Finding the Right Realm for the Practice of God’s Presence

((music playing)) I'm so glad we are back together again here in Florida and I pray today the Lord will really bless you in a tremendous way through this teaching. I want to talk to you about practicing the presence of the Lord in your life. you know, and I've taught on this before, but there's something fresh happening today in my heart that I want to really share with you.

It's a deepening of that practice of God's presence. And I pray the Lord will do the same with you. Dearest Jesus, dearest Jesus, just let's lift our hands and love him. Dearest Savior, how wonderful you are. How precious you are. You are our wonderful, wonderful Jesus. Most beloved, most cherished, most adored Jesus.

Lord, I pray today open our hearts to your word. Help us understand your blessed, beautiful word. Enlighten our spirit. Lord, I pray you'll speak to every single one today through your precious word in Jesus name. And God's people said, "Amen." And amen. Let's go to Matthew chapter 7.

I know this is a very familiar portion. But I want to show you some amazing things today. And of course, we begin with something so familiar. Ask, it shall be given you. Seek, you shall find. Knock, it shall be open unto you. For everyone that askketh to receive it.

How beautiful. and he that seeketh find it, and to him that knockketh it shall be opened. Now, this is God's promise. And I think this is where we all begin. We begin in that realm, which I call the outer court realm where we begin begin to enter the presence of the Lord.

And we begin really by asking by sharing our longing with him by telling him our deep desires for him. And when when we think about asking, often people think about something I need in the physical realm, something I need for my family or job or things to do with this world.

I think we need to go beyond that. God cares for that. Of course, he does. But if we want to practice God's presence, we ask for depth. Lord Jesus, I'm hungry for you. Lord Jesus, I want to walk with you. Lord Jesus, I want to love you with all my being.

That's asking in a different place. That's asking in a heavenly place. It's not asking for I [snorts] need a new house or a new this or a new that. It's beyond that. And so he said, "Ask, it shall be given." And I think this asking leads us to staying with it.

And that's why he said seek because if it's only asking, people don't go beyond that. They don't go beyond asking. But when there's a search that comes after the ask, it's deeper than natural ask. It's deeper than something to do with present day problems. It's an ask higher.

And so now you seek, you shall find. And and you know what are we what are we seeking for? It says in scripture, they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. If you seek him, what do you need then? But in most cases, people are seeking, you know, things they need for daily living.

And God understands that. Let your requests be made known is in the Bible. But when I look at this scripture now, I see somehow differently. Is Jesus asking me to ask for just earthly stuff, earthly needs, or is he saying something different? And and it it depends on your level.

Where are you in the spirit? You see it differently. Today, when I look at this, I'm not thinking about material. I'm not thinking about earthly. I'm thinking I want to ask for things that I really want in my spiritual life that I really hunger for that I'm really searching and seeking for because it it it finishes with knock.

Knock. And the Lord is giving us here the three worlds of prayer. The asking, the seeking, and the knocking. Now knocking is when you're desperate. It's when you are truly at that place to say I am not leaving till the door opens. Someone is going to hear me knocking.

The door will eventually open. So the first realm, the asking realm, um, it's it's it's the beginning. Yeah. But I think it's the beginning of of of where we begin to experience the presence of the Lord. And and the first thing that happens [snorts] when you want to practice God's presence is the flesh will oppose you. always in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 25.

You know, I've taught on this before, but I never brought it in that light and I never talked about it in that light because I'm in a different place. You know, the Bible talks about walking in present light. So when I got saved in 1972, the light I had then cannot help me today.

I need the light of today to live for today. You you see what I'm saying? So when I got saved, I was 19 years old. I'm 73 now. So when I was 19 and I got saved, I only understood little. The Lord gave me the light I needed for my beginning, not for the rest of my life.

It was the beginning of my walk in the light. So, we walk in present light. We walk in present truth. We cannot grow today if we're dependent on old truth or old light. We need present truth. present light something we understand today. And so the word of God I is always being revealed to us.

We we are walking from light to light, from truth to truth into deeper truth, into deeper light as Christians, as believers. So you come to the place when you're older in Jesus and older in the natural like I am and in Jesus both together where you your your needs change your needs change today my needs are spiritual needs I I I honestly don't think much today about the physical I have yeah we all have needs here and there that come and we ask the Lord and he always takes care of it.

