2 Chron 5:11 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course 12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.KJV
In the first ten years or so of my ministry, the tangible, and sometimes visible presence of God's glory, or what is known as the Shekinah cloud, would manifest in nearly every meeting I ministered in. In fact, it was unusual when it didn't manifest. There have also been seasons lasting for 6 weeks to 6 months in the 33 years of ministry when this also was normal. Recently, I have realised my heart is deeply grieved over the absence of that tangible encounter, not just in my own life, but from what I've come to believe is a condition of the Body of Christ in many places. I rarely hear of genuine sovereign visitations in the corporate setting like I experienced in times past where His presence was so thick you could hardly move in the church sanctuary, or the people found it difficult to breathe because the cloud of God's glory was so evident. I believe this spiritual deficit is very possibly due to a lot of reasons but none of them as significant as the regrettable fact that many Christians do not know how to prepare themselves as a holy sanctuary for His tangible Glory to manifest. In fact, over the years, on too many painful occasions, I've found that many believers, when asked to make the decisions necessary to prepare themselves for worship, such as setting themselves apart for a season of prayer, praise and worship, they fought it with such intensity that I could scarcely believe what I saw. I am so weary of seeing believers resist the call of God to a lengthy time of prayer or worship, preferring instead their entertainments, carnal appetites and worldly ways. I don't know what it's going to take to make people see that to encounter a genuine tangible presence of God, they will have to lay aside the distractions that affect them and be willing to create an atmosphere conducive to God's glory manifesting. My heart aches over this. We do not know what it means to treasure His presence and guard our hearts in order to keep an sanctified atmosphere for His manifested glory. Finding believers who understand these almost forgotten principles, and who will dedicate themselves to such an end, is nearly impossible in these days. I know that is a huge generalization, but it's an observation I've taken into account for several years now. I hope somehow, you will read this and be stirred to prayer concerning this. Our generation needs an explosive, real, undeniable demonstration of who God is in power, glory and truth. I pray the Church will wake up and realize we are not even scratching the surface of what He want's to do if we will simply cooperate.
