Celtic Daily Prayer

We now reach the concluding parts of Celtic Evening Prayer with the words

In the shadow of Your wings

I will sing Your praises, O Lord.

One thing I ask of the Lord,

one thing I seek;

to dwell in the presence of my God,

to gaze on Your holy place.

Living in the presence of God is such a mind blowing concept to conjure up. But is that the issue, that our image of the presence of God is so set that we often miss or misinterpret his nearness? What if we turn the phrase around and consider that it is God who is present with us, even in the ordinary hum drum life of every day.

Song writer Noel Richards has the lyrics that say….

To be in Your presence
To sit at Your feet,
Where Your love surrounds me,
And makes me complete.
To rest in Your presence,
Not rushing away;
To cherish each moment,
Here I would stay.

This is my desire Lord

Is it because we so often seek the presence of God using our preconceived image of the divine that we overlook his ever gracious presence.

Thomas Torrance likes to repeat a simple story of what he calls “the unconditional nature of grace.” He writes, “Our grasping of Christ by faith is itself enclosed within the mighty grasp of Christ.” Then he shares this story.

I sometimes recall what happened when my daughter was learning to walk. I took her by the hand to help her, and I can still feel her fingers clutching my hand. She was not relying on her feeble grasp of my hand, but on my strong grasp of her hand.

Is that not how we are to understand the faith by which we lay hold of Christ as our Saviour? It is thus that our grasp of faith, feeble though it is, is grasped and enfolded in the mighty grasp of Christ who identifies himself with us, and puts himself in our place.

Lord, as I come before You and dwell in Your presence, will You show me what You want me to see? Will You let me hear what You are speaking over me? Will You teach me how to be trustworthy, that I may grow to be trusted by You? I want to see You, Lord.

Will You teach me how to remain in the secret place of Your presence? Will You guide me and remind me, and teach me how to live in this place of Your holy presence? Lord, will You remind me constantly to keep my eyes upon You? Will You give me constant reminders that You are here with me, that You are before and behind me, always surrounding me, always near and always here? Keep me in constant awareness of You. Amen