It's the spiritual that matters more than the natural. And and now the first thing that happens is the flesh will oppose you. The flesh will never oppose you when you're were in the you're in the natural realm. There's nothing to oppose, but the flesh will will oppose you when you want to go into the spiritual realm.

And so Paul in first Corinthians um and let me just begin by by uh verse 25. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things uh is has self-control. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible crown. I therefore sun not as uncertainly so fight I not as one that beatth the air.

So I'm looking, Paul is saying to receive a crown and I know exactly what I'm fighting, where I'm running. But I keep under my body. And that's a very interesting word here. Keep. I discipline my body. There's a place where you're you you're looking spiritually and the body begins to oppose you.

The flesh begins to fight you. And now you have to bring it under discipline and bring it into subjection less that by any means when I have preached to others [snorts] I myself should be a cast away. So this is where where you and I now are in that place in that realm that David talked about in Psalm 42.

Verse one says, "As the heart panteth after the waterbrooks, or dear longs panteth or longs after the waterbrooks, soul panteth my soul, so longs I long and my soul after you, Lord. Oh God, my soul thirsteth for thee." Imagine being thirsty for God like thirsty like you. You're thirsty like in a desert for water for the living God.

And David says, "When shall I come? When can I come? Is it when will the time come that I can appear before God? That I can stand in his lovely presence? My tears have been my meat and my food day and night. while they continually say unto me, "Where is your God?"

So, there's opposition from the enemy. There's opposition from the enemy. Anyone seeking to walk in the presence of God will have enemies who will who will oppose him and attack him at that time in his life. The devil knows exactly when to target people who are seeking the Lord.

But then you have to remember it says when I remember these things when I think about that I'm looking for the Lord the enemy is going to always be trying to harass and distract. I pour out my soul in me. For I had gone with a multitude of For I had gone with a multitude.

I went with them to the house of God. He and he said, "I'm so hungry. I even went to church looking for the Lord. There was the voice of joy and praise. I was there with the multitudes. We even kept a holiday." But he's still crying out, "Where are you, Lord?

I I could not even find you with the joy of praise." Wow. I couldn't even find you there. I could not find you with the crowds. Where are you? Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Verse five, why art thou cast down, oh my soul, why art thou disqued in me?

Hope thou God. Now he starts talking to him to him to himself. For I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. What what is he looking for? He's looking for his countenance, his presence. And the Hebrew says, "I'm looking for your presence, Lord. I'm looking for your presence."

In verse six, "Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan." Wow. And of the Hermonites, from the hillsar. So he comforts himself by remembering days when the Lord did visit him, but he's not satisfied with that.

He wants to go deeper. And I think this is where we begin to break ground. If you want to break ground, you do exactly what we just read from the Psalms. You are you are you are determined that you're not going to live on past experience. You're going to live with present experience of the presence of God because you can't go on today with what God did with you 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago.

And so here's David looking for the Lord. Even going to church didn't satisfy. And then he said, "Lord, I remember you. I remember you from Jordan. I remember you when I had an experience with you." But now something happens and things will begin to change now. And this is where I think it's so important we go into isolation. >> [snorts] >> solitude because you cannot find God sometimes in the crowd.

David did not. Hosea chapter 10, I'd like you to go with me to this remarkable uh portion in the Old Testament and I'm going to read verse 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness. You can actually sow to yourself reap in mercy. So when you're sowing into your own self by seeking God is what it says here.

So to yourselves in righteousness by seeking the Lord. Now you're reaping mercy and now something begins to happen. And that word mercy is faithfulness. You're you begin to reap God's faithfulness when you sow to yourself in righteousness. You're literally sewing your own life into the presence of the Lord by seeking him.

I say it again. You sew yourself into the presence of Jesus when you seek him like this for his presence. And now it says, "Break up your fellow ground." And this is what it begins. And fellow means grounded has not been tilled or cultivated. It is time to seek the Lord till he come and re righteousness upon you.

Lord, do it in every single one that's watching. Why don't you lift your hands and ask the Lord to do that for you? that now you're going to start cultivating that ground in that place of solitude in that place of waiting upon the Lord. And and as you begin to do that, you'll experience Psalm 39.

