Hosting the Presence of God (by Pastor Bill Johnson)

In an interview with Bill Johnson, Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA, the young man interviewee asked him about the revivals that are going on in other countries and that have begun in America; he said in all these revivals, there is a strong emphasis placed on worship. These are some key points (from this interview) that Bill Johnson made about worship. He called it “Hosting the Presence of God”

1. Revival is an invasion of God’s presence on earth – it is most clear when people have a heart for worship

2. King David discovered that God showed up when he worshiped Him, this is where we get the psalm “God inhabits the praise of His people”

3. Hosting God’s presence through praise & worship means to welcome Him into an atmosphere where anything can happen, anything God chooses, we don’t manipulate His presence.

4. Host a guest, they stay as long as they’re honored. It has to be heartfelt. Pay attention to your guest, don’t ignore them. Everything you do revolves around that guest. The Holy Spirit is our guest in our hearts, who takes up residency as long as we honor Him.

5. We can’t use the anointing for personal gain – we don’t do things that draw attention to ourselves.

6. He (the Holy Spirit) comes to rest in a heart that is at rest, a surrendered and yielding heart. Jesus had the Holy Spirit come in the form of a dove and REMAIN on Him.

7. 75% or more, prayer time is strictly worship – stay connected throughout the day through praise & worship. Then at night when you lie down, just worship and give thanks to God. There is a time for petition & requests & intercession, but worship and ministering to Him is the majority of quiet time (it’s all about Him)

8. Acts 13 – fasting & ministering to the Lord…and the Lord said – you can only release & pour into Heaven for so long before God responds! He wants to and yearns to respond to us. Expect to hear from God!

9. Don’t worship “worship” itself – Nehemiah 9 “be exalted above all blessing & praise” – Don’t fall in love with the music & the feeling that comes when we worship and forget about the one we’re actually worshiping. You still have to connect intimately with God during worship.

10. Despise routine without purpose. Live intentionally, not routinely! Even while doing routine things, still activate your faith in communion, tithing, worshipping, praying. If you are doing these things without seeing any benefit, you might have fallen into a routine.

11. Live mighty in private in your alone time with God, and it will be easier to display His might in public. Win battles in private where nobody’s watching and you will display them in public.

12. The harder the attack or trial against you, the more exuberant the praise to battle it! When the enemy brings something that he thinks will shut you down, don’t go in that direction, instead, go the opposite way and give it that much more to praise God and live with a thankful heart! Amplify worship in hard times!

Bill Johnson’s prayer:

Father, I pray that everyone who hears this message (no exceptions) will experience Your power and Your love. I’m asking for the fire of Heaven to settle on people, the fire of Heaven to burn in the souls of people, that the generation of worshippers will rise up and they’ll go places now that have never been gone before. And that you would allow the fire in the soul of people to blaze a trail into the presence of the Almighty God, and to impact nations. And that you would cause our countenance to change because we’ve beheld You, we’ve looked in Your direction and we were changed, Father I’m asking for this revolution to come just like David, a worshiper who was a warrior, I’m asking for that reality to be released all throughout the land. Thanks.