Making Space for the Presence of God

We are a generation who loves to take in new information. And there’s a lot at our fingertips waiting for our attention. We have an almost endless array to choose from in Christian books, articles, and other resources. But do we at times make the mistake of relying on information about God without creating space for personal transformation? Roy Godwin’s story in his book, Grace Outpouring, offers a great example of how to create space for the presence of God.

Years ago, Roy and his wife, Daphne, began hosting a prayer retreat center called Fflald-y-Brenin in Wales. The Godwins knew they had been called by God to begin a house of prayer, and there was one thing God had made perfectly clear: the purpose of Fflald-y-Brenin was to be a place where people would encounter Jesus directly and personally. Times of Bible teaching and prayer would be offered, but what was most important was making space for people to personally encounter God.

One day, early in the Godwin's ministry at Ffald-y Brenin, a couple showed up unexpectedly. They had just been driving past and felt an urge to pull over and see what the place was for. Roy met them in the parking lot and told them that Fflad-y-Brenin was a place for people to come to pray and grow in their relationship with God. The couple said they did not know God personally, but they were intrigued and asked if they could look around. Roy offered to give them a tour.

After taking the couple on a tour of the grounds, he led them to the chapel. They walked inside and Roy asked if he could pray a simple blessing over them. He prayed that God would bless the couple, their family, their home, and their lives. Then he thanked them for stopping by and invited them to remain in the chapel for as long as they liked. They agreed, and Roy quietly slipped out the side door.

Roy slipped out to make space for them to personally encounter the presence of God.

Roy did not know what God had in store for this couple, but he continued to pray that God would bless them. All he knew was that God had led them to stop at this place at this time. If God wanted to make his presence known to the couple, Roy knew God would do so.

The couple remained inside the chapel for over 2 hours. When they emerged, they described with amazement what they said had to be the undeniable presence of God. They said they had never encountered anything like it before. They said they had been overwhelmed by a peace that could only be of God. They had, for the first time in their lives, recognized that God was real and that He desired a relationship with them. It was a remarkable moment and the beginning of a whole new understanding for them.

Here's the intriguing part. It took Roy leaving the couple in that chapel for them to directly and personally experience God's presence. They needed space, and Roy offered it; they needed solitude, and Roy provided it; they needed God, and Roy led them in His direction. The experience with the Lord in that chapel was not dependent on Roy, or on any other pastor or professional person. For the couple who had never even talked to God before, the fact that they encountered God without a professional person was significant; they discovered God was personal and relatable and that they could continue to communicate with him.

Roy had no agenda or outcome in mind for the couple. He didn't try to control the visit or lead them to adopt a new belief system. All he did was tell them about God and lead them to a space (in the chapel) where they could directly and personally experience God's presence. It was really pretty simple.

Sometimes we make things too complicated, when God’s ways are simple. We think it's all up to us to have an important spiritual impact and we put enormous pressure on ourselves to get everything just right so our ministries are successful. But Roy freely participated with God without trying to be God. He asked for God's blessing and left the rest up to Him. God could do something profound, or not. It wasn’t up to Roy.

There's a certain freedom that comes in living this way... where we can think, whatever God is doing, I am happy to participate. Whatever people need, I am glad to lead them to God's presence. Whatever God's purpose is, I can pray for God's blessing. I have no agenda or need to be seen as significant. All I need to know is that God is at work in peoples' lives, and I can make space for people to encounter Him. In fact, maybe this is one of the most important things I can ever do.

What about you? Is there someone you could pray a blessing over, invite them to enter the “chapel” of God’s presence, and step aside, trusting that God is more than capable to accomplish his purposes?