present Archives : Life with the King

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026

God’s Presence in Prayer

Last week, I wrote about the Presence of God; today I want to share a bit about my first-hand experience of His Presence. Those of you who have been reading for a while know there was a time when I could not feel God’s Presence, and when I didn’t believe God was there at all.

I pray that what He’s brought me and been with me through is an encouragement to you in your own life with the King.

Desperate Prayer

Until something wakes us up to the reality that every day we are in desperate need of God, we may remain unaware of His constant Presence with us. Psalm 42 begins with a fervent desperation, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2). In the throes of sleep deprivation, I recently came to that desperate place. I realized once again that I had no where else to turn to for help but God.

Are you desperate for God today? Scripture says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). When I got to that desperate state, I knew that God was my only hope and was ready to seek Him in prayer once again, with all of my heart. I’ve been there many times in my life, yet every time, God surprises me with something new. This last time, as I prayed about my struggles surrounding sleep, He answered my prayer with an awareness of His power.

God’s Power

There is great power in God’s Presence. God’s power is bigger than, and can overcome any obstacle that, we may be facing. In His Presence in prayer, I was able to let God’s power into a situation that felt too complicated for me to work out, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). With my sleep issue, there was nothing more I could reason out, I simply needed to be delivered by God’s power to move forward instead of staying stuck. When we are desperate for change in our lives, we can allow God’s Kingdom to come through His power working in and through us.

I talked to God about the ways I felt stuck. I prayed and I prayed, pouring out my heart to God. I told Him everything I was thinking about, frustrated with, thankful to Him for, and still hoping for. I prayed of my desperation. Sometimes, years ago when I would pray, I didn’t feel heard or seen by God at all. That empty void feeling is part of why I turned away from faith back then. I wasn’t desperate because I didn’t understand who God is, and that we depend on Him for everything. Thankfully, I have come to trust and believe now that He never leaves or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6 & 8, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5).

This time recently in prayer, His Presence was tangible to me in a way that is hard to describe. I had an alertness, and a sense that I wasn’t simply alone, talking to myself, but to God, and that He heard and fully understood me. I had an unusual clarity of thought about what my spirit was experiencing. God’s Presence brought a beautiful order, not only in the spirit, but also in language so that I could articulate it for myself, to where my heart needed alignment with God’s. Scripture encourages us to be “praying in the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18, Jude 1:20). In this fervent prayer, I was given the power from God to be aware of and express my heart to God. I was given peace, and also power to affect change according to His good plans and will. That power has continued. Praying in this way was an incredible experience, and one that we all can have when we turn our hearts to seek Him.

What became clear during this time of prayer was that God cared about what I was saying, even though He already knew it. He wanted to hear from me, just like He wants to hear from you. We will never be as understood by anyone as fully as we are by God. He already knows our whole story, and knows exactly what we mean, no matter what we say or how we say it. He has been present with us through it all, whether we’ve been aware of it or not. Being seen and heard by God is a gift He wants to give to us, and one that comes uniquely in intentional, fervent prayer. If you are desperate today, don’t miss out on His gifts for you! Cry out to Him and He will answer with His power and Presence. He has for me, over and over again. The Truth is that we all desperately need Him every day.

He is available always, listening and caring for us through it all. May heaven open as we open our hearts to God. Amen.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

July 2, 2026July 7, 2026

Characteristics of God: Presence of God

Have you ever felt the Presence of God? Maybe you’ve felt unusual calm or peace in a chaotic moment, or maybe you’ve gotten chills down your spine while the worship band played your favorite song among a group of believers. Maybe God’s Presence has met with you in a quiet moment at home with your Bible, or maybe He worked a miracle before your very eyes while you sensed standing on holy ground. The psalmist wrote, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7). God’s Presence is always with us.

There are many, many more, but today I’ll delve a little deeper into just six of the distinguishing characteristics of God’s Presence as part of the Characteristics of God series.

In the Lord’s Presence, nothing else matters. Nothing else is important or needs attending to. In His Presence we remember the Truth; that God takes care of us, provides for us, and sustains us; our own strength and efforts are futile. When we experience God’s Presence we are made more aware that we are completely engulfed by His grace and mercy as we take every single breath. It’s in His Presence our hearts can be transformed, and we can build intimacy with the God of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega. We are no longer tied to the things that weigh us down or make us afraid when we know that He is with us. In His Presence, we are free indeed.

1. God’s Presence Makes Us Free

The Presence of God is credited as having set the Israelite captives free from Egyptian slavery (Deuteronomy 4:37). His power, glory, and goodness can be experienced by us today, right now. Worshiping Him with all of our heart or praying in the Spirit are ways that can make His Presence more tangible to us. In the Bible, God’s Presence is also described as “the glory of the Lord” (eg: Exodus 16:10, Exodus 24:16, Leviticus 9:23, Numbers 16:19). He is omnipresent and always available to draw near to, and yet, it can be so easy for us sometimes to miss out on experiencing His Presence.

