In my distress I looked to the young man who had served me for help, and he did not fail me. Without a word of rebuke or disdain he came over with a cloth for me to dry myself, and at the same time got down on his knees to wipe up my mess. He reassured me with his words: ‘You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last!’ Clearly he had encountered human frailty before. Even more graciously, he proceeded to make me a fresh cup of coffee, and for free. Far more than his careless customer deserved!

I arrived home to be reminded of a situation in my life where I had ‘spilled my coffee’ in a particular relationship where I had also acted carelessly and without sufficient thought. It’s so easy to do that, isn’t it? A thoughtless word, an ill-considered action, and suddenly we have a right mess! And we are left feeling foolish and embarrassed.

I am so grateful for another Young Man to whom I can turn in my distress, and who is ever willing to stoop down and clean up the mess of my folly and shame. I’m speaking about Jesus, of course, the One who in his mercy forgives all our iniquities and in his grace gives us blessing we don’t deserve or merit – a fresh cup of coffee, if you like!

And how amazing it is when we can call upon our brothers and sisters in Christ for mercy and forgiveness in those moments when we have offended, wounded and hurt them; when we can remember each other’s humanity and minister grace to one another, allowing love to provide a covering for our sin (1Peter 4:8, James 5:20). It is humbling and embarrassing to have to turn to another and say ‘Look what I’ve just done!’ but healing and releasing to hear them say, ‘It’s alright, I understand, I’ve done that myself before now!’

As I write this I’m feeling humbled and chastened, which is not a bad place to be sometimes.

‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave you.’ (Ephesians 4:32)

I don’t know much about Leanne Payne in fact, but I associate her with what is called ‘Listening Prayer’, a particular approach to the healing ministry which is built around being sensitive to what God is saying and doing when we pray for people. That sounds like a wise strategy to me. However, the focus of this particular book is on practising the Presence for our selves, and ministering to others out of a belief that the Presence is with us.

She draws out attention to what she describes as the oldest liturgical prayer of them all, and the most powerful of all prayers: the prayer of invocation, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (1Corinthians 16:22, Revelation 22:20b). Perhaps the first believers would have shouted this prayer aloud, with great fervour, and in the expectation that the Risen Lord would indeed come and stand among them. Probably the communion meal would have been the context, and the moment recognised when the gifts of the Spirit began to be exercised, and healing took place. She writes, “Where the Presence of the Lord is truly invoked, there is little difficulty in believing on Him or moving in the spiritual power and authority He brings.”

I’m aware that ‘Come Lord Jesus’ can be nothing more than an empty mantra, but what if we were to pray that simple prayer until it became reality? What if we were to pause at the start of every meeting and wait for the Presence? Payne is careful to point out that it is the actual Presence, not the sensation of the Presence, that we are to seek, although of course the sense of God’s Presence is an added and welcome bonus. But it is significant, I think that we read about Jesus: ‘And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick.’ (Luke 5:17)

The original tragedy of sin was that it cut us off from the Presence, causing us to become self-conscious rather than God-conscious. Salvation brings us back to the place where we can become God-conscious again, that is, living with the awareness of the Presence. Through the cross we are brought back into fellowship with God and to the enjoyment of his Presence. Congregations lose their anointing primarily through disunity – either internally among themselves, or externally in breaking fellowship with the wider body of Christ.

A growing awareness of God’s Presence then becomes the goal of the Christian life. “We learn to practice the Presence of Jesus within (our bodies are temples of his Holy Spirit, without (He walks alongside us as Companion and Brother), and all around (He is high and lifted up, and we exalt Him as Sovereign God). And we ask Him to love the world through us. We learn to collaborate with Him.”

‘All service is dependent upon the blessing of God. We may be very conscientious and very diligent, we may believe in his power and may pray to him to put it forth, but if the blessing of God is lacking, then all our conscientiousness, all out diligence, all our faith, and all our prayer is in vain. On the other hand, even though we make mistakes, and even though the situation we face be a hopeless one, provided we have the blessing of God there will be a fruitful issue….

This lesson is not easily learned. The hopes of so many are still centred, not on the blessing of the Lord but on the few loaves in their hand. It is so pitifully little we have in hand, and yet we keep reckoning with it; and the more we reckon the harder the work becomes. My brothers and sisters, miracles issue form the blessing of the Lord. Only let that be upon the loaves and they will be multiplied. Where the blessing of God rests the thousands are fed…

We should be able to trust the blessing of God and wait for it. And we should often find that, even where we had bungled things, somehow all was well. A little bit of blessing can carry us over a great deal of trouble.

What is ‘blessing’? It is the working of God where there is nothing to account for his working… When five loaves provide food for five thousand and leave twelve baskets of fragments, that is blessing. When the fruit of your service is out of all proportion to the gifts you possess, that is blessing. Or to be rather extreme, when, taking account of your failures, there should be no fruit from your labours, and still there is fruit, that is blessing. Many of us only expect results commensurate with what we are in ourselves, but blessing is fruit that is out of all correspondence with what we are…

A life of blessing should be our normal life as Christians and a work with the blessing of God upon it should be our normal work. ‘Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ (Malachi 3:10)