More of His Presence: Understanding the 'More' That God Has for Your Everyday Life

By Holly Armstrong

"We endorse and recommend this book to you. It will challenge you to hunger for 'more' of God and His ways and will inspire and encourage you to respond."
-Grady and Rose Barton, pastors

Would you like to experience more of God's presence on a daily basis? Are you a seasoned Christian who desires a deeper walk with the Lord? Do you want to know Jesus as your personal savior and experience His presence every day?

When we say we want more of God's presence, we are saying that we have tasted His goodness and crave additional gifts. In More of His Presence, you will discover countless ways to experience God's "more." By giving Him your "more"-more of your time, your talents, your worship, and your praise-you open yourself to receive His blessings, which will heal, inspire, refresh, and transform your life immeasurably.

In this candid and nourishing guide, author Holly Armstrong shares her personal stories and suggestions for incorporating more of God in your everyday life. Complemented with prayers and scripture readings, each uplifting chapter encourages you to dig deeper and go further in God's presence than ever before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 12, 2007
• ISBN: 9780595904723

Holly Armstrong

Holly Armstrong is a Christian recording artist who is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. She lives with her husband, Martin, in Pensacola, FL. For more information, please visit www.hollyarmstrong.org.

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Copyright © 2007 Holly Armstrong.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-0-5954-6171-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-0-5957-0736-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-0-5959-0472-3 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 09/18/2023

Contents

INTRODUCTION

SEEK HIS FACE

IDENTITY

THE BEGINNING OF MY TESTIMONY

WHAT’S INSIDE?

KNOWING A HOLY GOD

YOU ARE GOD

GOD WAS BEHIND THIS

A WORSHIPER NO MATTER WHAT

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

WORSHIP OPENS DOORS

FERVENT PRAYERS

RIGHTEOUS—EVEN WHEN I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT

LET GO AND LEARN TO HEAL

GET SERIOUS!

OVERCOMING FEAR

STIR IT UP!

WAITING FOR YOU

THE RIVER OF GOD BECKONS US

THE PEACE OF GOD

MORE THAN ENOUGH

A RISK OF FAITH

NO MORE COMPROMISE

REFUSING EMPTY HANDS

THE PROMISES OF GOD

MOVING ON

This book is

dedicated in loving memory to my mom,

Debbie Lopez

1952–2003

Mom, I wish you could be here to celebrate this book with me. All of my comfort comes from knowing that you are in the presence of Almighty God. I would not be the woman of God I am today without the loving nourishment you and dad gave to me. Thank you both for raising me in the way of the Lord. Mom, I can’t wait to see your beautiful face again.

To my husband, Martin Armstrong—I have absolutely loved being married to you. Thank you for all of your encouragement and support. You have always stood with me in everything my heart has longed to do. I look forward to growing old with you.

I want to say a special thanks to my editors:

Amber Vrbas—Thank you for fixing all of my misspelled words and silly phrases. You know that you’re more than a friend, you’re family. Thanks again.

Pastors Grady and Rose Barton—Wow! Where would I be without you both?! Thank you for taking the time to read this book, and for the help you’ve given me to make sure that my words are clear and understandable to the readers. I am so glad that God has placed Martin and me under your leadership.

Mary K. Bridges—Thank you so much for sharing with me the gift of editing that God has placed in your life. You have been a great blessing to me.

And a big thank you and I love you to all of my friends, family, and my church for all of the love and support you’ve given me. It is such an honor and privilege to have you all in my life.

INTRODUCTION

The more first started right before the beginning of 2004. Every year someone in my church in New Orleans had a little rhyme for the New Year. For the year of 2003, it was 2003: The year to be. In that year, we had some messages from the pastor about being all that God has called us to be. When 2004 was approaching, there were several rhymes and sayings going around. 2004: The year to restore, 2004: The year to soar with the eagles, and my favorite, 2004: The year of the ‘more.’ All through January of 2004 the pastor preached powerful messages about the year 2004 and how we would soar with the eagles and receive more of God’s presence. Others preached on this subject as well, and it seemed to be the topic of many of our conversations and Bible study groups.

This was just the beginning of the more for me. What really hit me was when the pastor’s wife went up in front of the church (somewhere around the end of January or early February) and explained what God had shown her about the more. She explained that it was wonderful for us to want more of God. We should always want, crave, and desire more of Him. But as we cried out to God, Give me more! she saw God saying the same thing to us: "My children, give me more of you!"

We can want and cry out for more of God, and that’s wonderful. But God also wants more from us! He wants more of the time we spend with Him, more of our attention, more of our praise and worship, more of our love, more of our everything!

