Have you felt/heard the presence of Jesus?

Audax

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:
 

Arsenios

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:

Welcome to the Forum, Audax -

Best advice I have on prayer is to simply be genuine and sincere, and then pay attention to what happens across time - You will find your answers there, normally, unless you are a total miscreant (like me) and God has to come Himself and straighten you out...

Meanwhile, hang out with the rest of us miscreants, but obtain a prayer rule and maintain the discipline of prayer every morning and night for the rest of your life... Whether you feel like praying or not... Disciples embrace the discipling of the discipline of prayer to God...

Jes Sayin'!!

:):)


Arsenios
 

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The Lord has made His presence known to me definitely a few times in over thirty years walking with Him but always randomly and unexpectedly.
 

Arsenios

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The Lord has made His presence known to me definitely a few times in over thirty years walking with Him but always randomly and unexpectedly.

He can be a tad sneaky that way...


Arsenios
 

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:

It's tough when you feel lonely and go through bad times. I was on another forum a long time ago and there were some people who would cry because they wanted some experience to make them feel closer to God. This is one reason I don't like to post about experiences. I prefer instead to give them the Savior.

What do you believe about Jesus? Have you been taught that He died for your sins? Knowing that is a great joy.
 

psalms 91

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NewCreation435

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:

Yes, there are times when I have felt God's presence. The best way I could describe it is that I didn't feel alone or afraid anymore because I felt God was with me. Other times, I have wanted that feeling and didn't receive it and only had to go on faith that God heard me. We are not to rely too heavily on our feelings. Feelings come and go and can be manufactured and manipulated. We are to be people of faith and trust God even when we don't feel his presence. To take him at his word from the Bible that he is who He says He is. That He is a good Father who wants to give his children good things.
i found in the end my prayer should be not that I will receive what i want, but what I need. I must be willing to pray and say to God "Your will be done in this situation." And leave it in His hands. That's hard to do often
 

Audax

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Welcome to the Forum, Audax -

Best advice I have on prayer is to simply be genuine and sincere, and then pay attention to what happens across time - You will find your answers there, normally, unless you are a total miscreant (like me) and God has to come Himself and straighten you out...

Meanwhile, hang out with the rest of us miscreants, but obtain a prayer rule and maintain the discipline of prayer every morning and night for the rest of your life... Whether you feel like praying or not... Disciples embrace the discipling of the discipline of prayer to God...

Jes Sayin'!!

:):)


Arsenios

That was very thoughtful Arsenios. :) I have tried to maintain daily prayer before, but I'm going to give everything I got to do this day and night now.

The Lord has made His presence known to me definitely a few times in over thirty years walking with Him but always randomly and unexpectedly.

It's tough when you feel lonely and go through bad times. I was on another forum a long time ago and there were some people who would cry because they wanted some experience to make them feel closer to God. This is one reason I don't like to post about experiences. I prefer instead to give them the Savior.

What do you believe about Jesus? Have you been taught that He died for your sins? Knowing that is a great joy.

I believe Jesus' message was to love one another. :) I have been taught that he died on the cross for our sins because he loved us.

many times

That is awesome! :D

Yes, there are times when I have felt God's presence. The best way I could describe it is that I didn't feel alone or afraid anymore because I felt God was with me. Other times, I have wanted that feeling and didn't receive it and only had to go on faith that God heard me. We are not to rely too heavily on our feelings. Feelings come and go and can be manufactured and manipulated. We are to be people of faith and trust God even when we don't feel his presence. To take him at his word from the Bible that he is who He says He is. That He is a good Father who wants to give his children good things.
i found in the end my prayer should be not that I will receive what i want, but what I need. I must be willing to pray and say to God "Your will be done in this situation." And leave it in His hands. That's hard to do often
I like how you describe the feeling of not being alone or afraid anymore, because you felt God was with you. :) Sometimes, feelings can be deceptive however, as I've learned.

