Valuing the Lord’s Presence

Recently the Spirit has been directing me to return to the works I did at first (Revelation 2:5). Specifically, sitting and waiting before the face of the Lord in His Presence; as well as renewing my value for His presence. The Lord reminded me of when I first started waiting upon Him and experiencing His manifest presence in the fall of 2009 (which is recorded in my book “The Spiritual Journey”). The Spirit brought my memory back to a time when my wife and I were over at a friends house in 2009. It was as if there was a spotlight over my head, as I felt heat coming upon my head from above. The Holy Spirit was beginning to visit me, because I had been spending time visiting Him. I remember the how precious His presence was to me. I felt so special and honored to be carrying the Lord’s presence with me. It was a great privilege. 

Something happened over the years without me knowing it during all the battles and warfare. Slowly I started to take His presence for granted. I lost the value of the Lord’s presence. It pains me to even say this because I know I grieved the Lord for a time. When He brings us near to Him in His presence, He opens His heart in a greater way. This increases His risk of being hurt by us. It’s a great risk to open His heart to believers who are in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ, but He loves us so much that He takes the risk of being hurt by us. 

For the last few weeks I’ve been taking time to thank Him for allowing me access to His presence. I have spent time reflecting on the honor it is to be given a position before His throne. The Spirit has been restoring my value for His presence. It truly is an honor to be invited into the Presence of the Lord, and carry His presence. His friend’s are allowed to carry His presence with them, because His friends spend time with Him. 

Even while writing this article, I am in the Lord’s beautiful presence. This isn’t work or ministry to me. It’s relationship. It’s intimacy. It’s ministry to the Lord. Ministry to others must come from ministering to the Lord. Out of the Lord’s presence is true ministry to others conducted. Ministry to the Lord must come first.

Sitting before the Lord and doing nothing but quieting our minds and waiting in His presence seems foolish to the natural mind. It seems pointless when we are not hearing anything or learning anything. But it is life to our spirit and it’s the most important thing we can do. Waiting on the Lord and pursuing His presence can seem like a waste of time, because we are not accomplishing anything in the natural. But we are accomplishing a great deal in the Spirit that will eventually “spill over” into the natural. We are sitting before the throne of the great King, and coming to know Him in a greater way every time we come before Him. This is what it truly means to increase in glory. We behold His glory and are changed by it, even if we don’t see it immediately.

Those who truly waste their lives mainly focus on natural things, and spend little time getting to know the Lord in the Spirit. Natural things and ministry works can be good, but remember Mary who chose to sit before the face of the Lord in His presence? She was spending time with her Friend and getting to know Him. When you spend time with someone, you come to know them in ways that you never would have before. You can read someone’s autobiography, and come to know things about them. But if you want to be friends with someone, you must spend time with them. 

Many times you don’t get anything when you wait on the Lord in His presence. Most of the time I don’t even hear anything when I am waiting upon Him. I simply sit in is wonderful presence and enjoy my friend. Sometimes powerful encounters with the Holy Spirit will happen for me, and I love and appreciate that. Some people have visions or various encounters. Whatever the Lord wants to do or say is good, but it’s about the relationship. 

I encourage you to draw near the Lord and wait in His presence. He is not a respecter of persons, meaning He does not favor people unfairly. Everyone has an equal opportunity to pursue Him and be before Him in His presence. 

“But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 AMP)

The Lord has highlighted to me that we should maintain a value for His presence. We also must remember what an honor it is to be in the presence of the great King. We should ask the Holy Spirit to help us keep these two things in remembrance every time we enter into the presence of the Lord. We are chosen to come before Him when we choose to live for Him, honor Him, and seek Him:

“Blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near To dwell in Your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.” (Psalms 65:4 AMP)

Do you remember when you felt His presence for the first time?

- Ty Unruh (2022)