The Felt Presence of God

Frank Viola exposes the modern myth of invoking God's presence, which leads to the schizophrenic idea that God somehow comes and goes from our lives at the same time that He's supposed to abide with us forever. This encourages the serious disbelief of the fact that the Lord Jesus is actually in us, living our lives.

"Please note that my intention in writing this article is to set at liberty a vast number of Christians who have grown pathologically dependent on 'feeling God's presence' or who have unwittingly used it as a benchmark to measure their spiritual condition. It is also to set at ease those who have unsuccessfully sought 'the feeling' of God's presence without success.

"My hope is that the Spirit of God would use this article to give His people a proper perspective of God's holy presence. A perspective that will de-mystify the mystical in their lives and set them at liberty to love their Lord beyond feelings and sensations. A perspective that will encourage them to walk by the highest spiritual sense of all . . . faith. And faith transcends the realm of the senses. As Paul put it, 'we walk by faith, not by sight.'

". . . An oft-quoted passage used to support the idea of seeking God's felt-presence is Psalm 22:3. In the KJV, it reads: 'You, God, inhabit the praises of Israel.' This text has been traditionally used to invoke or summon God's presence by singing praise and worship songs.

"Strikingly, except for the KJV, the New Jerusalem Bible, and the New Century Version, all of the other versions take a different tack on the translation. For instance, the Revised English Bible translates it this way: 'You, the praise of Israel, are enthroned in the sanctuary.'

"The New American Bible takes the same approach: 'Yet you are enthroned in the holy place, O glory of Israel.' The New International Version does likewise: 'Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.' The New Living Translation translates it as follows: 'Yet you are holy, the praises of Israel surround your throne.'

"The term 'praise' here is seen as a reference to the One who Israel praises. The text is an affirmation of an Old Testament commonplace. To wit, that the presence of God dwells in the holy of holies in the Temple at Jerusalem. It in no way indicates that God is somehow made present by our praises.

"According to the scholars who have translated this passage in the above versions: (1) The text must be understood in the context of Old Testament Temple worship, and (2) It is God Himself in His presence in the Temple who is called 'the Praise (or Glory) of Israel.' What's more, we must be cautious about literally applying to Christian worship statements about Old Testament Temple worship. Consider the implications of Jesus' words in John 4 in this regard. 'Believe me . . . a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.'

". . . Now some candid observations on the presence of God that I hope will bring clarity to the issue:

"* God is always present in the life of the believer . . . whether one actively feels His presence or not. Jesus Christ Himself promised His followers, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' To put it another way, the reality of God's presence is always with the believer, and it changes not. It is not dependent on or evidenced by feelings or senses.

"* The New Testament is quite loud in its proclamation that God in Christ dwells in every believer by the Holy Spirit. That is an unmovable fact. To state it personally, you dear Christian, are always in God's presence! His presence is not something you need to seek. It's not something you need to acquire. The presence of God is not something to be invoked, summoned, or sought after. It is an ever-present reality for all Christians. As Paul said to the Romans, you don't need to go to heaven to bring Christ down. Nor do you need to go to the depths to bring Christ up. He is in you . . . nearer than your breath is to your mouth. You have access to Him at any moment (Romans 10).

"* There is a great difference between the 'felt-presence' of God and the 'active consciousness' of His presence. To be conscious of His presence is to be 'actively aware' that He is with you and in you. How do you become actively conscious of His presence? By simply putting your attention upon Him. In Paul's words, to be conscious of God's presence is to 'set your mind on the Spirit' (Romans 8). Some of the mystics called the active consciousness of God's presence 'being in His presence.' Technically, that's not correct. We are always in His presence for He lives in us. Practically, however, to be 'in His presence' is simply to turn your attention upon Him.

"* One can be actively conscious of God's presence by a simple act of faith . . . the Lord is always with you. But you can go about your busy day and never once acknowledge Him or think about Him. You can set your mind on earthly things and never once be conscious of the Lord's presence. On the contrary, by setting your mind and heart upon Him, you become actively conscious of His presence.

"* The secret to spiritual formation is to be conscious of God's presence as much as possible. How is this? There is a surface element and then there is a deeper spiritual element. I will only address the surface element in this article. Imagine with me that Jesus Christ physically appeared to you right now. And . . . He went with you wherever you went. That is, you physically saw Him at all times. He was physically with you every waking moment. Would this have any effect on your conduct and behavior? The answer is obviously yes. The disciples were changed simply by being with Him! ('And they took note that they had been with Jesus.') Brother Lawrence called the active consciousness of God's presence the art of 'practicing His presence.' For Brother Lawrence, to practice God's presence is to be mindful of Him all day long. It is to converse with Him and turn to Him throughout the day.

