Psalm 84-88

June 25

Psalm 84-88

Have you ever been in a place and you knew without a doubt that God’s presence was in that place? We know that God is always present, but there are times when we just sense His presence in an almost tangible way. There is a peace, an awe, an aura that God is present. When you experience the presence of God, you do not want to leave that presence. There is something about it that makes you want to stay.

The psalmist who wrote Psalm 84 apparently had experienced the presence of God in the temple. His heard and flesh cried out for the living God. Once you experience God, nothing can substitute for the feeling. Once you experience God in a church service, you are afraid to miss a service because you are afraid you will miss God showing up and blessing those present. Until you experience God in this way, you do not know what you are missing, but once you do, your heart will cry out for more of Him.

Most often these close encounters with God occur when prayer has been employed to prepare the soil. God responds when His people cry out to Him in prayer. God responds when His people focus on their relationship with him. God responds when we lift up words of praise to Him. We cannot orchestrate revival, or times of God’s refreshing spirit filling our places of worship, but we can prepare. We can prepare our hearts and minds.

God wants to move in our lives and in our churches. He wants to fill our services with the undeniable sense of His presence, but He does not come if we do not want him there. He does not come when we are trying to manipulate. He comes when we prepare our hearts to hear from Him and we are willing to allow Him to move in our lives and in our churches to bring change and restoration.