Awakening to the Transformative Presence of God

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Psalm 61:2** - "From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
2. **Zechariah 4:6** - "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."
3. **Proverbs 3:6** - "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

#### Observation Questions
1. What does Psalm 61:2 suggest about where we should turn when we feel overwhelmed?
2. According to Zechariah 4:6, what is the source of our ability to overcome challenges?
3. How does Proverbs 3:6 describe the result of acknowledging God in all our ways?
4. In the sermon, what are some specific ways mentioned to invoke the presence of God? ([14:34])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the awareness of God's presence influence one's behavior according to the sermon? ([09:32])
2. What does the sermon suggest about the difference between emotional experiences and the true presence of God? ([23:37])
3. How can the manifest presence of God help in overcoming personal challenges that human strength cannot? ([11:49])
4. What role does worship and prayer play in experiencing God's presence according to the sermon? ([14:34])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you felt overwhelmed. How did you seek God's presence during that time, and what was the outcome? ([18:50])
2. Identify one area in your life where you have been relying on your own strength. How can you shift to relying on the Spirit of God instead? ([11:49])
3. Think about your daily routine. What specific practices can you incorporate to become more aware of God's presence? ([14:34])
4. How can you discern between an emotional experience and a genuine encounter with God's presence? ([23:37])
5. Consider a decision you need to make. How can you seek God's guidance to ensure your steps are ordered by Him? ([24:29])
6. Reflect on a recent worship or prayer experience. How did it help you feel closer to God, and what can you do to deepen that connection? ([14:34])
7. Think of a negative habit or thought pattern you struggle with. How can the awareness of God's presence help you overcome it? ([09:32])

Day 1: Consciousness of Divine Presence
Recognizing God's presence in daily life is essential for spiritual maturity and ethical living. Just as one's behavior is influenced by the company of a loved one, so too does the awareness of God's presence guide one's actions and thoughts. This consciousness is not innate but can be developed through deliberate spiritual practices like worship and prayer, leading to a deeper and more meaningful experience of God's nearness. [11:33]

Psalm 139:7-10 - "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."
Reflection: How can you cultivate a greater awareness of God's presence in your daily routine?

Day 2: Overcoming by the Spirit
The manifest presence of God is a transformative force that can displace life's obstacles, which are insurmountable by human effort alone. It is through the Spirit of God, not personal strength, that one can navigate life's challenges. Spiritual reliance is therefore paramount, and it is through seeking God's presence that one can tap into this divine power. [16:34]

Zechariah 4:6 - "So he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."
Reflection: What challenges are you facing that seem beyond your ability to overcome? How can you rely more on God's Spirit in these situations?

Day 3: Invoking God's Presence
Invoking God's presence through scripture and prayer is a powerful spiritual practice. Reciting verses that affirm God's protection and provision can create an atmosphere where one is more likely to experience God's nearness. This practice not only brings comfort but also empowers individuals with strength and guidance during overwhelming times. [19:53]

Psalm 91:1-2 - "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"
Reflection: What scripture can you declare today to invite God's presence into a situation you are facing?

Day 4: Beyond Emotional Experiences
While emotions are a natural part of worship and prayer, they should not be mistaken for the presence of God. The true purpose of seeking God's presence is to receive guidance and healing, not just to experience an emotional high. A mature spiritual approach involves discernment and a focus on the transformative power of God's presence. [23:52]

1 Kings 19:11-12 - "The Lord said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.' Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
Reflection: How can you distinguish between emotional responses and the true presence of God in your spiritual experiences?

Day 5: Divine Guidance for Living
God's presence is not merely for emotional comfort but for divine guidance. It is believed that God's presence can provide clear instructions for life, helping individuals to make wise decisions and discern the right path. This guidance is a deliberate and ordered direction from a divine source, not an emotional impulse. [26:53]

Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
Reflection: What decision or path are you seeking clarity on? How can you open yourself up to God's guidance in this area?

And I think today that maybe some of you, you've been aware of a lot of things, you've been aware of a lot of people, but my question is, have you been aware of God? Aware of His presence? Aware of what He's desiring of you in this moment, in this season?

We're acknowledging everything else. We're acknowledging everybody else's way. We're acknowledging we had an amazing gala. We're acknowledging that we got this new job. We're acknowledging that our marriage is great. We're acknowledging whatever the specificity of those things that you are acknowledging, that you have these new clients, you're writing this new book.

We're acknowledging those things, but are we acknowledging the presence of God in our life? And it is, again, a sure way for you to get more of His presence. Now, I don't think you can get more of God's presence when you have God. The fullness, the Bible says, the fullness of the Godhead is only inside of us. But what we can get is more awareness of God.

We can experience that tangible, manifest presence of God at a more conscious level, because we know intellectually when we're born again and saved that the presence of God is on the inside of us. But there are many times that we're not experiencing that presence, that we're not aware of it. He is literally there. The same way I see that chair over there, I see it. God is a very present help. God is with us, and I want us to become more aware of that in this season.

Because when we become more aware of His presence, there are some things we wouldn't do. There are some things we wouldn't say. There are some things we would not allow in our life. But we are aware that God is with us, that God hears us, and that God sees us.

We oftentimes don't do things because we don't want them to see us or we don't want them to hear us. We don't do certain things because the pastor is there, because your mother is there. But what if we have that same mindset about the awareness of God, that we are aware that He is here, we are aware that He's listening, and those things that offend Him, those things that are not favorable, we need to not do those things.

And the more aware you are of God, the more you acknowledge God, there are some things you wouldn't say. There are some things you wouldn't do, because not only are you aware that He's there, the value and the benefits you get when He increases His awareness in your life, when you experience that manifest presence, the manifest presence of God has the power to push things out of your life that you cannot push in your own strength.

Say it again. The manifest presence of God, the awareness of God in your life, it is the power, it is the strength. It is the force that pushes things out of our life that do not belong. But when there is a lack of awareness of God in our life, things that should not be there dominate, remain, and will not go away.

The scripture says it's not by power, it's not by might, but it is by the Spirit of God that we are able to do certain things. And I believe for some of you, you have been doing some things in your own strength. You have been doing it in your own understanding, in your own imaginations.

But when you have the presence, there are just certain things you wouldn't do in the presence of your spouse, right? There are some, even for some of you who are still trying to grow and mature in your relationship with your spouse. Maybe you just got married last week. Maybe you're struggling with looking at another woman or another man. Even if you're struggling with that, you would not do it in the presence of your spouse. Why? Because you are aware that they are there.

So listen, when you become more aware of your spouse, aware of that person you love, there are some things you would not do. Not only would you not do them in their presence, but the more you become committed, the more you become in love, that awareness pushes the strength of those desires. It pushes the strength of those erroneous things. It pushes the strength of those negative things out of your life.

And it gives you the power to do what you normally would not be able to do. So again, it's not by power, it's not by might, but it's going to be by the Spirit of God. And the more you become aware of His presence in this season, I don't know who you may be praying for in this season. I may not know what you're desiring for God to do in this specific moment in your life, but I'm persuaded. I'm convinced.

I look at my old life. I look at the things that God is doing even now. If I would be truly honest, it's because of the awareness of God. I'm being aware of Him. I acknowledge Him in all of your ways, and He will direct your path.

Look at the power. Listen to this. The power of God directing our paths. What does it do? It leads us into every desired place that we have in our heart. For the steps of a good woman, good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in His ways.

I need someone to get this on this morning here, because you think that everything is the devil. You think, and don't get me wrong, there is an element of everything that is going wrong. There is an element of the demonic world and the demonic influences in this world that we are in. So yes, there is an element of that there, but I don't want you to focus on that because the more you focus on what the power of the devil has, you miss the power that God has.

Okay, God is greater than the devil. God's influence is greater than any influence that can come your way. So when we become more aware of the power of God, here are some ways you can just become aware or make yourself more conscious of the presence of God or to invoke the presence of God in your space, in your life.

It is through worship. It is through prayer. It is through acknowledging Him, beginning to lift up your hands and just saying things like, "This is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it."

It's just saying things like, "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes come upon me, my heart shall not fear. The war shall rise up against me. What in this I will be confident."

For you see, there's one thing that I have desired of the Lord, and that one thing I will seek after, and that is that I may dwell in His house and to inquire in His temple. Every time I pray that, every time I say that, I feel the presence of God.

So whatever verses of scripture that you declare and that you say in the atmosphere, it has the power to invoke the presence of God in your life. There's a Psalm that says, I think it's Psalms 60 or Psalm 61, that when my heart is overwhelmed—when anybody's heart has ever been overwhelmed lately—David said, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than me."

What is David doing now? David is acknowledging, if you would, in his proverbial 21 days of prayer and fasting, that there are some pressures, there are some circumstances, there are some letters in the mail, there are some relationships that are not as healthy as you desire them to be.

There's a doctor's report you may have received, a loved one may no longer be with us, whatever the specificity of it may be. David acknowledges, he says, "When my heart is overwhelmed, when I don't know what to do, when I can't make sense of what's going on in my life, he said, lead me to the rock that is higher than me."

David said, "I need something stronger than me, I need something bigger than me, I need something more powerful than me that is much more powerful than my education, much more powerful than my degree, because we can have four, five, six degrees, it does not matter."

David said, "Lead me to the rock that is so much higher than me." And so let's become aware of God as we hasten to these last few days of our 21 days of prayer and fasting. Begin to desire an increased manifest presence of God. Let's desire the awareness of God.

You know, one of the times that I remember praying to God, I was in prayer, and I was much younger in the faith. I think maybe I was three to four years in my faith. I got saved in February of '97, so you can do the numbers of how long that was.

But I remember one time being in prayer, and I was just seeking the face of God about just wanting Him, wanting to experience Him in a way that was supernatural, experiencing Him in a way that the Apostles, Paul and Peter, I wanted to do what those Apostles did.

And I remember one night I was praying in my room. I had the lights off. I wasn't even married at the time; I was single at the time, and I was just in my room that night praying. I was living in my godparents' house at the time, and I recall I can visually see in my head right now that night that I was praying, calling out to God, and I'm just calling on God, seeking His face, wanting to experience what the Apostles were doing.

And I was saying things because in that moment, in that season, is when I was sensing the call to do something more than just be saved. I was sensing the call that God was calling me to preach, calling me to teach, even though in that moment I still had a great severe speech impediment. I could talk, but it was still very severe. I could barely speak clearly, so there's no way God was calling me to preach or to teach, because I could not even speak in a clear and articulate way.

But I had things, I had messages on the inside of me, I had moments where I wanted to say something to somebody, where I wanted to preach, where I wanted to declare a scripture, but I could not even get it out in an articulate way.

And I remember this night, and I'm saying this because I want you guys to get the picture that whatever is hindering you, whatever is holding you back, whatever is limiting you, your breakthrough is in the presence of God. Your breakthrough is in you acknowledging your God. Your breakthrough is your ability to break past your emotions, break past your flesh, and to get into the presence of God.

Again, David said, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than me." And I recall that night as I was praying, and it was as if you guys, when I was praying, I literally felt at that moment what I call something walk into my room.

It walked into my room in such a way that I jumped up in fear. I jumped up in fear, and I turned the light on because I, a young person in the faith, I felt what I know now to be a presence. I felt the presence of God walk into my room in a heavy, in a weighty way, so much so that I acknowledged it.

Yes, I maybe acknowledged it in that moment as something I did not understand, and that brought a level of fear upon me. But I jumped up because something walked in my room. No one was home. It wasn't me, so no one should have been in my house at that time.

But that presence, as I'm calling on the name of God from a sincere place, from a place of hunger, from a place of desiring, my eyes closed, the room is pitch black dark, and I feel the weight of something walk into the room. My skin begins to just crawl, if you would, and I jump up. I turned the light on, trying to get conscious, trying to understand what was going on.

It was the—I had to invoke the presence of God in that space in such a way that there was a physical manifestation. My body began to experience. See, God is omnipresent. God is everywhere. He's always present. There is no place where God is not there, but that physical, that manifestation does not happen just because you show up.

There is an invocation. There is a conscious awareness and desire of bringing the physical manifest presence of God into our space. And that's what I hope you do today. That's what I want to pray here in just a moment, that you begin to experience the physical.

It's not about being emotional, so I'm going to make that clear right now. Many people—I'll say this here—many people can experience the physical manifest presence of God more often than not, but we can become so emotional.

And I'm not trying to offend anyone right now because emotions have their place in our relationship, in our connection with God. Matter of fact, I will even say it was because I was in that emotional moment connecting with God, if you would, that I invoked His presence into the space.

