Beloved, there is no pain like the pain of losing the presence of God. You can lose money and recover it. You can lose a job and get another job. You can lose a house and may build another house. You can lose a relationship and may find another relationship.
But when you lose the presence of God, you have lost everything. Because the presence of God is not just a feeling but the presence of God is your covering. The presence of God is your defence.
The presence of God is your power. The presence of God is your glory. The presence of God is your wisdom. The presence of God is your direction. The presence of God is your life.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, you may still be alive, but you are spiritually dead. You may still be breathing, but you have no breath of God. You may still be moving, but you have no movement of God.
You may still be talking, but heaven is no longer listening. You may still seeing revelation, but they are false. You may still have spiritual gifts, but they are dead.
Beloved, how can a man lose the Spirit and not know? It happens because the gift will remains after the Spirit has left. The gift is not the Spirit. The gift can continue to operate even when the Spirit has departed.
You can still prophesy after the Spirit has left. You can still speak in tongues after the Spirit has left. You can still preach after the Spirit has left.
You can still sing after the Spirit has left. You can still lay hands after the Spirit has left. Because gifts are irrevocable.
In Romans 11:29, the Bible says, For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. God does not take back the gift when He takes back the presence.
He leaves the gift with you, but He takes His presence from you. And because the gift is still working, you think the Spirit is still there. Because people are still clapping, you think God is still clapping.
Because people are respecting you, do you think heaven honour your words? Because people are still falling under your ministration, you think God is still backing you.
Because the crowd is still coming, you think the glory is still there. But the truth is that, it is only the gift working. It is only the memory of the anointing working. It is only the shadow of the former glory working.
The situation is like a car that is still moving after the engine has stopped, because it is going down a hill. It is moving by momentum, not by power. Many ministries today are moving by momentum, not by power.
Many Christians are moving by momentum, not by divine presence. They are living on yesterday’s anointing. They are living on last year’s encounter. They are living on the testimony of what God did before, not what God is doing now.
It is sad that the presence of God has departed from many people. They are praying, but no divine presence backing. They are binding and casting, the presence has departed from them. They are shouting, but heaven is silent. They are fasting, but there is no fire.
They are preaching, but there is no power. They are singing, but there is no glory. They are laying hands, but nothing is happening. They are prophesying, but it is their own mind speaking. They are doing the activities, but the Actor has left.
They are doing the work, but the Worker has departed. They are carrying the microphone, but they have lost the mantle. They are carrying the Bible, but they have lost the Spirit behind the Bible. They are carrying the title, but they have lost the anointing behind the title.
Beloved, it is easy to know a person who is connected divinely. You do not need to ask them. You will see it in their life. You will see it in their decisions. You will see it in their peace. You will see it in their power. You will see it in their results.
A person who is connected divinely carries something that cannot be faked. He carries the real presence of God. He carries weight. He carries glory. When he enters a room, darkness trembles and disappears. When he speaks, demons listen and bow.
When he prays, the host of heaven responds faster. When he is silently praying for someone, God is still speaking through his silent prayer.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, you will be making mistakes. Mistakes that you would not have made before. You will make mistakes in marriage. You will marry the wrong person because you no longer hear God. You will make mistakes in business.
You will enter a business that God did not approve because you no longer have direction. You will make mistakes in ministry. You will appoint the wrong people, you will follow the wrong counsel, you will go to the wrong place, because the Spirit that used to guide you has left you.
The Bible says in Romans 8:14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
If the Spirit is no longer leading you, who is leading you? Your flesh will lead you. Your emotions will lead you. Your friends will lead you. Your enemies will lead you. And they will lead you into mistakes.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, you will be falling into traps. Traps that you would have seen before. Traps that you would have escaped before. But now, because your spiritual eyes are blind, you cannot see them.
You will fall into the trap of fornication. You will fall into the trap of adultery. You will fall into the trap of greed. You will fall into the trap of pride. You will fall into the trap of wrong association.
The devil sets traps for people who have lost the presence. He knows they cannot see. He knows they cannot discern. He knows they cannot connect to Heaven with their prayer. So he lays traps on their path, and they fall into them one by one.
In Proverbs 4:19, the Bible says, The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. That is the life of a man without the Spirit. He stumbles, but he does not know what made him stumble.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, you will be enslaved in bondage. Bondage of sin. Bondage of fear. Bondage of addiction. Bondage of lust. Bondage of anger. Bondage of poverty. Bondage of sickness. Bondage of demonic oppression.
You will be praying to be free, but you cannot be free because the Spirit that sets free has left you. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Where the Spirit is not, there is bondage. Where the Spirit is not, there is slavery. Where the Spirit is not, there is captivity. A man without the Spirit is a man in chains, even if he is wearing a suit. A woman without the Spirit is a woman in prison, even if she is looking beautiful.
The Spirit of the Lord is our defence. In Isaiah 59:19, the Bible says, When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. The Spirit is not just for feeling good in church. The Spirit is for defence.
The Spirit is your wall. The Spirit is your shield. The Spirit is your army. When the enemy comes like a flood, it is not your prayer that will stop him. It is not your shouting that will stop him. It is the Spirit of the Lord in you that will lift up a standard against him.
