We often pray for God to show up. We ask God to come and to show us his glory, to manifest his power, to pour out his Spirit. We long for more of him and he longs to draw near. But what if he comes and we don’t know it?

What we should also pray for, perhaps more than anything, is that we would be the kind of people who recognize him when he comes. That we would be a people with the kind of heart that knows his nearness, his voice, his presence, his person. That like with the wind, we would sense the slightest breeze, the faintest shift in direction, the smallest rise or fall in temperature.  

I’ve been in my backyard in conversation with someone when suddenly they will stop, look up, and say, “the weather is changing”. And they were right. The weather changed and I was almost completely unaware. 

Sometimes the coming change is dramatic, obvious in the strong rushing wind. Everyone sees it. At other times, though, it’s so slight and subtle and silent that only someone who has paid close attention before and knows the wind can discern what has come or is coming.

To sense or discern the slightest breeze, the faintest shift in direction, the smallest rise or fall in temperature—to know the coming and going of the Spirit of God—is an intimacy of sorts. It’s a familiarity and knowing that can only be developed and gained through the act of attending or giving attention to something or someone. 

To be sitting either in conversation with others or alone in thought and suddenly to recognize that God is in this place. To be at work or at rest and immediately to know the voice of God and respond, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (1 Samuel 3:10) 

Many “experts” recognize the big changes occurring in their area of expertise, whether in technology, the weather, or the economy. But it’s those few who anticipate and recognize the small, almost imperceptible changes who will be out in front and prepared before others are. These are the ones found waiting and ready, not surprised and left behind.  

So, if God shows up, will you recognize it? Or if he leaves, will you know it? But what if he comes and you do recognize it, knowing it in your bones and in your heart? You will know it, because you know him.  

Be the kind of person who asks for God to come and be near. But be more the kind of person who recognizes God and knows it when he is near.