In Your Presence is Fullness of Joy

Very early in our married life, Chris and I were in full-time volunteer ministry. What I mean by that is we were working in ministry for no pay. Essentially, we were living by faith. Some would say we were being irresponsible while others admired our faith. We were simply moving in obedience. We felt that obedience was the only responsible...

Transcript

[Music] hello my name is Marilyn byberg I'm co-director along with my husband Chris of the national House of Prayer in Ottawa Canada today I'm speaking about the presence of God in a corporate prayer setting I love when we can see the Manifest presence of God in a church or Community environment people can be affected differently in this atmosphere some will have their hands raised to Heaven some may feel the need to kneel in the presence of our King some may take a prostate position on their faces before him several may be noticeably weeping many will simply have their eyes closed fixing their attention and adoration on God it's a beautiful Ensemble of individual Intimacy in a

corporate setting with him in Ephesians 1:17 Paul prays this I keep asking that the god of our Lord Jesus Jesus Christ The Glorious father may give you the spirit of wisdom and Revelation so you may know him more he is praying that the Ephesians would receive the spirit of wisdom and Revelation so they would come to know him in a more intimate way presence comes out of intimacy with God the most common Hebrew term for presence is panim which is also translated face implying a close and personal encounter with the Lord It's the face- Toof face engagements we have with God that ushers in what we have come to know as his presence I don't mean that this presence encounter is a

time where we are looking into the literal face of God rather it is an enjoyment and devotion of devoted and affectionate communication which opens us up to receive more of him if we want Holy Spirit to pour himself out in our prayers PR meetings we must first invite him acts 4:31 says and when they had prayed the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness so pray before the meeting for God's presence to manifest powerfully we can pray for a hunger in everyone in attendance we must also make room for the Holy Spirit in our prayer times Zechariah 4:6 says not by might nor by

power but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts whatever our plans or agendas are for the meeting it's important to step back and recognize the Holy Spirit and yield to him his anointing brings us power to share our faith heal the sick cast out demons and preach with authority another way to facil facilitate his presence in our meetings is worship the songs in prayer should be focused on the attributes of God songs that point us to his greatness his power his sovereignty his Holiness his love and his Mercy we want worship that will saturate us with an awareness of him and instill a longing for him now ultimately presence begins in the secret place to cultivate his

presence in our meetings we must be experiencing active presence centered devotional times as my Pentecostal Mentor used to say to me often come to the prayer meeting all prayed up God is inviting us to seek his presence in our everyday personal prayer he wants us to nurture this present centered lifestyle thank you I'm Marilyn bber director of the national House of Prayer in Ottawa [Music] Canada