God’s Presence prompted Moses and Aaron to fall on their faces (Numbers 20:6). The appropriate response to God’s Presence, which is so good and so holy, evokes immediate worship and service to Him; “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:2). In loving, fearing, and serving the Lord we become truly free. By experiencing His Presence, we can better get to know Him well enough to love Him. The living God longs to be present with us; that is why Jesus came! Scripture tells us how Jesus made a Way for God’s wonderful Presence to be with us anytime, anywhere. That’s the Good News.

2. God’s Presence is Available at all Times for Everyone

God wants each one of us to be alive in His Presence for all of eternity; we wouldn’t be here if He didn’t! It’s in God’s Presence He can teach us His heart, overflowing with love and grace for us. The more we spend time in His Presence, the more we are able to align ourselves with His heart (desires, will, and emotions). In His Presence, we are better able to become people after God’s own heart.

There is peace and rest in knowing who we are to God, His loved and cherished children. God spoke to Moses about the rest that His Presence brings to His people: “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Our souls can truly rest when we know we are cared for, loved, and protected. All this is freely available to us in God’s Presence.

3. God’s Presence Gives Us Rest

The joy that comes from experiencing God’s Presence is complete, and makes us unshakably joyful, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). We need nothing more than God’s Presence. It provides all we need, and more. He Truly is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We were specially designed to be in God’s Presence, it’s part of who we were made to be! All of God’s work aligns with and works for us to be able to dwell with God. As God is our Creator, it naturally brings us gladness and joy to experience being with Him. Being in God’s Presence brings safety, wonder, delight, peace, and true, deep joy in our hearts and spirits. “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence” (Psalm 21:6).

4. God’s Presence Makes Us Joyful

It is a promise in Scripture that we will all see God’s glory (Isaiah 40:5). Jesus was in the glory of God’s Presence before the world existed, and He entered God’s Presence and was glorified again after He died on the cross (John 17:5). God’s Presence itself is glorious and brings about glorious things.

The Presence of God gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist (Romans 4:17). Scripture describes God’s Presence with the imagery of mountains quaking, idols trembling, and justice being the only thing that can be done when it is near (Isaiah 19:1, Isaiah 64:1-3, Lamentations 3:35). Glorious things happen because of and come from God’s Presence. We can better see God, His glorious nature, and the glorious things that come from Him when we experience His Presence.

5. God’s Presence is Where We Experience His Glory

Of we whose sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus, it is said, “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” (Revelation 7:15-16).

In eternity, we are promised to not only be present at God’s throne, but also sheltered forevermore by His awesome Presence when we are in Christ. We won’t be subject to the suffering or pain of this world anymore in His eternal Presence. Instead, we will be sheltered by Him.

6. God’s Presence is a Shelter

Experiencing His Presence, as we can in worship, prayer, and in other ways, can be so refreshing to our souls because it returns us to our innate connection with Him. David sang, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). God designed us and longs for us so much that He promised to fulfill our need to be in His Presence for eternity through Jesus.

God’s purposes and plans ultimately provide for us to experience His freeing, available, restful, joy-filled, glorious, sheltering Presence, and for Him to enjoy our presence too, for all of eternity. Amen.

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24).

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11).

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:19-21).

August 3, 2021August 3, 2021

3 Ways to Walk in Humility

This past weekend, I took a silent retreat on a beautiful little property where life was thriving. The bugs, beetles, flowers, and animals were all singing their songs happily in the summer sun. I had never been there before, and going in, I thought I would use the time in silence to reflect and grieve and process life with the Lord. However, my environment had such an effect on me, that I couldn’t help but pay attention to it. I got caught up in the dance between butterflies, the ripples in the pond, the scent of an old pine tree, the coo of a dove. I couldn’t help but find joy in the moment and in being where I was among so much beauty, designed by our Creator. I felt free to wonder and be in awe in the present moment.

But a few days later, that feeling has worn off. I woke up feeling the same dread that I’ve woken up with on many days; dread of the sadness I’ve endured and sadness I’ve yet to endure. Dread of the pain and process of living. And while that’s a legitimate emotion that should be fully acknowledged and felt and processed, I want to challenge myself and anyone who can relate, with the truth that that feeling is based on an assumption of going through life without God’s presence. Of doing life on our own. But the truth is that God is with me just as much today as He was during my retreat, thus, the feeling is simply unfounded. Not worthless, not shameful, but normal and human. And also, the feeling is robbing me of the full joy of being, here and now. I challenge you and myself to choose to believe the truth that God’s presence is here and provides every reason for joyfulness, even on days when we wake up and don’t feel it’s true. What is true is that He has provided all we could ever need.

