I don’t know about you but when I enter into prayer, celebrate the Lord’s Supper (communion), and go to church, I want Abba Father to show up with His presence and power. Prayer, worship, and preaching without God’s Spirit abiding in our homes and churches will leave us dry and dead, and I would dare say, fruitless. When God’s presence is not in our church services nor in our homes, this should cause us to look within our own life and church. Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing!” Most of all we should desire to be in a right relationship with our Father at all times through Christ. For as long as we, as Christians, are in a right relationship with God and trust in Him, we should expect great things in our lives, our prayer closet, and our church services. Then we can have an expectation that God will honor us with His presence and will for today.
The Word of God talks in the Epistle of James and in the twenty-fourth Psalm of David about having “clean hands.” This is not about heaven, hell, nor the Christian’s salvation. Rather, it is about maintaining a right relationship with God after we have been saved. In Isaiah 1:15-16 we read that God would not look upon the tribe of Judah’s offerings, praise, worship, or prayer while their hands were covered in blood as a result of wicked deeds. In other words, God’s covenant people were not in a right relationship with the Father by reason of their deeds. We too can be out of a relationship with our Father when we have idols in our life that take first place over knowing Him. In addition, when we violate His commandments and are unrepentant, our relationship with God suffers.
Apostle Paul tells us that we should not lift our hands in prayer to God while holding onto anger or if we are engaged in quarreling. To lift one’s hands, whether in worship or prayer while walking in wickedness, holding onto grudges or anger, causes God to turn away from us as individuals and as a church. It only takes one person to cause God’s presence to leave a gathering. How so? In Joshua, God’s presence left the Hebrews due to the sin of one person. Achan, because he violated the command of God not to take certain possessions into their house caused Israel to lose a war and God’s presence to leave the people. That is until the sin was judged and dealt with. Apostle Paul says in Corinthians that Christians die and get sick because they do not cross-examine their own life before partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus also tells us that if we are going to give an offering that we must first make reconciliation with our brother or sister who is at odds with us. Do we think God will inhabit our praises, worship, and prayers when we are not walking in the love of Christ toward the members of His body, or if we do not acknowledge and repent of our own wicked deeds?
If we want God’s presence in our lives and churches we must live a life of total surrender to Jesus. We must offer daily our life as a living sacrifice to Him, admit our sins, and repent. If we abide in His word, which comes with the promise of His Love abiding with us, then God will inhabit the praises of His people. In this state, we can worship God as though we had never sinned because we are maintaining a right relationship with Him.
