◆

All is Thine,
since from Thee all things do come.

— Bernard of Clairvaux

◆

True Authority Begins in the Presence of God

There’s a small line in Luke 1 that I used to read right past. The angel Gabriel appears on the scene to announce impossible news to the priest Zechariah—a promise of life where there had been none.

His message gets doubted, and the old man asks how he can be sure that he and his wife, who were far beyond the first-time-parents season, would indeed receive a son.

Gabriel answers the question. But notice how this angel answers it in verse 19,

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.”

He doesn’t list his rank. He doesn’t recount the cosmic messages he’s carried across the ages or remind anyone how mighty an angel he is. He simply says, “I stand in the presence of God.”

That’s his one qualification. That’s the whole résumé. “I stand in the presence of God.” In other words, his authority did not come from his accomplishments but his proximity to the Father.

What Luke 1 Teaches Us About God’s Presence and Authority

In these prayer guides, I often describe our lives as embodied prayers. I love that we want to be messengers who bring goodness into the world, speak truth, carry beauty, and be the kind of people who offer hope to someone who’s run out of it.

But here’s my question for us this week: Are we people who stand in God’s presence first? Or are we trying to give away what we haven’t received—spreading “good news” without first being overcome by our Father’s goodness?

Respond

Twenty plus years of vocational ministry has taught me that it’s possible to appear as someone who does a great deal for God without actually standing before Him. To grow so busy carrying a message that I drift from the One who gives it.

Gabriel’s strength was simply that he came fresh from the presence. He had been standing in the light . . . so he carried words of life.
 

How to Make God’s Presence the Source of Your Life

This week, before we try to fix, encourage, parent, teach, lead, rebuke—let’s stop and first ask ourselves: Have I stood in my Father’s presence? Have I surrendered to the holiness that makes me whole? Heaven knows we don’t need more empty words. May our words carry the weight of the Father’s love and the power of His breath.
 

Closing Prayer

Father,
Before I speak a word for You, draw me near to You.
Forgive me for the times I worked in Your name
while drifting from Your presence.
Overcome me again with Your holiness, Your strength, Your love.
Let me learn to behold you before I hold the cares of this world.
And send me out carrying what I’ve actually received
real hope, living truth, true beauty
to the people You place around me.
Make my nearness to You the source of everything I offer.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Praying with you,

Addison Bevere

P.S. If you’re new to these prayer guides and don’t have the Words with God book and/or 40-day Prayer Journal, those are great resources for living prayerfully. You can get them on Amazon, the Messenger Store, or wherever books are sold.