This sermon talks about how to practice the presence of God in your everyday life. In order to experience the joy, peace, and assurance God has for us, we need to learn how to set our minds on the Lord and keep Him before us throughout the day.
In Psalm 16:8 David said, “I have set the Lord always before me….” How do we live in that mindset? Pastor Tow develops three basic elements for having that mindset.
(1) Center your thoughts on the Lord
(2) Cultivate awareness of His presence
(3) Involve Him in everything you do (large or small).
View PDF for this sermon (opens in a new window)
Outline
A. Rom. 8:5 “…those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (NIV).
B. Psalm 16:8 “I have set the LORD always before me….” C. What does Setting Mind on Lord Involve?
I. Center my Thoughts on the Lord
A. Like needle of Compass
B. Alpha and Omega (Gen. 1:1—1Cor. 15:28) Humanism v God-Centered
C. Benefits of setting mind on the Lord Ps 16:8-9; Isa 26:3; Acts 27
D. Contrasted by those in Rom. 1:28
II. Cultivate Awareness of God’s Presence
A. Bro. Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of the God Gen. 28:16
2Kings 6
John 14:16 Parakletos
B. Aware of that to which we give attention to
C. Cultivate awareness by talking with Him even on little things
III. Involve Him in Everything I do
A. Experiences affected by Choice to Engage
- We Think on Multiple Levels
- Everything should be Joint-Project with Spirit Abiding in the Vine (Jn 15): staying vitally connected Jesus Example (John 5:17, 19, 30)
Loneliness
D. Even most Menial Tasks become Worship Compartmentalizing life
Friendship Built through Shared Experience
How will you advance in your practice of the presence of God?
Discussion Questions
Set Your Mind on the Lord
- How do you currently cultivate awareness of God’s presence in your daily life?
- How do you want to increase your awareness of God’s presence with you?
- Do you consider everything you do as a joint project with God? Are some things too trivial to involve God? Why or why not?
- How does a lifestyle of interaction with God affect your special prayer times? How does a lifestyle of interaction with God affect your special worship times?
- How does a continual conversation with God benefit the believer?
- What is God speaking to you about this subject?
