On this day, December 31, in the year of our Lord 1738, a mighty group of sixty seekers gathered on New Year’s Eve in London, England for prayer and fasting. They prayed into the early hours of the morning until they caught fire with the manifest presence of Christ. The group included George Whitfield, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley.   Read More

God invites each of us to consistently have new-song encounters with Him. There are essentially two ways to encounter God by singing a new song. Sometimes we sing to the Lord a song we have never previously heard, and God encounters us in that moment. We can also encounter Christ while singing a song we’ve sung a hundred times before; only this time God takes us to a place we’ve never been before—to encountering His presence as we sing.  Read More

Hearing the voice of God was never intended to be a sporadic, random, nor infrequent occasion. God is always speaking, and He intends for you today and every day to hear His voice clearly.  Read More

It is only appropriate that when Jesus was born, all heaven would be opened and burst forth in praise and celebration. Heaven was unable to contain itself, and the celebration happening in heaven spilled over into earth. The blue collar working, unshaven shepherds were called up into heaven’s party. Glory to God in the highest! the angels shouted. Thousands of angels were cheering in full voice as the shepherds stood gazing with their mouths hanging open in wonder. This is a biblical example of both “high worship” and an “open heaven.”  Read More

Imagine meeting an angel eyeball-to-eyeball—an angel who spends all his time in the manifest presence of God. One day, Angel Gabriel went on assignment from the presence of God to visit Zechariah, the priest with the incredible announcement that the priest’s wife, Elizabeth, would miraculously become pregnant and that the boy’s name would be John and he would serve as a forerunner to the Messiah. The angel then went on to announce to Mary that she, too, would become miraculously pregnant. Gabriel went from the manifest presence of God to tell about the coming of the manifest presence of God.  Read More

Most religious people are familiar with a distant God. When a person comes to know God in Christ, however, they encounter not only a God who is infinitely superior, they also encounter Emmanuel - - God who is intimately present. As you celebrate today the coming of Emmanuel 2,000 years ago, take time to enjoy the fact that in Christ, this same God is still present. He wants to manifest Himself to you now and every day as Emmanuel.  Read More

Merry Christmas from your College of Prayer family! Christ is the manifest presence of God. There is no better day to celebrate His presence than Christmas day. The only way to encounter God’s expressed and tangible presence is to encounter Him in Christ. For this reason, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” and “I and my Father are one” (John 14:9,10). And for this reason, it was written of Christ, “The Word became flesh”.  Read More

The naming of a child is always significant. When Father God named His Son He gave Him the name Jesus, which literally means Savior, Conqueror, Deliverer. Today, there are many people around the world who have the name Jesus; there is, however, only one Savior.  Read More

The only thing you need to truly celebrate Christmas is a glimpse of the glory of God in Christ. You don’t need the tree or the lights or the plum pudding. All you need is a glimpse of Christ. Christ came to show us a picture of the invisible God. More explicitly, He came to lead us to a fresh encounter with the manifest presence of God.   Read More

God invites you to become a life-long praiser. The last five Psalms in the Bible, Psalm 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 each begin with the exhortation, “Praise the Lord!” which is translated from the single Hebrew word, Hallelujah!  Read More

Raising hands in worship would be silly without the manifest presence of Christ; because of the manifest presence of Christ, however, it would be silly not to raise our hands in honor and appreciation.  Read More

Christ-encountering obedience and Christ-encountering worship will stretch you in many ways. A man with a withered hand had come to worship God in the synagogue on a particular Sabbath as he had done countless times before. But on this day, Jesus called him forward. “Stretch out your hand,” Jesus said to him (Mark 3:5). As the man stretched out his hand, it was immediately restored. It was so shocking that both Jews and Greeks began plotting immediately to kill Christ.  Read More

There is no limit to what God can do through us as long as we give Him all the glory. God does not enjoy sharing His glory with anyone. This does not call us to false humility; this is calling us to an accurate view of reality. The fact of the matter is, apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5).  Read More

When you set your heart to encounter the manifest presence of Christ every day, one of the subtle sins that God will deal with early in your journey is the sin of irreverence, or treating as common the holy things of God. Particularly for children born to Christian parents, or children born to career Christian workers, it is easy to become casual with the holy things of God. This is the essence of irreverence.  Read More

Christ-encountering prayer is a redundancy; all too often, however, it is sadly a necessary repetition. While all prayer is ideally Christ-encountering, at times prayer becomes more of a religious routine that comes up empty.  Read More

A Roman soldier only had six pieces of armor, but we as followers of Christ have an additional seventh piece of armor that makes our armor superior in every way. Having taken the belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword, we now take the piece of the armor known as all-prayer. Because we pray in the Holy Spirit, we have access to all prayer at every moment. As we take Christ as our indwelling Intercessor, we have in Him continuous access to every prayer we will need on every occasion.  Read More

The Bible is the written word, and the Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the Living Word. When you take up the sword of the Spirit today, be sure to encounter Christ in the process -- He is the Living Word. If your Bible reading has become dry or monotonous, pray. Most likely if the Bible is dry to you, it’s because you are not encountering Christ as you read. Ask Christ to reveal Himself to you in the Bible today.  Read More

God not only wants you to be saved, He wants you to know with absolute certainty that when you die you will live with Him forever. The helmet of salvation could be called the helmet of the assurance of salvation.   Read More

When you take up the shield of faith today, be sure to encounter Christ in the process. Christ is your Protector and He will shield you from all evil. There are many flaming arrows that the evil one shoots at us—lies, mockery, accusations, temptation, fears, and other evil spirits. The enemy knows when we are most vulnerable, and that’s when he shoots his arrows against us.  Read More

The shoes are the third piece of armor the Roman soldier would put on. Once he put on his belt and breastplate, he would then put on the shoes to protect his feet from injury. When you put on the shoes of the Gospel of Christ today, be sure to encounter Christ in the process.  Read More

As you put on the breastplate of righteousness today, be sure you encounter Christ in the process. Any good habit and spiritual discipline can become a hollow religious ritual if you are not careful. When you put on the full armor of God today, you want to be careful to recognize that your own righteousness is like filthy rags; your only hope of coming into the presence of God is to come fully clothed in the righteousness that comes from Christ alone.  Read More

When you put on the belt of truth today, be sure to encounter Christ in the process. Millions of believers put on the armor of God every day. This is a life-giving discipline. Don’t ever allow it, however, to become a mindless discipline.   Read More

A menudo se requiere el voto de alabar al Señor (TODA) para venir ante Él con acción de gracias. Siempre ayuda darle canciones de alabanza gozosa (TEHILLA). Luego, en medio de nuestras canciones festivas de alabanza, levantamos nuestras manos (YADA) en humilde gratitud y luego nos arrodillamos (BARAK) para bendecir Su nombre.  Read More

This single verse is calling for a four-fold progression in our worship. 1) We are called to enter His presence with thanksgiving. The Hebrew word TODA, means “to raise a hand as a vow to commit our praise to the Lord.” 2) And His courts with praise. TEHILLA, or “to give God our joyful songs of praise.” 3) To give thanks to Him. YADA, “to raise a hand (YAD in Hebrew) as an expression of our gratitude and acknowledgment of His manifest presence.” 4) And bless His Name. BARAK, “to bow our knee in humble gratitude.”  Read More