Value God's Presence
Prayer 365 // Finding the Flow (Day 1)
More from this week:
Today's Scripture:
“The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.” - 1 Samuel 3:19-21 NIV
Today's Devotional:
Our theme for this week of devotion and prayer is “Finding the Flow.” This is a continuation from Sunday’s message titled “Is it Anointed?” — which is part three of our current series titled “Be Real.” If you’ve missed any part of this series, please be sure to go back and watch it as it is key to understanding your identity as a member of Thryve Church and the body of Christ as a whole.
Again this week’s theme is “Finding the Flow.” Our goal is to discover what God has approved. Because whatever God has approved, He has anointed and whatever He has anointed will flow. So instead of being wasteful in our efforts, we desire only the things, plans, projects and strategies that have been approved and anointed by God so that we might experience the flow of His grace. Therefore, in all that we do, we desire to find the flow. Take a moment and say aloud, “It’s my desire to find the flow."
The first step to finding the flow is to Value God’s Presence. What is God’s presence? We must first understand that God is a Spirit, we cannot physically see him, however He is continually present. We know this to be true because he declared that He would never leave us, nor forsake us. So because He’s always here, there’s no shortage or deficit of God’s presence. And while there’s no deficit of His presence, there can be a lack of reverence or value for it. What we may not realize is that there are so many riches in the presence of God, for example: the Apostle Paul declares “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17) and the psalmist declared that in God’s presence is the fullness of joy (Psalms 16:11). However, we cannot access these riches if we do not value His presence. So yes, the presence of God is essential to finding the flow of God – finding the thing that God has anointed.
A perfect example of this is found in Samuel. In 1 Samuel 16, we witness Samuel anointing David as the new king of Israel. Before David was brought before him, Samuel had to patiently wait through seven other sons before God revealed His approval of the eighth son, the youngest of them all. But how was Samuel so disciplined and able to discern God’s voice to find the approved person or the place where the oil was intended to flow? There are several reasons that we’ll discuss this week but the first is that Samuel valued God’s presence.
Samuel was a well respected man, a prophet, served as the last Judge of Israel and anointed their first king (Saul). All of this was made possible by one clear truth, “The Lord was with Samuel…” (1 Samuel 3:19). God’s presence was the key to Samuel's effectiveness which led to his overall success. In fact, Samuel’s first encounter with God was in the presence of God as he lied in the room where the chest of God sat and God stood in the room and called his name. Therefore Samuel had a great value for God’s word and understood the need as it was because of God’s presence that he was able to carry out the important task of anointing God’s pick as king.
Friends, as we move forward in life, I encourage you to value God’s presence. He’s always present, but it’s our job to become aware of his presence. You may be asking “How?” There are three key ways to discover God’s presence:
I have personally experienced what it’s like to engage God through one or two of these and lack in another. In order to have a balanced relationship with God and experience the fullness of His Spirit, I encourage you to engage Him in all three ways equally: in prayer, the study of His word and worship. This way you are able to discover and walk in God’s presence. It’s in valuing the presence of God that you will find the flow of God.
Prayer Focus: That you would find value in God’s presence, engaging with Him through prayer, study and worship.
I'm praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
Again this week’s theme is “Finding the Flow.” Our goal is to discover what God has approved. Because whatever God has approved, He has anointed and whatever He has anointed will flow. So instead of being wasteful in our efforts, we desire only the things, plans, projects and strategies that have been approved and anointed by God so that we might experience the flow of His grace. Therefore, in all that we do, we desire to find the flow. Take a moment and say aloud, “It’s my desire to find the flow."
The first step to finding the flow is to Value God’s Presence. What is God’s presence? We must first understand that God is a Spirit, we cannot physically see him, however He is continually present. We know this to be true because he declared that He would never leave us, nor forsake us. So because He’s always here, there’s no shortage or deficit of God’s presence. And while there’s no deficit of His presence, there can be a lack of reverence or value for it. What we may not realize is that there are so many riches in the presence of God, for example: the Apostle Paul declares “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17) and the psalmist declared that in God’s presence is the fullness of joy (Psalms 16:11). However, we cannot access these riches if we do not value His presence. So yes, the presence of God is essential to finding the flow of God – finding the thing that God has anointed.
A perfect example of this is found in Samuel. In 1 Samuel 16, we witness Samuel anointing David as the new king of Israel. Before David was brought before him, Samuel had to patiently wait through seven other sons before God revealed His approval of the eighth son, the youngest of them all. But how was Samuel so disciplined and able to discern God’s voice to find the approved person or the place where the oil was intended to flow? There are several reasons that we’ll discuss this week but the first is that Samuel valued God’s presence.
Samuel was a well respected man, a prophet, served as the last Judge of Israel and anointed their first king (Saul). All of this was made possible by one clear truth, “The Lord was with Samuel…” (1 Samuel 3:19). God’s presence was the key to Samuel's effectiveness which led to his overall success. In fact, Samuel’s first encounter with God was in the presence of God as he lied in the room where the chest of God sat and God stood in the room and called his name. Therefore Samuel had a great value for God’s word and understood the need as it was because of God’s presence that he was able to carry out the important task of anointing God’s pick as king.
Friends, as we move forward in life, I encourage you to value God’s presence. He’s always present, but it’s our job to become aware of his presence. You may be asking “How?” There are three key ways to discover God’s presence:
- Prayer. Daily prayer is essential to engaging with our ever-present God. It is how we create dialogue with Him and recognize that He is near.
- Study the Word. Through regular time in the word of God, we are able to develop the discernment of when God is speaking and when He is not because everything He says or instructs us to do will be in alignment with His word.
- Worship. This is how we become intimate with God. I warn you to not be concerned with sounding like another or performing as another, but to engage with God with your heart. Worship must come from a pure place and it fosters the connection from our spirit to God’s.
I have personally experienced what it’s like to engage God through one or two of these and lack in another. In order to have a balanced relationship with God and experience the fullness of His Spirit, I encourage you to engage Him in all three ways equally: in prayer, the study of His word and worship. This way you are able to discover and walk in God’s presence. It’s in valuing the presence of God that you will find the flow of God.
Prayer Focus: That you would find value in God’s presence, engaging with Him through prayer, study and worship.
I'm praying with you and for you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturdays at 8am for "Prayer at the Altar" by dialing 339- 207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service! Learn More