Dr. Ed Young - The Power of God

TOPICS: God's Power

How do we apprehend the word of God? I’ll tell you exactly how we do it: with the presence of God. It is only through the presence of God that we have the power of God. We try to use the power of God, as did the Israelites who faced the Philistines, without having the presence of God. It never works; it never does work well.

We ask the question, then: how do we get in the presence of God? How do we know we are in the presence of God? There are always two or three things present that are connected with the very presence of God. First of all, unconditional commitment. You can’t go into the presence of God without selling out to Him, without giving Him your hands, your feet, your mind-everything. You can’t hold back anything. That’s the first step to knowing the presence of God. Remember, it is through the presence of God that we then have the power of God.

So we go to Him totally; we give ourselves completely to Him, holding nothing back from Him. Let me tell you something: if you have something you’re talking to God about, praying to God about, and there is unconfessed sin in your life or in mine, and we’re practicing sin in any way, shape, form, or fashion, you’re wasting your breath trying to talk to God and get His power to operate in some area. You have to first deal with that brokenness, that sin in your life. That’s what total commitment is: «Lord, I want You to help. I want You to lead. I want You to forgive.» Oh no, no! Go right back to that thing which is wrong in your life; that has to be dealt with first.