed behind in the office praying while others went out on the street witnessing.  Someone was still there praying when we arrived back.

Greg and I had barely walked through the door of the office when we both felt the presence and glory of God.  Both of us fell to our knees in prayer and worship.  We could just feel God all around us.  Covering us, speaking to our hearts, wrapping us in His love.

It was such a precious and intimate experience.  I don’t remember how long we stayed on our knees and faces, but it was some time.  I know we both got up from the floor feeling so refreshed and full of joy.

Waupaca, WI

The next time it happened was years later.  My wife and I had moved back to my hometown of Ogdensburg, Wisconsin.  We were attending a church in Waupaca, WI.

The church put on Easter and Christmas musicals for the community.  I performed in most of the plays as I enjoyed singing.  We would usually put the play on for 2 or 3 nights.  We had to; every performance was standing room only.

The way the stage and altar area of the church were set up, there was a door on either side of the stage.  Then a hallway ran behind the stage so we could get from one side to another.  There was a little room at each end of the rear hallway.

It was the second performance of one of the Easter plays.  Mary and I had finished our scene and entered the right door beside the stage.  We crossed through the hallway to the room on the left side of the stage.  Our scenes were done, and there was more room to wait on that side.

Mary and I entered the room on the left and God’s presence came down on us.  We fell to our knees beside the chairs in the room.  Praying for the play and just weeping for how strongly we felt God in that room.  Praising His name and His glory.  It was so wonderful.

Pensacola, Florida

The third time was when I was on the Deacon Board of that same church.  There was a big revival going on in Pensacola, Florida.  The pastors and deacons of the church went down to see what was happening.

It was a charismatic or Pentecostal church.  Our church was as well.  Our church had about 200-250 people in attendance on Sundays.  This church had over 1,500 attending every night.  They had so many people that they had overflow rooms with the service on live TVs.

After the service, people would go down to the altar area to get prayed for.  So often, they would be slain in the Spirit.  That is when you feel God’s presence so strongly you can’t even stand.  I had seen it at our church occasionally, but at that revival meeting, they were falling like cordwood.

I knew God did move like that on people, but with it happening to so many people, I was a little skeptical.

At the time, I was struggling with some feelings with God.  I loved God, and I wanted to live for Him, but there were some circumstances in my life that I felt He had really let me down.  We were on speaking terms, but I was holding myself back.

Could I trust Him for other things where I felt He fell short in this one area?

It was the third night we attended and the last night we were going to be attending the meetings.  God had been working on my heart that week and I decided to go forward for prayer for my situation.

I need to give you a mental image of this area where people were getting prayed for.  The stage was 50 to 70 feet across at least.  There were 3 or 4 steps leading up to the platform around the stage.  Front and both sides.  The seats were around 20 feet back from the first step to give people room to gather for prayer.  On both sides of the stage, the steps were 15 to 20 feet long and ended next to a door leading to other parts of the church.

I should also mention that I am a big guy.  Not tall, but round.  Over 300 pounds at that time.

So, here I was.  I decided to go down to get prayed for.  I was on the left-hand side of the stage as you face it about a third of the way from the side with the hallway.  The church had teams of people going around praying for people.  One stood behind the person in case they went down due to being slain in the Spirit.  The other person stayed in front of the person and prayed for them.

These teams of people were praying for the people all around me.  They would look at me and then move on to someone else.  I was gradually being pushed more to the side of the stage that led to the hallway.  I laughed to myself that these people weren’t dumb, they didn’t want to take any chances in case I went down.

Now I am on the side of the platform.  A good number of people had been prayed for and went down.  I was thinking about just going back to my seat.  Just then a couple of small young ladies approached me and asked if I wanted to get prayed for.

I said I would.  I thought to myself, I can just see the headlines tomorrow if I go down.  Church worker killed by chubby man who was slain in the spirit.

As they prayed for me, suddenly, my legs gave out and I went down.  I wasn’t pushed.  To be honest, the girl in front might not have even touched me.

I remember lying there.  My head was towards the door to the hallway and my feet were towards the chairs of the auditorium.  I was lying in the middle of the aisle.

It was funny as I lay there.  God had gotten ahold of my legs, but my mind was still working too well.

I lay there thinking.  ‘’Ok, God, You have me down here, what do You want to say to me?’’  ‘’Boy, all these people are having to walk by me.  I am really in the way.’’ ‘’I wonder how long I have to lay here before the people here are insulted because I got up too soon.’’

All these types of silly things kept going through my head.  I finally decided I had laid there long enough and got up.

Right beside me was a gold handrail going up the stairs to the platform.  I took hold of the handrail to steady myself.  As soon as I touched it, I went down for real on the steps out of the way.

God had to let me get out of my own way first.  Lying there on the steps, I felt God’s presence as I had the other two times.  He worked on my heart.

It was different this time than the other two times though.  Those times, I was praying and praising.  This time, I was just in His presence.  Not physically, of course.  I could just feel Him around me, loving me, caring for me.  I was no longer thinking any of the silly thoughts of moments ago.  Just basking in His presence.

It seemed time stood still as I lay there.  I wasn’t aware of people walking by, the noise of the place, or anything that was going on.  I only felt that God was with me working in my heart.

I was a different person when I finally stood up from that spot than the one that had fallen there.  You can’t be in God’s presence and remain the same person you were before that.

Ending Thoughts

Besides these three times, there have been countless times while reading my Bible or praying that I have felt God.  Not as strongly as the times described, but that He was with me.  Leading me to a certain passage in the Bible.  Or maybe to pray for someone I hadn’t thought of in years.

In telling you about these things, you must realize.  I am not bragging that I have felt God with me.  I am no one special.  I’m not a super Christian.  I’m not ultra-spiritual.

I’m just an average person like each of us.  I struggle with reading my Bible daily and having a daily prayer time.  I often do the wrong thing even when I know I shouldn’t.

I often feel like Paul when he wrote in 1^st Timothy 1:15, ‘’This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came in into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.’’  So often I feel I am the chief of sinners as I know my evil heart.

Or as Paul wrote in Romans 7:19, ‘’For the good that I would do, I don’t do.  But the evil which I would not do, that I do.’’  I paraphrased that a little from the King James Version.

I say these things to help you realize that God wants this for you too.  He wants you to feel His presence.  He wants to change your life as He covers you with His glory.

I hope you will seek Him and His presence.  May you long to come before His throne and seek His face and His will for your life.

This is my prayer for you.