Immersed in Glory

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Psalm 139:7-12

I was having a conversation this week with a dear friend, and he shared with me a revelation the Lord had given him recently. It was that often we are used to going somewhere and feeling the Lord’s presence, whether it might be church, a prayer room, praise and worship time, or a conference. In those situations, people there have worked to steward His presence, and when we go, we are conditioned to expect Him to show up and be looking for his active involvement. What he felt the Lord tell him was that He wants us to allow this expectation of His presence to follow us and invade every part of our lives- our work, recreation, home life, and our family time. He wants to be with us and us to be aware of him, all day, every day!

I was blown away when he told me this, because I know personally how easy it is for me to turn the switch on and off when going through different activities. When I’m in my quiet time or praying in the morning, it’s easy to focus on the Lord, but when I’m at work or interacting with my family, I’ll virtually forget about Him until my next prayer time. Out of sight, out of mind.  

Maybe it’s so easy to do this because we don’t realize He wants to be involved in every area. What would things start to look like if we made this small change? Ever since my friend shared this with me, I’ve been trying to be more aware of Him throughout my day and praying for his wisdom, insight in my work, and in my activities as a Father and Husband. It has made a huge difference already! I feel so much more grace and joy to get everything I need done, but it’s such a huge shift to feel like I’m not alone in accomplishing my daily tasks. Just knowing he is ready and able to help with the small things takes a massive load off my shoulders where I can just enjoy “being” as I go about my day and feeling his love and pleasure towards me as a continual flowing stream.

Instead of only getting thirty minutes of his presence in my morning quiet time, I can experience a delightful glory immersion all day long! It just takes an effort on my part to keep my focus on him. I’ll be honest, I’m still practicing and am not there yet by any means. It’s not easy because we’ve been conditioned all our lives to see this world around us as all there is, and not have an awareness of a spiritual realm that is right next to us (and inside us). But with repetition, I believe it will become more and more effortless.

Would you like to give it a try? What I would encourage you to do is place sticky notes on different things around your house or car to remind you to be aware of his Presence. Then you could say a simple prayer like this:

“Father, I thank you for your presence. I turn myself inward and become aware of you. I give you all my anxieties and cast them upon you. Thank you for complete victory in all my tasks today, and I ask for and receive angelic assistance to clear the way ahead of me for success in everything I put my hand to. I thank you for your joy and your peace as I go about my day and for helping to keep my mind on you. Amen”