But if the Spirit has departed, who will lift up the standard? Who will fight for you? Who will defend you? You will be defenceless. You will be exposed. You will be naked. The enemy will come in like a flood and there will be nothing to stop him.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, your enemies will begin to mock you. Before, they feared you. Before, they ran from you. Before, they respected you. But now, they laugh at you.
The Philistines mocked Samson. They made him grind in the prison house. They called him to entertain them at their feast. They said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport.
The man who once killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass was now making sport for the Philistines. The man who once tore a lion like a kid was now being led by a small boy. Why? Because the Spirit had departed.
Beloved, when the Spirit departs, your enemies will celebrate. They will say, we have finally caught him. We have finally caught her. The one who used to pray and things happened, now she cannot even pray for herself. The one who used to preach fire, now he is preaching stories.
The one who used to be holy, now he is living in sin openly. Your enemies will use your fall as a testimony. They will use your shame as entertainment. That is why you must guard the presence with your life.
When the Spirit of the Lord has departed, your prayer life will become dry. You will sit down to pray, but you will have nothing to say. You will open your mouth, but the words will not come. You will try to pray for one hour, but after five minutes you are already sleeping.
You will try to read the Bible, but the letters will look like ordinary letters or big grammar. You will try to worship, but your heart will be far away.
In Isaiah 29:13, God said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.
Their lips are near, but their heart is far. Their mouth is praying, but their spirit is dead. That is the life of a man without the Spirit. He prays with his mouth, but not with his heart. He sings with his lips, but not with his soul.
Look at Peter. He denied Jesus three times. He began to curse and swear, saying, “I know not the man.” Fear overwhelmed him, and when he realised what he had done, he went out and wept bitterly.
After the resurrection, Peter went fishing with some of the other disciples. This may have reflected his uncertainty and discouragement, but Jesus had not abandoned him. Jesus met Peter by the Sea of Galilee, prepared a meal for him and restored him with love.
Three times Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” Three times Peter answered, and three times Jesus recommissioned him: “Feed my lambs,” “Feed my sheep.”
The three questions powerfully echoed Peter’s three denials. Where Peter had failed publicly, Jesus restored him personally and renewed his calling.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter was filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He stood boldly, preached Jesus Christ, and about three thousand souls were saved.
The man who had denied Jesus before a servant girl became the man who courageously testified about Him before the rulers and the Sanhedrin.
The man who once said, “I know Him not,” later declared, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” That is what restoration looks like. Failure was part of Peter’s story, but it was not the end of his calling.
Look at David. David committed adultery. David committed murder. David lost the presence of God. But he did not stay down. He cried in Psalm 51. He tore his heart. He said, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. He did not say, give me back my throne or deal with my enemies.
He said, give me back Your Spirit. He did not say, give me back my crown. He said, give me back Your presence. And God restored him. God called him, a man after my own heart.
Beloved, if David could be restored, you can be restored. If Peter could be restored, you can be restored. If Samson could be restored, you can be restored.
Look at Saul. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 16:14, But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
This is the saddest verse in the life of Saul. Before this verse, Saul was a king with anointing. He was prophesying. He was winning battles. He was favoured.
But after he disobeyed God, after he became proud, after he rejected the word of the Lord, the Spirit departed from him. And immediately, an evil spirit took over.
Beloved, nature does not allow vacuum. When the Spirit of God leaves, an evil spirit will enter. When the presence of God departs, the presence of darkness will come. Saul began to make series of mistakes.
He tried to kill David, the man God had chosen. He consulted a witch at Endor, the very thing God had forbidden. He fell into traps. He was enslaved by jealousy, by fear, by anger, by depression. He was still sitting on the throne, but he was no longer a king.
He was still wearing the crown, but he had lost the glory. He was still praying, but heaven was no longer answering. He was still binding, but demons were no longer obeying. He died a shameful death on Mount Gilboa, because the Spirit had departed.
Look at Samson. The Bible says in Judges 16:20, And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Samson did not know. That is the danger of not knowing early. Many people do not know that the Spirit has departed from them.
They still think they are anointed. They still think they are powerful. They still think they can demonstrate the power of God as before. Samson said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. He did not know that the Lord had departed.
He stood up to fight, but he had no strength. He stood up to pray, but there was no power. He was captured. His eyes were plucked out. He was put in prison. He was made to grind like a slave. He became a laughing stock to the Philistines.
Why? Because the Spirit had departed. When the Spirit departs, strength becomes weakness. Glory becomes shame. Champion becomes slave.
Look at the house of Eli. In In 1 Samuel 4, the Israelites went to battle against the Philistines. After suffering defeat, they brought the Ark of the Covenant into their camp, believing its presence would guarantee victory.
They shouted loudly when the Ark arrived, but they had not genuinely returned to God in repentance and obedience. Israel was defeated, and the Ark was captured. The Ark was never a magical object; God’s presence could not be manipulated while the people continued in disobedience.