Look, I've been there. I've I've lived it. I've been there. But I want to keep going back because you can't just go back once or twice or three times. It's a daily place we go into. No such things as leftover in the kingdom. There's no leftover presence, leftover anointing.

Daily bread, daily power, daily infilling of the Holy Spirit. They were filled in Acts two, filled again in Acts four. daily infilling. So Paul says in Ephesians 5, be filled with the Holy Spirit, continual infilling of the Holy Spirit in your life. In in Psalm 39:7 and 8, it says, "And now, Lord, what wait I for?"

What am I waiting for, Lord? My hope is in you. What am I waiting for? I'm waiting for you, Lord. I'm waiting for you. And now, as you wait on him and wait for him, something begins to happen. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the foolish.

This is where you begin to be delivered from the power of sin in that place of solitude when you are seeking the presence of God. My hope is in you Lord. Lord what do I wait for? Psalm 39 verse 7. And now Lord what am I waiting for?

What were I for? My hope is in you. I'm waiting for you, dear Jesus. And when you come, Lord, when your presence manifests, deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the reproach of the foolish. And this happens in solitude as you wait. So you begin by asking, "Lord, I want you.

I desire you. I need you. I long for you. I'm thirsty for you." That's what we just saw in Psalm 42. That's what David was asking for. Jesus in Matthew said, "Ask." We just saw David asking. In Psalm 44:2, he was asking. He was still not satisfied. He said, "Why art thou, you know, art thou cast down, all my soul?

Why are you so quiet? Hope in God. I will yet praise him." And now he understood one thing. I will go back into the presence of God. I will not live with a memory of some beautiful experiences I've had. I'm going to go into the presence of the Lord and I'm going to wait on him because my hope is in him.

And then when he comes and when his presence is revealed, the reality will come. And Isaiah 40:28 will begin to happen so beautifully, you know, and I'm sure you all know that beautiful scripture, they that wait upon the Lord. Let's go to Isaiah 40 because I want to show you something maybe you've missed.

I'm sure most of you know know that beautiful portion by heart. Has thou not known? Verse 28, Isaiah 40. Has thou not known? Has thou not heard? That the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth faintth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding.

He gives power to the faint. Where? When? Well, he tells us to them that have no mighty increases strength. When does he do that? He tells us, "Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young man shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord."

Ah, so I receive power so I would not faint and I receive might and strength that keeps increasing as I'm doing what? Waiting upon the Lord because he will renew my strength. Then it says they shall mount up with wings as eagles. Now we become full of discernment.

We discern the currents of the winds. We're able to know where the spirit of God is moving. His presence now begins to manifest. The wind begins to blow. And now we surrender to the wind like the eagle surreners to the wind. And we mount up with wings as eagles.

And that's what the eagles do. They simply surrender to the currents of the wind. They wait on that mountain waiting for the right current and then they just spread their wings. They surrender. Then it says they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.

Run means you catch up. You you come to the place in the Lord that you're supposed to be in cuz now you ran to catch up and then you are walking with him. They shall walk. They shall run not be weary. They shall walk. Wow. I love this and not faint.

You won't faint again because now he's there. You're with him. And I'm going to continue tomorrow, but I'm going to give you one more beautiful scripture. And that's Psalm 40 because look what happens in Psalm 40 because this is the place you can experience this. Wait patiently for the Lord.

He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Watch this now. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the mic clay. He set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. He hath put a song in my mouth. And this is the result of that solitude.

A song in your heart. Now there's joy. Now there's the song of the spirit is back. Even praise unto our God. Many will see it and fear and trust in the Lord. So you in that solitude of waiting Psalm 40, I waited patiently. Patiently means it takes time.

God is not going to show up in five minutes. And he inclined unto me and heard my cry. And now he brought me up out of that horrible pit, out of that mic clay that is hard to come out of. And now he cleaned me up and set my feet on a rock and established my goings or steps.

