Why can’t I always “feel” the Lord’s presence?

[James Gibbons]

A friend of mine lost her husband last week. When a lady we know asked if my friend would like someone to come and stay with her, “so she wouldn’t be alone,” my friend replied, “I’m not alone, the Lord is with me.”

I love that. Unfortunately, as I look back on dark times in my life, one common element is that at the darkest hours, I cannot feel the presence of the Lord. I would love to be able to climb up on the lap of Abba Father. I would love to push my face into his everlasting arms and weep. But the darkest part of the darkness, is that in that hour, I “know” He is there. But I don’t “feel” His presence.

So, my questions are:
1. Is it just me, or does everyone have this experience?
2. How does one cultivate a felt sense of the Lord’s presence?
3. Am I just whining?

[xulon]

Um, I kinda think this woman is in some kind of self-absorbed spiral and needs someone to be with her. It's nice to be "spiritual" and all, but there's denial here.

Everybody has this experience including the Psalmists (42 for one)

Check out Brother Lawrence's book, but I think God actually withdraws our sense of His presence. It's too much a part of Christian Biography.

Maybe, but I whine about the same thing.

[Crazyupstart]

Just thought I'd add a couple more Q's:

Is there such a thing as 'feeling' God's presence? Or is it just that, a feeling? A workup of the psyche of the mind?
Is it a real presence? Is it mere emotion?
Is 'cultivat(ing) a felt sense' just that? Us working ourselves into a place of spiritual comfort with where we are theologically and mentally?

Just ask'n.

I have always liked Michael Card's song that touches a bit on the subject.

[Michael Ballai]

Feeling is emotional, and although it's essential to us, it's not an especially reliable indicator. I find that the Lord's presence is most felt when I am in fellowship with other believers, when His Word is revealed in study, and when I see His hand move in my life. It's tangible but I can't seem to hold onto it or summon it up. It's mostly just through faithfulness, and that, much more so on His part than mine.

Whining is OK, but it's not becoming behavior on the part of a good soldier--it's only allowed because we are also His children.

[Lisa Robinson]

But so often people's reactions to tragedy will vary. I tend towards having delayed reactions. In the moment, I'm cool. But afterwards is when it hits. I also don't think its wise to impose our responses on others, according to how we would react to the same situation. People are different and will have different responses to situations. I say give the woman her space but the saints should make known that they are there for her when she needs it.

xulon said:

Um, I kinda think this woman is in some kind of self-absorbed spiral and needs someone to be with her. It's nice to be "spiritual" and all, but there's denial here.

Everybody has this experience including the Psalmists (42 for one)

Check out Brother Lawrence's book, but I think God actually withdraws our sense of His presence. It's too much a part of Christian Biography.

Maybe, but I whine about the same thing.

[joanne guarnieri]

That sounds like the kind of thing C.S. Lewis would call looking at the beam ("Is it just...") rather than looking through the beam to what the beam reveals.

Orthodoxy is easy, it involves the mind. We can control the mind. Orthopraxy is easy, it involves the deeds. We can control the deeds. But uh oh, orthopathy might be a little harder. Not so easy to control the heart. Yet to try and dismiss orthopathy is not wise, in my estimation. All three are necessary to the full experience of eternal life in the here and now of earth.

Crazyupstart said:

Just thought I'd add a couple more Q's:

Is there such a thing as 'feeling' God's presence? Or is it just that, a feeling? A workup of the psyche of the mind?
Is it a real presence? Is it mere emotion?
Is 'cultivat(ing) a felt sense' just that? Us working ourselves into a place of spiritual comfort with where we are theologically and mentally?

Just ask'n.

I have always liked Michael Card's song that touches a bit on the subject.

[joanne guarnieri]

1. Is it just me, or does everyone have this experience?
Dark Night Of The Soul. Everybody experiences this, I think, though some go through darker, longer nights than others.

2. How does one cultivate a felt sense of the Lord’s presence?
Brother Lawrence, Theresa of Avila, Frank Laubach

3. Am I just whining?
Not unless Lamentations is whining.

[Chad Gibbons]

I just got done listening to a series of lectures that has helped me tremendously with this. If you've got time, I highly recommend them:

http://www.biblicaltraining.org/class/th250

To answer your questions:
1. It's not just you.
2. Depends on what God is trying to tell you by His silence.
3. No.

[xulon]

Years ago, I had a decision to make. "Leading" was just not all that clear. I heard a teacher say something like "When you wish to sin, you have no doubts. You know what you are doing. If you wish to follow God, he gives no such certainty." I think making not feeling The Presence some "Dark Night of the Soul" exception to the norm, is a mistake. It is far more the norm than we wish. CS Lewis' novel Til We Have Faces, I think makes that point well. It is in the times of no felt presence that we get our faces.

[Amy F]

I think one reason is that ppl get to caught up in just the "feeling" instead of Who is behind it. Ppl end up searching out the spiritual experiences to get that emotional high instead of seeking out the Lord God. So i think spiritual deserts are a way for God to draw us closer to him instead of ppl getting into a state of complacency.

Also during traumatic times that you feel God has abandoned you can be the Testing-of-your-Faith found in James. When all else fails are you still going to follow me? (<-want God asks, ex: Job) ... on the other hand i think ppl go thru experiences like the "Footprint in the Sand" poem/story where we think God isnt there but he is the one carrying you thru the difficult time...(even though i kno that does answer the question of why you cant feel His presence)

In the end, i think God desires us to FEEL Him and we get so caught up in ourselves we just forget to ask for the presence of God to consume us.

[Harry]

Looking at this through a Lutheran perspective, I receive God when the pastor preaches His Word and when I receive Holy Communion.
otherwise you are whining and trying to receive his presence as a work that you or God must do.

[Raquel]

1. Is it just me, or does everyone have this experience?
I'd lay my bet on everyone. My question, in those times, is often whether it is me pushing Him away or him pulling away. I'm not suggesting anything to do with you here James. Every time that I can now recall, it has been me.

2. How does one cultivate a felt sense of the Lord’s presence?
I believe that it's all rooted in desire, as our actions are just the overflow of that. But, as others have suggested, it's not necessarily in our control. When I have felt closest to the Lord, it's when I'm on my knees begging for a way to make it and apologizing for not doing it sooner.

3. Am I just whining?
It doesn't sound like whining to me, it sounds like a desire for intimacy.
It looks as if God has given you a wonderful example in this woman. I would love to be like that too, James. Less and less dependent on humans (as comfort in this case) and more and more on our Father. Wouldn't it be wonderful to pick her brain and heart to hear the stories and to understand better how she came to be in this place?

[Joshua Allen]

I don't think it's just you, there are lots of people just like you. However, I'm not one.

IMO, the fact that I always know and feel God's presence is a sign of spiritual weakness on my part. Almost all of the saints experienced stretches of aridity, and even Christ experienced it. It *can* be a sign of a spiritually mature person. I'm not there yet.