Prayer and the personal practise and discipline of the presence of God reaps untold benefits and dividends that only those who religiously indulge in it get to experience. The likes of David and Daniel, those who have scaled the giddy heights of God’s presence and approached its summit, from there share with us some of the joys and benefits experienced and derived.

David was a man who singled God out as his one-stop-source for the entire meaning of and all the success in his life. He wasn’t disappointed at all. After establishing and declaring God to be His singular source of fulfilment for all the needs and requirements of his entire life (verse 5), David then goes on in Psalm 16:6 to bear witness to the result of his decision and action:
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. (HCSB)

That inheritance is indeed God Himself and none other. It is there in Him we find the answers to our searching questions, the satisfaction to our deepest longings and the fulfilment of our life needs – quite literally all of them.

In final verse of this same Psalm David further clarifies in graphic detail the sublime benefits of relentlessly chasing after and scaling the heights of His creator’s presence.
Psalm 16:11
You reveal the path of life to me;
in Your presence is abundant joy;
in Your right hand are eternal pleasures. (HCSB)
…abundant joy… ..eternal pleasures…

It is in God’s presence that we experience our greatest, most sublime and deepest moments of joy and satisfaction. It is in His presence that we experience this natural high such us we’ve been wired to experience and know. This is an unusual high in that it is not only natural but wholly irreplaceable by anything else. All other highs, whatever the agent of their acquisition, are totally fake, counterfeit, definitely not the real deal rather unbelievably hollow, shallow and short lived. The high we experience in the presence of our Creator is so natural and deeply satisfying. It leaves no feelings of regret, hangover or negative aftereffects because we were created for this. Or rather, we were created for Him for in Him we find our deepest longings and highest aspirations duly rewarded. It is in Him and in His presence we find unspeakable joy and ultimate rest for our souls. In His presence we have arrived home.

The joy experienced in God’s presence is abundant, plentiful, profuse, overflowing, utterly meaningful and hugely satisfying tour innermost being. It is not minuscule, meagre, measly or irrelevant. The joy we are designed to experience in His presence is abundant and no less. The pleasures acquired by His side are unending, ongoing, unstoppable.

There in His presence we also get a pure and unadulterated knowledge of who God truly is for we get to see and experience Him direct, and face to face.  And this first hand knowledge of God fuels our confidence in Him to the point where we are ready and happy to step out boldly in His name and on His behalf in order to be agents of the great exploits those who know their God indulge in.

Daniel 11:32
And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. (KJV)

It is those who posses a personal knowledge of their God in the secret place of prayer that are not only able to stand strong in the face of severe adversity and testing but also go on to do great exploits for Him and on His behalf.

Scripture founded and guided prayer is the place where we grow and develop a real, personal and tangible knowledge of God for ourselves so much so that we are able to bank on Him, and bet our lives over Him. We are empowered to do the great exploits we’re designed to accomplish in our generation because of the enormous confidence that comes from a personal and tangible knowledge of God developed in the secret place of prayer.