And now I'm walking with strength and I'm singing a new song, praise unto my God. and many will see the change in my life and fear and trust in the Lord. I'll be a witness and a testimony. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Our Lord is as I continue teaching this tomorrow, bring that precious child of God, your beloved, your saint into that place of communion, into that place of knowing your presence, living in it, like Psalm 91 declares, I give you the praise for what you're going to do with every one of them. in Jesus name.

And God's people said, "Amen." And amen. Well, this is the beginning on this Monday. Please share this teaching. Please share this teaching and be with me again tomorrow as I continue. I I'll probably stay on this probably for the whole week. There's so much so much so much to talk about.

So, thank you for being with me today. And I'm going to ask you now to give to the Lord's work because you know it's in the Bible. Give it shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over man give it give to your bosom.

This is going to be an amazing year of preaching the gospel for me. I'm going to be on my way to a lot of countries. A lot of countries this year. This will be the busiest year probably in a very long time. Very long time. And it all begins almost right away.

So I told my staff, you know, I need a little break in January, you know, because my body needs it. December, I was overseas. I said, no, I don't want to go overseas in January or even February. I'll administer in the US, but I don't want to go overseas till March.

In March, it begins very heavy schedule start in March. in Africa, South America, on and on as the invitations are pouring in. There's no way I can do all of them this this year. Dear Maridon is in on nowhere right now to Ethiopia. In fact, she's there now as I'm talking to you because it's a lot going on right now and massive events are being prepared right this minute as I'm talking throughout Africa and other parts of the world.

So, thank you for your giving. Thank you for your loving. Thank you for loving Jesus enough to support his work. And I know you love him with all your heart. So, you can give right now. Just uh the the information is on the screen for you. So, go ahead and sew your seed and much love to you and please share this teaching with your friends and so on.

And I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye-bye. I'm sitting on the platform and the Lord says to me, ((music playing)) "I will give you Africa if you want it." Just like that. I I didn't even expect it. And I began to weep and I said, "Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. I want it."

Within seconds, Pastor Robert Ganja, our host, turned around and looked at ((music playing)) me and he said, "We're putting a a demand on your anointing for Africa. Will you say yes?" And I said, "The Lord just asked me. The Lord just told me, of course, it's yes, it's yes, >> Pastor Ben, Uganda ((music playing)) and Africa is putting a demand on your anointing, and we want to see God move.

((music playing)) I can't believe he has walked all the way from there by himself. ((music playing)) They're still getting healed. They're still getting healed. Watch out. Somebody ((music playing)) shout hallelujah. ((music playing)) >> This morning was his first time to walk >> to you the long all the glory. Look at all those healings. The that long line right there. >> When I was in Africa in in Zimbabwe, Pastor Gza said this to me.

He said, "The pastors are asking me to tell you this. They're ((music playing)) telling me to tell you this. They need to hear more about the Bible. They need to hear more about the cross. And they need to hear more about the Holy Spirit." Jesus died. ((music playing)) Willingly died. He gave his life for you and me. willingly and from the dead by his glorious own power.

IF YOU WANT TO have longevity in ministry, preach the cross and the resurrection. I want to do more for the Lord. I want to finish uh even running faster, running faster, finish even stronger than when I be >> greatest miracle is salvation. I can give you prophecy after prophecy proving to you that Jesus is the Messiah.

But this same Jesus says you right now, come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Tonight, you can be free because Jesus said, whom the son that's free is free indeed. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord.

You cannot receive eternal life without giving your life to Jesus Christ. The word of God says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Now that word on is the Greek in. Believe in the Lord Jesus means you surrender. Only he can keep us. Only he can be trusted with your soul and your life because he died on the cross for you.

And you have to remember the most precious thing in the sight of God is the human life. For God so loved the world. He gave his only begotten son. That's what the Bible says. God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to the knowledge of life eternal through his son.

So I make you one promise that I've made to ((music playing)) the Lord. I will give him the glory. I will give ((music playing)) him the honor. This is not for Beny him or anyone else. This is ((music playing)) for the honor and glory of the son of God. ((music playing)) Jesus, wonderful, precious Jesus, the son [snorts] almighty.

((music playing)) That's it. That his name will go to the nations. His gospel will go ((music playing)) to the nations for souls to be saved. >> Lives will be changed. The church will grow and be strengthened. and the gospel will go forth with power.