Turning God’s Omnipotent Presence into His Manifest Presence

I used to be bothered by the prayer – “Lord, please be in our midst as we get together” I would be like ‘but God is everywhere. He also says that He is always with us and that He will never leave us alone! Why call forth someone who is already there? Then the Lord got me on a journey to understand the different dimensions of His presence.

There are three dimensions of God’s presence: God’s omnipotent presence, God’s indwelling presence and God’s manifest presence.

1. God’s omnipotent present; Ps. 139:7-8 & 11-12

God is everywhere. He covers the whole universe. He is everywhere every time. This is the mystery of His being. It is what makes Him sovereign, unique and worth of worship.

Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in ^[c]hell, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall ^[d]fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; ¹² Indeed, the darkness ^[e]shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

2. God’s indwelling presence; 1 Cor. 3:16 & 6:19

1 Cor. 3:16:
There is a dimension of the presence of God that is God within every believer. When we open our hearts to the Lordship of Christ, He takes residence within our hearts. This is the indwelling presence of God.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 

3. God’s manifest presence

The manifest presence of God refers to the dimension of Him that becomes clearer and more obvious to an individual or a group of people experiencing Him in a unique and practical way at a given time. God’s manifest presence is His shekinah presence – where He shows His glorious face and mighty aspects. It is the outward evidence of God’s presence and practical work. This is usually in the form of the supernatural – something beyond the ordinary. He usually manifests through natural phenomena like the elements of fire, wind, water, rainbow, thunder, lightning, cloud, audible voice, bodily form, dreams and visions etc. It is usually spectacular though it may also be as gentle as a breeze.

When this manifest presence comes, something shifts supernaturally and His glory gets revealed.

2 Chron. 7: 1-6
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the ^[a]temple. ² And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. ³ When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever.”

God wants us to move beyond just having a consciousness of Him to having a practical personal encounter. In Acts 4:31, After the disciples prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. God manifested Himself when He appeared in the fire where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had been thrown!

We need the manifest presence of God because;

• When it happens, we get to know God more authentically. We witness His glory, power and love demonstrated practically;
• We get greater passion and desire for Him;
• Miracles and wonders take place. We get answers to our prayers and live fulfilled lives;
• His peace, Joy and celebration fill our hearts;
• We rest in Him from all labour. We get still with assurance.
• Non-believers get drawn to Him;

We experience the manifest presence of God when we intentionally and routinely do the following:

• When desire it passionate;
• When we pursue Him relentlessly through prayer, praise, worship and the reading of the word;
• When we serve Him committedly as led by Him;
• When we intentionally practice recognizing His presence wherever we are;
• When we are led by the Spirit of God and we walk in obedience.

Let us prioritize and schedule pursuing the manifest presence of God as a routine so that we walk in peace, joy and breakthroughs.