Waiting On His Presence
I. Waiting on the Lord’s Presence
a. God has been moving in our midst
i. Morning Prayer
ii. Tuesday Intercession
iii. Wednesday Bible Studies
iv. Sunday Gatherings
b. He wants us to continually expect Him to move corporately in our gatherings and individually in our personal lives
i. Holy Spirit wants an active part of our everyday lives, sustaining us, guiding us, providing for us, and fulfilling His promises to us.
ii. In order to see this come to pass, Holy Spirit wants to teach us how to wait on Him.
1. There is a special blessing for those who wait upon the Lord
Isaiah 40:31 New King James Version
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.Lamentations 3:25-26 New King James Version
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.Psalm 27:14 New King James Version
14 Wait[a] on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
c. What does it mean to “wait”
i. Wait – qavah
1. To wait, look for, hope, expect
d. We will be taking the next three Sunday’s to partner with Holy Spirit’s desire and explore what it looks like to wait on Him in three main areas.
i. To Expect and thus Wait on His Presence
ii. To Expect and thus Look for His Provision
iii. To Expect the fulfillment of and thus Hope in His Promises
e. Today our focus will be waiting on His presence
II. Expecting and Waiting on His Presence
a. What is the Presence of God?
i. Isn’t it everywhere?
Psalm 139:7-12 New King James Version
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [a]hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall [b]fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness [c]shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
1. Yes
ii. We are talking about the Manifest Presence of God.
1. God’s presence is everywhere, always, and fills heaven and earth
Jeremiah 23:24 New King James Version
24 Can anyone hide himself in secret places,
So I shall not see him?” says the Lord;
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.
2. There are moments when God’s presence is experienced.
a. We often refer to this as “heaven touching earth”
b. In other words, it is God’s presence with us so that we can partner with Him in power.
b. How Does God want Us to Wait on His Presence – Exodus 33:7-11
Exodus 33:7-11 New King James Version
7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
i. Waiting on The Presence of God
1. Silence and Solitude
a. Moses took his tent outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting.
2. Worship
a. If you want to enter His presence you need to go through His front door.
b. When we enter the Father’s House, the Father’s Presence, we must remember that we are His guests and He is the Host. We may pray and invite Him near, but heaven is His home, when it touches earth, everything becomes His space.
i. The way we do this is through praise, worship and thanksgiving
Psalm 100:2&4 New King James Version
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
3. This is a responsibility our worship leaders take seriously and thus fulfill.
a. They help us enter through the gate of our Father’s house so we can all corporately enjoy the presence of our Father
ii. Waiting in The Presence of God - He would enter the tent and the pillar of cloud (the manifest presence of God) would descend and stand at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
1. More Worship
a. If you think worship is good as you enter into His presence, just wait until your actually IN His Presence!!!
2. Prayer
a. When the Manifest Presence of God is with us, His Presence is being experienced, it is there to be partnered with.
b. Ask God what He is doing and what He wants to do
3. Silence
a. Prayer is an interaction with Holy spirit
i. Interactions are typically a two-way kind of deal
ii. Be sure to stop and listen for the Lord
1. The Word - bible
2. Seers - visions/dreams
3. Hearers - Inner voice
4. Feelers - sense the Holy Spirit/heart of the Father
iii. Waiting after the Presence of God
1. Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
a. This is what God look for in leaders
b. I’m not sure if everyone knows this but Joshua was the man selected by God to lead Israel after Moses.
c. David was also selected to be King of Israel for a similar reason
1 Samuel 13:14 New King James Version
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
d. God wants to partner with people who love His presence, love being with Him.
e. He has a soft spot for demonstrations of love
c. The Results of Waiting on His Presence
i. Moses’ dedication to seeking the Presence of the Lord regularly resulted in the tabernacle of meeting.
1. HIS personal tent, became the place where others could go and meet with the Lord.
a. Our hope at BCF is that our church would become a place like that.
i. Prayer
ii. Bible Study
iii. Sunday Gatherings
b. We also hope and pray that your homes, become places like that for your families, friends, and community.
ii. Expectation and Faith Grows in Others
1. The other Israelites would wait at the doors of their tents for the man of God to meet with God. When the Presence was experienced, the nation worshipped.
2. Then Moses could return with the Word of the Lord and share it with the Israelites
a. We too hope to do this every Sunday
i. Our speakers go into the presence and hear from the Lord on behalf of the community
b. We also want this to happen in your personal lives. Your personal tent can also be a tabernacle of meeting.
III. An Opportunity for YOU to respond
a. Who are you in this story? Let’s look at the different characters in the passage and ask Holy Spirit to identify who we relate to most.
i. Are you an Israelite?
1. Is your tent still with the others, and you’re satisfied to just rise and worship from a distance when a man of God experiences the presence and friendship of God.
a. Is it enough for you just to worship from a distance and hear from God second hand?
2. Do you even bother to leave your tent when others are meeting with God?
a. Do you think, “Why bother? I’m not going to experience the presence of God, why should I get excited about someone else experiencing it?”
ii. Are you Joshua?
1. Are you expecting the presence of God, thus you wait patiently for anyone to go and seek the Lord so you can tag along?
2. Are you leaving your tent and the camp to be in the tent with the presence of God?
3. When everyone else leaves, perhaps even the presence of God, do you remain in the tent craving more?
iii. Are you Moses?
1. Are you regularly waiting on and experiencing the manifested Presence of God?
2. Have you moved your tent (the place you run to after a hard day’s work) outside of the camp (where everyone else’s is) to meet with God?
3. Do you go often, or even regularly, to seek the Lord and wait for His presence?
b. Who do you want to be in this story?
i. We invite you to come forward and speak with the Lord.
ii. If you want prayer we are here.
