Quotes about Presence

There is so much wisdom in the straightforward words of A. W. Tozer: The church is famishing for want of his presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged.

Pride comes when we distance ourselves from God's Word, God's presence, and God's will.

Disappointments, a jaded outlook on life—right through to willful sin and pride—are all devastating to our spiritual life. Let's let the warning of the hardhearted remind us to stay open to anything and everything God has to say to us. We do this by staying in His Word, by welcoming His presence as we worship Him, by serving others, and by simply taking the time to listen as He speaks.

There is no substitute for time. Giving time is giving life to others.

God, renew my spiritual eyes to see you walk before me and beside me as I turn to you in every situation of life. Thank you for being truly present in my worship of you!

It must never be forgotten that Almighty God rules this world. He is not an absentee God. His hand is ever on the throttle of human affairs. He is everywhere present in the concerns of time. His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. He rules the world just as He rules the church by prayer.

The most important aspects of our lives cannot be rushed. We cannot love, think, eat, laugh, or pray in a hurry...When we are in a hurry--which comes from overextension--we find ourselves unable to live with awareness and kindness.

Therefore, in the presence of my dear family, in the presence of my Church, and in the presence of the imagined communion of my readers, I have told this story in the hope of forgiveness, and as a promise.

Discipleship is a commitment to the memory and presence of Jesus Christ that makes a difference in how a life is lived, driving thought and behavior week in and week out.

And yet the Christian gospel is more than a transcendent reality, more than "going to heaven when I die, to shout salvation as I fly." It is also an immanent reality—a powerful liberating presence among the poor right now in their midst, "building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side." The gospel is found wherever poor people struggle for justice, fighting for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I have no doubt that honest to-goodness, God-sent angels do indeed exist and participate in our lives, probably far more than we realize.

If we believe God is present in our worship as He promises to be, then we must frame all language of worship as to Him and not merely about Him.