The Secret of God's Presence

In Psalm 31, David introduces us to the phrase "the secret of thy presence." He writes, "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:19-20).

David is saying something very profound here: "All true strength comes from drawing near to the Lord. The measure of our strength is proportionate to our nearness to him!" Simply put, the closer we are to Jesus, the stronger we're going to be. And all the strength we're ever going to need will come only through our secret life of prayer. If we'll just draw near to Christ, he will draw near to us, giving us a fresh supply of strength daily. This is the secret of his presence!

In the Old Testament, the presence of the Lord was associated with the ark. Israel believed that wherever the ark was, God's presence was there. And so, wherever the people traveled, they took the ark along with them. We see an example of this faith concerning the Lord's presence with the ark in 1 Samuel 4.

The devil greatly fears the Lord's presence in our lives. He trembles at the very thought of a believer's nearness to Christ. So, when his demonic hordes see you praying each day, in the presence of your heavenly Father, all hell cries out, "God is with this believer. This one has the divine presence. What can we do against such?"

This is why Satan will do everything in his power to rob you of the Lord's presence in your life. It's why he wants to bog down your soul in doubt and fear. He wants you drained of all strength! He'll use anything he can, even "good" things, to keep you away from spending time alone with Jesus. He knows your time with Christ makes you victorious over the fears and anxieties of this age!

The Word of God tells us we can pray without ceasing. This is unspoken prayer, anywhere, any time. I have come to believe that my most important prayers are those quiet whispers of thanksgiving that I offer to him all through the day. This keeps me in the awareness of his presence.