I agree that it's hard to do. For me personally, I question whether my depression will worsen or whether I could be positive loving person I wanted to be as a child. With so much negativity in the world, it's easy to become pessimistic and nihilistic.
 

psalms 91

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Audax I will tell you that as you draw closer to Him and are faithful in keeping Him uppermost in your life that God will lead you and speak to you and it will always be for good and not hurt you. Just remember to test it with the Word as sometimes satan can fake it or your own emotions can enter in.
 

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:

Hello Audax, and welcome to the board! Just one unrelated question for you - do you ride brevets?

My answer to this would be "yes, but".

I have felt the presence of God, powerfully at times. Hence the "yes". The "but" comes in as a word of caution - it's very easy to get swayed by feelings and end up seeking the next "spiritual high", that can be unhelpful in many ways. We see the evidence of our Creator all around us so even if we don't feel his presence in a very real tangible sense right now that doesn't mean he isn't there. I like the analogy of the stars - you can't always see them but they are always there.

As for whether prayer works, sometimes it works in ways we can see and immediately associate with a prayer. You might pray for someone to be healed and find their ailment is either treated much more easily than expected, or just goes away completely. You don't have to look very hard to find lots of dramatic third-hand accounts that happened to someone else, in a land far far away, where you have no way of verifying any part of it, but it's a different story entirely when you actually see it for yourself. Sometimes you won't see a very specific answer but will come to accept things the way they are. On other occasions it will be like asking for something and being told "no". (For me the most dramatic example I personally saw was a very dear family friend who was critical in the ICU, not expected to see the end of the week - her husband asked me to call their son to let him know he really needed to get to the hospital and fast. It wasn't much after the end of the week that she walked out of the hospital, alive and well.)

Another analogy to the issue of feeling the presence of Jesus is to think of a walk through the mountains. The experience at the mountaintop is wonderful - the sun is shining brightly and you can see for miles, and get the sense of achievement and awe at being at such a high place. You can see another peak from where you are, but to get to it you have to come down the mountain and walk through the valley to get to it. The valley might be boggy, overgrown, it might be hard going for all sorts of reasons. It might be far enough to the next peak that you have to make an overnight stop in the valley, even if you'd really rather not be there. But then you reach the next peak and the cycle begins.

Sometimes the walk through the valley can last a long time. The crucial thing is to remember God's promises. Jesus said he went to prepare a place for us. He will come for us, just not necessarily for a time.
 

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Hi, Audax. I think it varies from person to person. What Tigger said earlier seems right.

People make a mistake when they get themselves into the mindset that if they pray God MUST answer--and answer in the way they hope--or else he's abandoned them or, worse, isn't real. I mention this not because it is what you described but simply because I hear it a lot and it is one example of mistakenly making prayer and God's response into a mechanical, on-demand, sort of thing.
 

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Hello Audax, and welcome to the board! Just one unrelated question for you - do you ride brevets?

My answer to this would be "yes, but".

I have felt the presence of God, powerfully at times. Hence the "yes". The "but" comes in as a word of caution - it's very easy to get swayed by feelings and end up seeking the next "spiritual high", that can be unhelpful in many ways. We see the evidence of our Creator all around us so even if we don't feel his presence in a very real tangible sense right now that doesn't mean he isn't there. I like the analogy of the stars - you can't always see them but they are always there.

As for whether prayer works, sometimes it works in ways we can see and immediately associate with a prayer. You might pray for someone to be healed and find their ailment is either treated much more easily than expected, or just goes away completely. You don't have to look very hard to find lots of dramatic third-hand accounts that happened to someone else, in a land far far away, where you have no way of verifying any part of it, but it's a different story entirely when you actually see it for yourself. Sometimes you won't see a very specific answer but will come to accept things the way they are. On other occasions it will be like asking for something and being told "no". (For me the most dramatic example I personally saw was a very dear family friend who was critical in the ICU, not expected to see the end of the week - her husband asked me to call their son to let him know he really needed to get to the hospital and fast. It wasn't much after the end of the week that she walked out of the hospital, alive and well.)