". . . * A few words about the felt-presence of God. It is possible to have experiences where one is overwhelmed with the 'feeling' or 'sense' of God's nearness, His majesty and power, His love, His favor, and His union and oneness with the believer. To put it another way, it is possible to have a 'sense' or 'feeling' of His presence. However, I am of the strong opinion that we should never 'seek' for such feelings. Nor should we make the profound mistake of employing such feelings as a gauge or measure of spirituality or spiritual formation. Permit me to speak personally for a moment. In my own life, I have had numerous occasions where I felt overwhelmed with God's love, grace, and nearness to the point of weeping profusely. (I used to be embarrassed by this, but I've learned to just accept it. It's how I typically react when I'm overwhelmed by the Lord's love.) I've had times when I felt God's power so strong that I physically couldn't contain it. I literally felt that I was going to explode. I've also known times when I literally 'smelled' the fragrance of His presence and other times where I had ecstatic experiences too deep for words. (I cannot explain any of these experiences rationally by the way.) However . . . none of these experiences were a measure of my spiritual condition. Nor did they display God's sentiments toward me at a particular time, as though His feelings for me changed with the wind or were based upon my conduct. Further, I have learned not to seek such experiences. If they come, they come. If I never have them again, it doesn't change the fact that I'm always in His presence, and He is always with me. His love and favor toward me remain unchanged. They cannot be altered for they are not based on my work, but upon the work of Another. Further, I have learned to delight in the quiet rest that comes from just turning my attention upon Him . . . whether that be in a time of quiet stillness before Him . . . or it be it throughout the day where I'm constantly in fellowship with Him. This discovery is not novel. It is echoed in most of the writings of the mystics. A number of them have written rather strongly that to seek 'spiritual' delights is just as harmful as seeking 'worldly' delights.

"* In the 16th century, a Spanish monk who was very short (he was only five feet tall) known as John of the Cross wrote extensively on the Lord's presence. John became a priest at 25 years of age. He wrote his best-known books between the ages of 35 and 37. In one of his books, he described what he called 'the dark night of the soul.' This experience is when God removes the 'sense' of His presence from a believer's life. Some Christians believe this is an exotically rare experience that few have. Others believe it's much more common. According to John of the Cross, 'the dark night' is when God tosses out the moral compass from a believer's life. The Christian feels as though God simply does not exist! I have no desire to expound on the dark night except to illustrate one point . . . There is something that I call 'the background consciousness of God's presence.' If God were to remove this background consciousness, you would know it immediately! The background consciousness of God's presence is largely undetected and unnoticed by us Christians. We don't notice it for one simple reason: It's always present. It's not dissimilar to why you don't notice the ring you wear on your finger or the watch you wear on your wrist every day . . . you don't notice it because it's always there. However, if the consciousness of God's ever-abiding presence were removed, it would register heavily upon us. So in one regard, we are always conscious of the Divine presence in that we are used to it. The light of God is always on. But it looms in the background. At another level, we can be actively conscious of His presence . . . we can be centered on His presence in the foreground. . . we can be aware of it . . . and attentive to it.

". . . For the purposes of this small essay, I shall introduce you to one of the simplest ways [to become actively conscious of God's presence] which will also help make my overriding point.

"At this very moment, turn your attention on the Lord who is always with you and who is always in you. Open your mouth and say, 'Lord, I am thankful that I belong to you and am known by you. You dwell in me and are always with me.'

"At that very moment, you are in His presence . . . at that very moment, you are conscious of His presence . . . at that very moment, you are practicing His presence . . . or whatever other name you wish to assign to it. This is true regardless of what your senses or feelings may say. God's presence is deeper than any human sensation or perception.

"Continue this simple practice the rest of your life, and you have found the wellspring and mainstay of spiritual formation.

". . . Meister Eckhart was a 13th century German mystic who is generally regarded as the fountainhead of 'Rhineland mysticism'. He taught that God was beyond all conceptualization. This conceptualization included the 'concept' of god itself. Meister pointed people to the 'God beyond god', i.e., the God who exceeds any concept we have of Him. This means that God cannot be possessed as an idea or an experience or a feeling. Our knowledge of Him is a poor reflex of His knowledge of us. He graciously owns us as His redeemed creations and we should see ourselves as being His rather than seeing Him in any sense as being ours as an object or possession.

"Thomas Merton was very influenced by Eckhart. Merton added a social and historical dimension to Eckhart's critique of religion. According to Merton, modern people define themselves by what they can buy and own. We want to 'own' God as if He were another consumer good which adds to our sense of self-worth as an especially valuable possession. But God cannot be owned because He is not an object.

"The great Christocentric theologian Karl Barth also said that God is never an object. He is never the passive recipient of our investigation. God is always the revealing Subject who reveals Himself to us and is knowable only in faith."