God’s presence transcends every limitation, it is the power that transforms and impacts lives and every area of life.

The reason why we pray, is to draw forth God’s presence. It is the presence of God that does all the things that we desire in our lives. Whether we want to see nations transformed, healing or deliverance take place, it is all about His presence. If the prayer does not achieve unlocking the Heavens and drawing the presence of God, then that prayer has not achieved its purpose. That’s why when we are praying, we are not focusing so much on the issue as we are on His presence. When we draw forth the-presence of God, the presence will sort out the issues. Why we need to pray is because we were created to have a relationship with God.

Basically, we were created for three reasons. The Bible says in Genesis 1:26 that we were created in the image and likeness of God. God said let us make man in our image and our likeness. So we were created to be like Him. Secondly, we were created to have “dominion,” meaning the ability to reign, rule and to subdue.

You cannot have dominion without power. You need power to have dominion and the first thing you need to have dominion over is your life. Praise the Lord! When I have dominion over my flesh, I have dominion over my life. For example, I have dominion over my body. If I want to wake up at four o’clock in the morning to pray, I will tell my body to wake up and pray at four. Some of you don’t have dominion over sleep. That is why you try to wake up and you cannot. Another area to have dominion over is food. When I am on a fast, I can look at food and tell the food I am not going to eat it because I am fasting! Hallelujah!

If you cannot manage your life, it is difficult to manage other things. Thirdly, we were created to have stewardship. It is the people who have a relationship with God who will be able to be good stewards of the resources and the gifts from God. If people do not have a relationship with God, the more God blesses them, the more they backslide from the presence of God and then they use the resources to turn to wickedness.

You were created to have a relationship with God and one of the things that draws and stirs up the water of God’s presence in our lives is prayer. That is why we need to build a personal prayer life. It doesn’t matter what your position in society is or how much money you have. It doesn’t matter what business or ministry you are in. Without the presence of God, there is a void in your life that can never be fulfilled. There is something missing in your life.

So, child of God, make it a priority in your life to pursue the presence of God as David did.

“After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself; ² Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing?’ They said to him, “We are going with you also?’ They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. ⁴ But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No?’ ⁶ And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some?’ So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude offish. ⁷ Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the little boat or they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. ⁹ Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw afire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught?” ¹¹ Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken,” John 21:1-11.

The above account took place after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His disciples had gone back to fishing and it was business as usual. Like all fishermen, they knew that the conditions at night are perfect for fishing. These men were not newcomers to fishing. They had been fishing before they began to follow Jesus. Yet, the Bible says they could not capture any fish the whole night. Why? Because the presence of the Messiah was not with them.

They were using their own might and power to fish. You too might have had this experience; without the presence of God there is going to be a lot of struggle. You may have the right message, but without His presence there is going to be no impact You may be very beautiful and look like a model but without the presence of God you may not get your life partner. We need the presence of God in every area of our lives.

So the men toiled the whole night but without the presence of the Messiah, it was a struggle and a waste of time. You can be a pastor, with the right message and the Greek and Hebrew interpretations, but without the presence of God, your ministry will not have impact.

When we talk about “impact”, it is about people’s lives being transformed. Some people who come to you are heavily addicted to smoking but because of the presence of God that is in your life, the smoking addiction is broken from theirs. Prostitutes change because of the presence of God.

You can have a gift, but I have come to realize that gifts don’t change people. It is His presence that changes people. You can have the gift of even working miracles, and you can pray through the gift for somebody who is born lame and they can be healed through the gift of miracles, but if that gift is not accompanied with the presence, someone can be healed and they will go back to drugs. They will go back to alcoholism or immorality because the gift can perform but the gift does not transform.

Now, some of you, you don’t open your mouths enough even when you pray. That is why you find some people don’t even have the fire of God in their hearts.

The Bible says to open your mouth wide and I shall fill it with good things. Some of the prayer meetings I have been to are so quiet when the people pray. They say they are praying from the heart. Then why did God give you a mouth? You need to open your mouth to pray aloud. Confession brings possession. Hallelujah!

When the Holy Ghost came down in Acts 2, the people opened their mouths and began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. The most powerful gate for the fire of God to enter your life is through your mouth, when you are praying. Hallelujah! Jesus Christ said that without me you can do nothing. It doesn’t matter how smart you are. It doesn’t matter how powerful or sharp you are. Without God’s presence we cannot make it.

 

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Julius Suubi of Highway of Holiness Ministries International