Humility is depending on the Lord to provide.

We all encounter this dilemma of choosing between humility and pride, both in the big and small decisions in life. I have discussed an aspect of this before in my post, Dealing with Pride. We all want our way, sometimes overtly and sometimes subconsciously, but beneath it all is the same sinister thing that keeps us from humbly submitting to the Lord and trusting His goodness and provision. This makes us feel distant, can turn into that feeling of dread or worse. This is something that we all deal with and learning to deal with it in healthy and life-giving ways can make all the difference in the very trajectory of our lives. We all are born with pride, it’s the human condition, so we all must learn to handle it when it does wash over or take hold of our perspective. So how do we handle pride in a healthy way that won’t distance our hearts from God further?

1. Remember how God dealt with you kindly even in your worst moments.

An amazing story in the Bible of not only God’s kindness, but the kindness of people for each other is found in the book of Ruth. Kindness is the thread that runs throughout the short four chapters and it goes around the characters like a chain reaction. Kindness and humility go hand in hand. Boaz’s character reflects that of the Lord, who sees our humble loyalty to Him and rewards it with blessing.

Later in the story, Ruth proposes marriage to Boaz, an extremely bold and humble thing to do, as it vulnerably demonstrates her dependence on him. Boaz dealt with her boldness kindly. It is out of a keen awareness and gratitude for God’s kindness that true humility can rise up in our hearts and help us to act in the love that Jesus calls us to. Even when we don’t act in great love as Ruth did here for her mother-in-law Naomi, we can all think of ways the Lord has dealt kindly with us. As Romans 2:4 says, it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. Fully owning our worst moments and repenting of our pride is the first step in humility.

2. Decide, once and for all, to pursue genuine change of heart with Jesus.

At some point in our lives, we have to make the choice in faith that God’s way truly is best for us. We all have that decision to make for ourselves, whether His will for the long term is better than getting our way in the short term. There comes a point when we must stop excusing our pride away. At some point we need to acknowledge that anytime and every time that temptation arises, it is never justified to act upon it and follow it if we have committed our lives to following Jesus. We need to recognize it for what it really is, idolatry of the self. By letting our own will rule our perspective, we are placing ourselves in a place only God is righteous, just, and loving enough to fill.

When we are able to own up to our sinful nature, not just a single event or instance, but our heart condition of sin, only then can we fully allow Jesus through the door of our hearts to begin to heal what pride has twisted up in us. When we rely on Jesus with our entire self, we are no longer powerless against pride. We are instead empowered by the Spirit of the Living God to walk in love and humility, even becoming able to truly love our enemies because of God’s love for us while we were still His enemies. This ability is the beautiful and mysterious truth about authentic followers of Jesus. But it doesn’t come easily, and it doesn’t happen immediately. It takes a very close, intimate relationship with Jesus, spending time learning from Him and knowing His love ourselves, not through anyone else’s opinion or experience. It may be helpful to remember that even the demons “knew” Jesus, but they did not believe with a personal trust in Him, which is the kind of knowledge we’re talking about. Knowing Him and His character takes time, just as any relationship does, but it starts with faith that this long journey of learning and seeking to understand the love of Jesus is worth it.

3. Remember Jesus is King and you are not.

The more we learn about Jesus, the more beautiful, healing, and powerful we understand Jesus to be, it’s important to remain aware that we will come to identify ourselves with Him, because He identifies so closely and intimately with us. However, we must understand that there is potential in that process for pride to sneak in. Yes, we can identify with Jesus, we model our love and humility after Him. But we must remember who we are, under the authority and ownership of the King, Jesus Christ. Though He can and does work through us, we are not the judge, ever. At best, we may hope to be called His servants, a title of the highest honor for any mortal. As His, we are abundantly provided for, perfectly protected, and infinitely loved. In His care, there is no more need to look for satisfaction in the things that tempt us, because we know where true satisfaction is found, and we have found Him.

Where is our heart’s condition and motives? This is what Jesus looks at; He fully knows the true condition of our hearts. Come into His presence today. Allowing ourselves to be driven by pride is damaging to us in the long term, but He knows what it’s done to our hearts, and He seeks to fully heal and restore each and every one to wholeness as His beloved ones.

It is only in His presence that our heart is fully at home.

While only Jesus heals, there is responsibility on our part for our own heart’s condition. It is always God’s will to heal us of our pride and gently, patiently teach us the humility of Jesus, but He always takes our choices into account. Friends, I invite you to choose to know His presence with you in a fresh and deeply healing way. I invite you to the perspective that there is always reason to rejoice because of His presence and salvation. I invite you to stand in awe and wonder in the present Presence of the Lord, because there we are home.

Further Reading: The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

“…I rejoice in your salvation.” (1 Samuel 2:1, ESV).

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV).

