God does not need a house for His omnipresence. Whenever the house of the Lord is spoken of in the Bible, it always refers to God’s manifest presence—where God dwells tangibly in His perceived presence. Does David’s heart cry strike a chord in you? Are you a person who desires “one thing”? More specifically, are you a Christ-follower who desires more than anything else in life to dwell in the manifest presence of your God?  Read More

While the essence of sin is turning away from the manifest presence of Christ, the essence of choosing obedience is stepping into God’s manifest presence. Seeing God is what we were made for. Beholding the glory of God’s manifest presence is the most satisfying, fulfilling, exhilarating sight we will ever see.   Read More

Seeing the face of God is such a normal activity for a believer that the absence of seeing His face is unacceptable. Sometimes we have the idea that encountering God’s manifest presence is a rare occurrence. Don’t believe it! The Psalmist didn’t believe it, and neither should we. The English Puritans would call a moratorium on church business as usual if they went more than a year or two without a major revival leading their people to a fresh encounter with the manifest presence of God. Just as the Psalmist cried, “How long will You hide Your face from me”, the Puritans prayed similarly.  Read More

Healthy Christians not only have a desire to get answers to prayer, but to consistently encounter the face of God. Frequently, the Psalmist prays explicitly for God to make His face shine. This prayer is never asking for God’s omnipresence; it is always asking for God’s manifest presence. Point blank, the omnipresence of God has no face. God loves to manifest His presence to those who want His presence. Part of the activity of the prevenient grace of God in prayer is to stir in us the heart cry to encounter God’s manifest presence.  Read More

The closer we walk with Christ and His manifest presence, the more the veil between heaven and earth thins out—the more of heaven we get on earth, and the more this earth is filled with His manifest presence.  Read More

The essence of idolatry is an attempt to replace the manifest presence of God with lesser things. This is a bonehead choice God’s people have been making through the ages. It’s nothing new, but it is both offensive to God and destructive to us. The downward spiral of fallen humanity hits a tipping point when people chose idolatry.  Read More

The essence of sin is walking away from the manifest presence of God. When Cain walked away from the presence of the Lord, he obviously was not walking away from God’s omnipresence—that would have been impossible. He was, however, walking away from God’s manifest presence. As great a sin as it was for Cain to murder his brother, Abel, God’s unrelenting love still pursued him. When Cain, however, refused God’s pursuing love and chose to walk away from His manifest presence, it was an even more terminal decision.  Read More

On this day, November 7, in the Year of our Lord, 1918, William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born. Billy Graham would go on to become not only the greatest American evangelist, but the person who would preach the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history—2.2 billion people (including live audiences, radio and television broadcasts). The Billy Graham Organization has documented more than 3.2 million people who have received Christ as Savior through the preaching ministry of Dr. Graham.  Read More

There is no safer place on earth to hide than in the manifest presence of Christ. Even King David knew this spiritual reality. In fact, God may actually orchestrate seasons in our life when we face personal enemies in order to motivate us to seek His manifest presence more intentionally.  Read More

We have all heard the statement, “Don’t just stand there, do something”. Often, however, God says, “Don’t just do something, stand there”. Face it, God’s kingdom is often counter intuitive.  Read More

Every child of God can hear the voice of God. It’s simple! When we initially respond to the Holy Spirit and cry out, “Daddy! Papa! Father!”, it is God’s Spirit talking to our human spirit, convincing us that we are His child. If you want to learn to consistently hear God’s voice, this is where you start. This is Hearing 101.  Read More

No one seeks for God. This is a foundational reality that is essential to fully realize—our internal ability to desire God and to seek after God is broken beyond repair. Only God can fix it. Our only hope is a sovereign, prevenient work of grace that God Himself will reach inside our chest cavity and stir in us a desire to seek after God. If the Lord Jesus has already done this miraculous work in you, praise Him. If He has not done it in your spouse or loved one, seek Him for it.  Read More

There is no better way to start the day than by being awakened by the voice of God speaking in your ear. Sometimes minutes before your alarm goes off, and sometimes in the middle of the night, God will awaken you to pray. Rather than being annoyed by God’s wake up calls, if you train yourself to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit, those moments will be the most precious, the most inspirational, the most creative, and the most productive moments in your day.  Read More

On this date, November 1, in the Year of our Lord 1934, Billy Graham received Christ as His Savior. He was 16 years of age. In his biography, Just As I Am, Billy Graham described the night he came to Christ in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Read More

On this day, October 31, in the year of Lord 1904, the manifest presence of Christ was poured out on Evan Roberts and the seventeen young adults who stayed with him to pray in Moriah Chapel in New Qua, Wales (where he would later be buried at the age of seventy-three.) He had shared his burden for revival and asked all seventeen to confess Christ as Savior. In the next two hours, every student had prayed to receive Christ. They decided to meet every night that week, and one of the prayer services lasted until 6:00 A.M. the next morning.  Read More

When you pray Your kingdom come you have authority to pray down righteousness, peace, and joy not only on yourself, but on your family, church family, and community. Think about it. What a high calling and privilege!  Read More

When you pray Your kingdom come, you are praying the power of God to be expressed in signs and wonders. It is all too easy to talk about the kingdom, but talk is cheap. Your children want more than words; they want to see power.  Read More

When you pray Your kingdom come you are praying for salvation. Is it not a great blessing to know that you have authority to pray for the salvation of your loved ones? It is part of your nobility as a son or daughter of the King to be able to effectively pray for the salvation of family members and friends. Don’t ever stop. Pray confidently. Pray consistently. Pray until you get the answer. Your loved ones are counting on you -- your God is counting on you.  Read More

As you pray Your kingdom come, whether you know it or not, you are inviting God to shake up the spiritual realm around you. You are inviting the kingdom of Christ to evict and overthrow the kingdom of darkness.  Read More

The more you pray the kingdom the more your strength of spirit will increase. You will be praying with greater and greater passion and intensity because those who pray the kingdom receive the kingdom. The seekers become the receivers. In fact, you can’t become a seeker of the kingdom until the kingdom comes on you. When the kingdom comes forcefully on you, it will come forcefully through you in prayer.  Read More

God wants to not only teach you what to look for in order to recognize His kingdom, He wants you to pray with your eyes open so that you know how to recognize the kingdom when it comes.  Read More

It is essential to have an accurate view of Christ when you pray. We celebrate the baby Jesus leading up to Christmas. We celebrate the crucified Jesus every time we take communion. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ every Easter. Today, however, it is essential when you pray to realize that Jesus is not a baby in a manger, nor a mangled body hanging on a tree, nor simply One who rose from the dead; Christ is the ascended, exalted, and glorified Christ. He was a baby for only a year, He was crucified for only a few hours, He was risen and walked the earth for forty days, but He has been ascended, exalted, and glorified for two thousand years!  Read More

When the Apostle John saw the risen, ascended, glorified, exalted Christ, he saw Him standing in the middle of seven flame holders. The Greek word used here is LUXNOS, which represented a freestanding piece of furniture that held oil and was continuously lit as a flame holder. This means that the church exists for one primary purpose: to hold out the flame of the manifest presence of Christ.  Read More

No one knew Jesus better than the Apostle John who was called the beloved disciple. John laid his head against Jesus’ chest. He had been invited into Jesus’ closest circle of friends, and when His mother stood at the foot of the cross watching Jesus die, the Lord said to John, Here is your mother. You could say John was Jesus’ BFF, and yet, when he now encounters the manifest presence of the exalted, glorified, ascended Christ, he falls at His feet as though dead. Paralyzed. Comatose. Incinerated in the flaming presence of the exalted Christ.  Read More