Communion v Presence



"God, be with me," is a common prayer among followers of Jesus.  I understand the sentiment!  We feel the need for God's presence, help, comfort, protection.  And yet, I think this prayer displays a lack of understanding or felt experience of an extremely important aspect of our faith.  1 Corinthians 3:16 says: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"  I think the honest answer of most of us would be, "I know cognitively, theoretically, that he dwells in me, but I do not know his presence experientially."  Why is this important? Because our goals are leading us to the wrong place.  If our goal is to get God to come be with us, we are running on a hamster wheel trying to get to where we already are.  Rather than striving to get God to "be with us," our goal should be to experience greater communion with God's Spirit who is already in us.  We walk around every day largely unaware that the God of the universe is dwelling in us, loves to be in us, has chosen us as his place to dwell and is available to talk with, listen to, love and be loved by.  If I were telling someone how to begin seeking this communion with the God who is already in us, I would say the first step is to acknowledge his indwelling throughout the day.  Maybe even setting an alarm on your phone for a check in with the Holy Spirit who is in you. "Oh hi there. I forgot you were there.  I'm glad to know you are here." This seems silly, but the result is an increase in a felt sense of his presence, love, faithfulness, knowledge and care for you. From there we can maybe take a few more moments to begin to listen or share our hearts in that moment.  Just to connect with him, not to accomplish anything. Are you busy filling up your prayers begging God to be with you?  Frankly, you're wasting your time!  If you have trusted Jesus to redeem you, He is already in you. Change your focus instead to remembering he is there and coming close to the God who is already in you.

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