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019

3 Things to Keep in Mind During the Holidays

Honestly, I haven’t been in a very thankful mood lately, even though Thanksgiving was just last week. For me, Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season, which tends to come with a lot of responsibilities. All of a sudden, my mind is always on the next thing and in that state it’s difficult to appreciate what I already have, or what it is I’ve been able to accomplish. Instead, I tend to rush right into the next thing without a pause to enjoy the moment, or the people around me.

Also, maybe you’re like me and right around Thanksgiving you start taking inventory of the year and your life in general. A new year isn’t far ahead, and the days are short–and broodingly dark. Perhaps you start thinking about how your year has gone and the highs and the lows you’ve experienced. You start the annual process of pinpointing what you’re most thankful for and try to focus on the positive.

This Thanksgiving, with not just a new year but a new decade approaching, it was just hard for me to get into a grateful mood. I kept thinking about all the things I have left to do before the new year starts. Anxiety and overwhelm set in and wouldn’t budge. Meanwhile I had about 20 things on my to-do list waiting.

Even so, I thought, “What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling like such a grinch; I mean it’s not even Christmas time yet?”

My attitude made me–not really ungrateful–but calculated and choreographed, generally stressed and distracted. Dare I say it but I believe it’s impossible to enjoy the holiday or to love people around us in this state. Thankfully (pun intended), there is a better way. In hindsight, I discovered there are three things I could have prioritized above all the items on my to-do list that could have helped to make this holiday better and less stressful. I wanted to share these things with you hoping that they might help make the holidays still yet to come a little brighter.

1. Being present requires slowing down.

This sounds so simple, and it is. But it’s difficult to put into practice, especially in a busy season like the holiday season. We all want to be present. We all want to love the people around us well. We all want to enjoy the moments we have. However, the first step to doing that is to actually slow down. So, instead of tackling the next thing on my to-do list with the mindset of just getting to the “good part” of being done, I could have stopped to appreciate what I had already accomplished. Given myself a high five. Made some tea and enjoyed the moment for just 10 minutes. Then, back in touch with the present, maybe then I could start on that next line item. The trick though is to focus on what’s good right now. How often do we do this in the rest of the year? Maybe it’s fairly easy for most of my enneagram type 1s out there, but for me, it’s a struggle to stay present. Friends, it’s worth whatever it takes for you to slow down so that being present is possible.

2. Prayer is more important than preparation.

Though preparation for the holiday–cooking, cleaning, gift buying and wrapping, card sending, shopping, etc. can easily take top importance in our minds, prayer can’t be an afterthought. I mean, it can, but that’s what we want to avoid. Prayer often gets bumped down to the very end of the day when I’m too tired to have an honest, healing, helpful conversation with God. This happened to me big time this Thanksgiving; full disclosure. I tried to just push through and get to the part where I could enjoy the holiday, only to find I was so stressed and emotions had been so bottled up, that I struggled to enjoy it. And the worst part was that God felt far away, because I hadn’t been prioritizing prayer. Friends, prayer is the most important thing, in every season. All the preparation in the world, the best food, the best gifts, the cleanest house–it doesn’t mean anything. Connecting with God is everything. Prayer can give rest to a weary soul, and can restore a hurried heart. All of life flows from prayer. Don’t bump prayer for anything else; it’s the lifeline we need.

3. There are consequences for going on your own strength.

Jeremiah warns that there are consequences for not turning to the Lord, and His will. I didn’t go on my own strength intentionally; it just happened. I pressed forward in what seemingly needed to be done. Why did I need to pray about going to the market to buy green beans? Oh, but I did ya’ll. Trying to get through on my own strength had a tremendous cost. One day instead of doing what I had planned, I was feeling so down and dark emotionally from the weight of obligation that all I could do was go find a quiet place outdoors to walk and talk to God. I had no strength left anymore to go on my own. There was a cost, a consequence, of not turning to the Lord first. There is significance in giving the Lord everything in our lives, down to the last green bean. Instead of waiting for a meltdown, dealing with life could have been easier if I had given each task over to the Lord in prayer before proceeding. Also I could have given them to God before saying yes to them in the first place. Did I really need to be doing this or that thing? Was it truly my job to do? Instead of asking these things, I had tried to just go forward and handle everything on my own. God warned me of the consequences when I read the passage from Jeremiah a couple of weeks ago. But I didn’t truly get it until after my walk and talk with God. It was so obvious, too; an, “Oh, that’s what He was talking about!” moment. Hindsight–it’s a great teacher.

Friends, for this holiday and all those to come, may we all slow down and walk at the pace Jesus modeled for us–taking the time to truly see one another, choosing what is best, and being present with Him as He is present with us.

Luke 10:40-42: “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Further suggested reading: Garden City by John Mark Comer; The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer; To Hell with the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke