The Gift of Presence: Part 1

Listening & Receiving God’s Presence with Us

Some people can pray verbally, or in silence, corporately or through their living without even thinking about results.  They commune with God through prayers or through the prayer of their being in their everyday lives that reflect God’s presence ever with them & they trust that God will sort things out.  There is an intense peace & healing in letting go & putting our trust in God.  However, most people look for some evidence that God is listening to them.  If they ask for something from God in prayer, they want to know whether God is listening to them or not.  Usually that comes in the form of receiving in a way they can recognize what they are asking God for; such as healing, comfort, & world peace, etc., pleading with God saying; “Please God, heal my loved one”, or; “Please God save the world.”  The reality is, what sounds like an answer to one person may sound like silence to another.  It is not up to us to know the mysteries of God.  We are the players, but we do not direct the play.  The fact is, the Divine response to prayers or prayer is one of those beauties that remain in the eyes of the beholder.  There are times when we have to wait before we hear God’s response to us, or we don’t recognize the response because it is not exactly what we want.  Waiting itself can be a prayer whether spoken or one that comes through our everyday living in God’s presence.  When we focus all our attention on trying to get God to listen to us rather than pausing & patiently waiting to listen to God, we are going to be anxious & despairing, thinking that God does not care about us or love us.  God calls us to trust & to have patience as we wait trusting in His steadfast Grace.  When we live giving ourselves wholly to God no matter what we are doing, we are living in constant prayer in God’s Holy presence.  The life we are living may be the very answer we have been seeking, hiding in plain view.  Typically when we are seriously ill waiting to see what the next test result will show, wondering whether God is present with us, or hearing our cries for healing as we are holding onto our physical life by a thin thread, we live in a whole different world from those who think they there are fine.  The simple pleasures of life, such as the sound of birds singing in the early morning, the smell of a rose, the sound of water lapping gently against the shoreline, the warm touch of a friend’s hand in ours, all take on a deeper meaning that consoles & comforts us.  These simple pleasures constitute an answer to our prayers for more life, even if that life turns out to be shorter than the one we thought we wanted.  God is steadfast in His love & Grace toward us.  He is present with us & will never leave us.  In that reality is great comfort & healing.  In these quiet days of reflection, we are all invited to awake to the gift of God’s presence with us & to receive the healing Grace of answered prayer.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Spiritual Consultant with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Director of Business Development & Strategy