One of the choruses to a song I wrote says:

I give you more of me.

More of the time I spend with You.

More of me in everything I say and do.

If I want more of You, I must be willing to give You more of me.

When we come to the realization that we must be willing to give Him more of us, we will begin to experience His more. We will learn how to tell others of His more. That’s exactly what this book is all about: How to experience the more that God has for your everyday life.

My prayer for you throughout this book is that you learn how to tap into the more that God has for you. I pray that you dig deeper and go further in His presence than you ever have before. God longs for us. He wants our more just the same way He wants to give us His more. I pray that your life will be dramatically and passionately changed by reading this book. I know my life has been changed by not only writing it, but reading it as well.

This book is based on my own life experiences (good and bad) and how God has taken me further in His presence. At the end of each chapter, there is a closing prayer. Please pray this prayer for yourself while reading it. As I wrote each closing prayer, I was really praying this prayer for myself. Please pray the closing prayer with an open heart and mind, ready to receive all that God has for you. You may also want to have your Bible with you as you read this book so that you can look up the Scriptures and read the revelation for yourself. I know that you will receive so much from the Word of God when you read with an open spirit. I know that you will be richly blessed. Enjoy!

SEEK HIS FACE

As I sat in my chair to read my Bible this morning, I began to think about the word seek. What does it really mean to seek His face, or simply to seek Him? So, I looked up the word seek in An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by W. E. Vine. They had a few meanings I liked that I will share with you.

The first one is to seek or strive after, endeavor, to desire. I want this to be my personal definition of the word seek. To strive after. To want something so badly, you would do anything to obtain it. I want to seek God in this way. I also want to desire Him more. In church we sing songs like This Is My Desire and One Desire. Is it truly our desire to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him? Would we do anything necessary to have Him? Do we desire God in this strong, sold-out way? I want more! I want to desire Him more and to be passionate about coming into His presence. I want to be serious about seeking the face of God Almighty even more! That’s what this book is all about. Learning how to obtain the more of God.

While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You. (Matthew 12:46-47 NKJV)

We also need to be seeking the Father’s Will. Jesus, our ultimate example, sought the Father’s Will above His own. He desired and strived after the Father’s Will, the Father’s heart.

Another meaning of the word seek means to search for, to search diligently. Have you ever lost something very valuable to you? What did you do? Did you say to yourself, Forget it, it’s gone forever? Or did you SEARCH DILIGENTLY for it? I’m reminded of the woman in the Bible who lost her coins. Luke 15:8-10 reads,

Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost! Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (NKJV)

She didn’t just sit on her couch and forget about it, she diligently searched for it. I want to diligently search for God to move in my life even more. I want Him to see the desire in my heart for Him. To see the urgency for His spirit in my life. I will never stop seeking His face.

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. (Romans 3: 9-12 NKJV)

I don’t want God to say this about me. That He could not find one who was righteous or find any that would seek after Him. I want God to see me as a chosen vessel, one that seeks His face, and one that is continuing to seek His presence.

The following is an entry from my prayer journal dated 10–28–03:

You abandoned yourself to me today. I revealed Myself to you. Just imagine if you did this every day! I love you, My child. I love to reveal Myself to you. I’m always here, just put your flesh aside each day and watch Me move in your life.

If you don’t already do this, I encourage you to write down the things the Lord speaks to you. I loved reading this again. I love to go back and read the things the Lord speaks to me.

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity]. (Psalm 14:2 AMP)

Do you count God as a vital necessity? I do! He is like the breath I breathe. I have to have Him daily! If I don’t spend at least some time with Him, I don’t function well and my spirit is dry and weary throughout the day.

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. (Hebrews 11:6 AMP)

The Bible is full of precious jewels: keys for us to find and treasure. The Bible is also full of ways to teach us to seek His face and draw closer to Him. This word seek came to me today when I needed it the most. I desire the more of His presence even more than ever. I want more!

A man from our church said, The year 2003 was the year to be—meaning to be all that God had called us to be and do in that year. Well, guess what? In 2004, I desired MORE! Do you want more today? There are many verses in the Word of God with the word seek. I challenge you to look them up. Do a search of the word seek and see how you can seek Him with a greater passion today. Do you want to find the more of His presence that He’s been saving just for you? Continue to seek Him with all of your heart.

So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10 NKJV)

In this book, we will explore many different ways to experience the more that God has for every single moment of our lives. Remember to read each closing prayer with an open mind and heart. As I wrote these closing prayers, I was simply praying them for myself, but since they were inspired by God, I included them in this book to help you on your journey with the Lord. My greatest prayer