Another analogy to the issue of feeling the presence of Jesus is to think of a walk through the mountains. The experience at the mountaintop is wonderful - the sun is shining brightly and you can see for miles, and get the sense of achievement and awe at being at such a high place. You can see another peak from where you are, but to get to it you have to come down the mountain and walk through the valley to get to it. The valley might be boggy, overgrown, it might be hard going for all sorts of reasons. It might be far enough to the next peak that you have to make an overnight stop in the valley, even if you'd really rather not be there. But then you reach the next peak and the cycle begins.

Sometimes the walk through the valley can last a long time. The crucial thing is to remember God's promises. Jesus said he went to prepare a place for us. He will come for us, just not necessarily for a time.


what he said....


To add.... I "feel" His presence (often and powerfully) but not exactly in an emotional way... perhaps it's more a spiritual awareness than an emotional feeling for me (if that makes any sense)?????

I sense that powerfully in Holy Communion especially. But also in worship and in prayer. But sometimes, very much unexcepted....

I'm kind of an emotional guy... but I tend to not "trust" a lot in those.... I let my brain and emotions interplay.... Emotions can mislead.... but they can also direct, convict, comfort, inspire.


- Josiah


PS Welcome!




.
 

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I was watching a TED Talks video on Youtube about Christianity the other day. This lecture was led by Tanya Luhrmann, a person who took interest in studying the activities of Christians. She noted that through prayer, community, and practice, many felt a connection with God. Her speech was a relatively secular one, and her intentions were left open to interpretation. However, her speech reminded me of my childhood, and how everyone told me to talk to God.

Life has become extremely hard and lonely for me now. I have been wondering if there was truth to feeling the presence of Jesus? Does prayer work? Or is it something you have to imagine and not question without any results? Thanks.

Wishing everyone peace, love, and happiness! :heart:

Are you asking about this cuz you want assurance that he's listening to you and you aren't as alone as you feel right now? Get into the bible and dig in deep and you'll read what he wants you to know and what's important in there will stand out to you and you will know that he loves you.
 

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The way I see it is don’t try and put God in a box as the Isrealites found out the hard way. 1 Samuel 4:1-10. God is absolutely sovereign and won’t be manipulated by finite fallen creatures. Although we do live at a time where God chose to transend our world in a very tangible way by becoming incarnate. He is free to relate with us as He chooses but its primarily through His word and sacrements. As He Himself told St Thomas “blessed is he who believes and has not seen”. John 20:29. In fact I’ve learned that during times of trials the Lord can seem distant but just keep faith and press through and your faith will deepen and mature.
 

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I've definitely felt Gods Holy presence before and he has intervened in my life greatly.
I wake up thinking about God and throughout the day, I even have dreams where I am praying to him.. I think that may be because I struggle with traditional prayer, I know that God already knows what I am going to pray for so I always feel silly speaking a prayer out loud, but in my dreams some nights it manifest and I wake up feeling grateful for it.
The first time I felt Gods presence it was very very strong, I feel like I have gotten used to it over the years but that first time is embedded in my memory forever, it was a very overwhelming feeling for a 'then atheist', indescribable! Definitely a baptism feeling (I felt submerged in his Holy Presence)
 

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I've definitely felt Gods Holy presence before and he has intervened in my life greatly.
I wake up thinking about God and throughout the day, I even have dreams where I am praying to him.. I think that may be because I struggle with traditional prayer, I know that God already knows what I am going to pray for so I always feel silly speaking a prayer out loud, but in my dreams some nights it manifest and I wake up feeling grateful for it.
The first time I felt Gods presence it was very very strong, I feel like I have gotten used to it over the years but that first time is embedded in my memory forever, it was a very overwhelming feeling for a 'then atheist', indescribable! Definitely a baptism feeling (I felt submerged in his Holy Presence)
A baptism into Christ
 

Lucian Hodoboc

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I have, several times, although I can't say that I've noticed a pattern regarding the manner in which I can experience said "presence". Sometimes, I experience it after several days of abstaining from habitual sin, while other times I feel it immediately after sinning. It is this random character of its occurrence that makes me doubt its authenticity sometimes. I also had a dream of Jesus once. The only thing I remember from it was that I was told the words "Those who endure until the end...".
 
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