“We are already in the presence of God. What’s absent is our awareness…He [God] is closer to us than our feeble awareness can grasp.” (Richard Rohr , Dynamis 4/2/2018)
When the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in our bodies, then He becomes Lord over us, and not we over ourselves…However, such an unqualified surrender runs against the grain of American values, which emphasize personal independence and “doing one’s own thing.” It runs contrary to our ego’s deep desire for self-actualization and self-expression…We often live mindlessly, with only a vague awareness of God. Rarely do we place our decisions, activities, and relationships under the scrutiny and direction of the Holy Spirit, who is waiting to guide us toward what is best.” (Dynamis 6/27/2014)
“God is far from the ungodly, not in place but in will. The will of God and the will of the ungodly are far apart. But He hears the prayers of the righteous because their will and His will are in harmony.” ( Orthodox Study Bible, Proverbs 15:33)
“If God knows our needs before we ask, why does He want us to ask? I can see two reasons. First, it’s a matter of alignment. God wants us to want what He knows we should have. He wants our minds to get in step with His and recognize our needs through his perspective. Our prayers show how closely we are aligned—or not. Second, God wants us to pray for what He wants to give so we will acknowledge Him as the source of all we have. Prayer for our needs expresses our awareness of our continual dependence on Him. And the more we pray and see how prayers are answered, including which are answered and which are not, the closer we come to the mind of God and learn to blend our wills with His.” (Thomas Williams)
“How do we sustain an awareness of God’s presence? The Lord Jesus offers us specific guidance... First, let our charitable giving be discreet and private. We must also pray in secret…and occupy our hearts with prayer constantly.... Finally, the Lord gives us His own prayer (“Our Father”) as a sure guide and weapon against vainglory. This prayer sustains us as we lift our hearts to Him…Communion with God is prayer…God is with us everywhere. If we were not so distracted, we would have a constant awareness of God's presence — whether we were at home, on the street, in the field, in the forest, on the sea, underground; whether we were in freedom or in captivity — everywhere…The Christian’s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer…Prayer is the continual dwelling place of communion with the Trinity.” (Dynamis 3/1/2014, Protopresbyter MichaelPomazansk JonathanJackson)