But I think what we can do in our naivete, if you would, in our trying to grow in our relationship with God—because this is what happened to me when I experienced that moment. It wasn't the last time I experienced that. I have experienced it many times after that.

But my maturity taught me several things. Number one, not to run from it. Number two, not to fear it. And then number three, not to make it all about the emotional experience. It is more so I want to acknowledge that I sense His presence there, but it wasn't a moment for me to become erratic.

It was not a moment for me to run and shout. It was a moment to be still. Because when the presence of God walks in the room, He doesn't walk into the room to give us a sensational experience where we want to just run and shout and fall out. No, stand up. When the presence of God walks in the room, either stand up or get on your knees and be still and see what He has to say.

I believe that many people are not experiencing the presence of God. They are experiencing the presence of their emotions. They are experiencing the presence of their heightened senses, and we're calling it a move of God.

And again, I'm not challenging you, but what I am doing is there's somebody on this call this morning, and they want to experience the presence of God in a supernatural way, not just to come in and give them goosebumps and not just to make them feel good for the moment, but coming into their life as an entity, as a person that will order your steps.

When David says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, it is not this emotional thing that is going on. David is acknowledging that I can sense the voice of God. I can sense the presence of God. And he's saying, "Don't do this. Do that. Be still. Go say that. Don't say that." That's what the presence of God comes into our life for.

Like I told some of you before, we don't need the presence of God in our life to make us shout. I don't need the presence of God in my life to make me run. I just need to think of His goodness. David said, "When I think of His goodness and all He's done for me, my soul begins to cry out to God."

God has already commanded us to worship Him, to praise Him. We don't need anything to force us to lift up our hands to begin to worship God. When you become a born-again believer and you understand His statutes, you understand what He desires from you, you don't need to be emotional and sensational to lift up your hands.

You do it because you remember, you acknowledge what He has done for you. But when the weight of God, when the glory of God, when the weight of God's presence comes into your space, in your moment, many times all you can do is just bow down and hopefully begin to listen, hopefully begin to just stand still and just let His presence heal you.

I believe the presence of God can come in without you saying anything, without Him saying anything, and you just be still, let His presence do the work, let His presence hover over you, and He can begin to heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Matter of fact, if you're listening right now and you are part of Hope City Church, that's one thing I really want to push in this season here—that we get out of God's way and we let His presence do what His presence does.

It's not by power, I'm saying it is not by power, it's not by might, but it's by the Spirit of God that we're going to be able to do some of these supernatural things in life.

Let's pray, and we'll be done today.

Father, I pray right now that we become more aware of Your presence. But Father, Your word is true. In Your presence, there's the fullness of joy, and at Your right hand, there are pleasures forever. In other words, everything we need is in Your presence.

1) "The manifest presence of God has the power to push things out of your life that you cannot push in your own strength. It is the force that pushes things out of our life that does not belong." [11:33] (Download)

2) "When you become more aware of your spouse, aware of that person you love, there are some things you would not do. That awareness pushes the strength of those negative things out of your life." [11:33] (Download)

3) "The power of God directing our paths leads us into every desired place that we have in our heart. For the steps of a good woman, good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his ways." [16:34] (Download)

4) "When the presence of God walks in the room, he doesn't walk in to give us a sensational experience. It's a moment to be still and see what he has to say." [23:52] (Download)

5) "Many people are not experiencing the presence of God. They are experiencing the presence of their emotions, calling it a move of God. The presence of God comes to order your steps, not just to give goosebumps." [23:52] (Download)

6) "We can experience that tangible manifest presence of God at a more conscious level, because we know intellectually that the presence of God is on the inside of us, but there's many times we're not aware of it." [11:33] (Download)

7) "Every time I say that I sit, I feel the presence of God. So whatever verses of scripture that you declare and that you say in the atmosphere, it has the power to invoke the presence of God in your life." [16:34] (Download)

8) "When I think of his goodness and all he's done for me, my soul begins to cry out to God. We don't need anything to force us to worship. We do it because we remember, we acknowledge what he has done for us." [25:30] (Download)

9) "Let's pray and we'll be done today. Father, I pray right now that we become more aware of your presence. In your presence, there's the fullness of joy and at your right hand, there are pleasures forever." [26:53] (Download)