The priests Hophni and Phinehas were killed in battle. When Eli heard that the Ark of God had been captured, he fell backward from his seat, broke his neck and died. Phinehas’s wife, who was pregnant and near delivery, went into labour when she heard that the Ark had been taken and that her husband and father-in-law were dead.
She gave birth to a son and named him Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken” (1 Samuel 4:21).
Beloved, Ichabod is still the name of many churches today. Ichabod is still the name of many ministries today. Ichabod is still the name of many Christians today. They still have the building, but they have lost the glory.
They still have the choir, but they have lost the presence. They still have the program, but they have lost the power. They still have the crowd, but they have lost the Spirit. And they do not know it.
Look at the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:17. Jesus said, Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. They thought they were rich. They thought they were powerful. They thought they had everything.
But Jesus said, you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Why? Because the Spirit had departed, and they did not know. They were still having services. They were still having offerings. They were still having activities.
But Jesus was standing outside the door knocking, in Revelation 3:20. He was outside His own church. The Spirit had departed from the church, and Jesus was outside.
Beloved, how does the Spirit depart? The Spirit does not depart suddenly. The Spirit departs gradually. The Spirit departs when you grieve Him. In Ephesians 4:30, the Bible says, And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
You grieve Him when you lie. You grieve Him when you keep malice. You grieve Him when you live in fornication. You grieve Him when you are proud. You grieve Him when you refuse to obey.
The Spirit departs when you quench Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, the Bible says, Quench not the Spirit. You quench Him when you ignore His voice. You quench Him when you refuse to pray. You quench Him when you refuse to study the Word.
You quench Him when you prefer entertainment to His presence. The Spirit departs when you despise His corrections. You hear His voice saying, stop this sin, and you continue. You hear His voice saying, leave this relationship, and you stay.
You hear His voice saying, forgive this person, and you refuse. Little by little, He withdraws. Little by little, He becomes silent. Little by little, He departs. And you do not notice until you begin to make mistakes, fall into traps, and become enslaved.
When the Spirit departed from Samson, Delilah still called him Samson. When the Spirit departed from Saul, the people still called him King Saul. When the Spirit departed from Eli, the people still called him High Priest. People will still call you Pastor.
People will still call you Prophet. People will still call you Apostle. People will still call you Man of God. People will still bow to you. People will still honour you. But heaven has stopped honouring you.
Heaven has stopped calling you. Heaven has stopped backing you. Men see your title, but God sees your heart. Men see your position, but God sees your condition. And because men still respect you, you think God still respects you. That is the deception.
Beloved, the greatest tragedy is to be in church, but not in Christ. To be in ministry, but not in the Spirit. To be in the choir, but not in the presence. To be on the altar, but not on the altar of God.
To be holding the microphone, but not holding the mantle. To be busy for God, but not walking with God. To be doing the work of God, but not having the God of the work. To be known by men, but not known by God. To be celebrated on earth, but rejected in heaven.
In Revelation 3:1, Jesus said to the church in Sardis, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Thou hast a name that thou livest. People think you are alive. People think you are on fire. People think you are anointed. But you are dead.
You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. That is the tragedy. You have a reputation of being alive, but in the realm of the Spirit, you are dead. You have a reputation of being powerful, but in heaven, you are powerless.
You have a reputation of being holy, but in heaven, you are filthy. And you do not know about this thing.
But there is hope. In Psalm 51:11, David cried after he had sinned with Bathsheba, Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. David knew what it meant to lose the Spirit. He had seen Saul lose it. He did not want to lose it too.
He was a king, but he was willing to give up the throne if he could keep the presence. He was willing to give up the crown if he could keep the Spirit.
Beloved, is that your cry today? Are you willing to give up anything to get the Spirit back? Are you willing to give up the sin? Are you willing to give up the pride? Are you willing to give up the wrong relationship?
Are you willing to give up the position that is costing you the presence? If you cry for mercy like David, God will restore you. In Joel 2:25, God says, And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.
In Psalm 51:12, David prayed, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. God is a God of restoration. He can bring back the Spirit. He can bring back the anointing. He can bring back the glory. He can bring back the power.
But you must return back to Him. You must repent your sin. You must confess all your mistakes. You must forsake the sin that made the Spirit depart from you. You must go back to the altar where you left Him. You must go back to the place of prayer. You must go back to the place of obedience.
But today, God is sounding the alarm. God is waking you up. God is saying, examine yourself now. Do not be like Samson who did not know. Do not be like Saul who did not know. Do not be like Sardis who had a name that they lived, but were dead.
Do not be like the foolish virgins who had lamps without oil. Wake up, beloved. Check your oil. Check God’s presence. Check your Spirit. If the Spirit has departed from you and you did not know, today you must know.
Today, God is revealing it to you, not to condemn you, but to restore you. Because the moment you know, you can return. The moment you know, you can cry out.
The moment you know, you can repent and forgive easily. The moment you know, you can go back to the altar.
And the Spirit that departed can still return. The glory that left can still come back. The anointing that was lost can still be restored. But you must know first.
You must acknowledge it. You must not pretend. You must not cover it. You must not defend it. Say, Lord, I did not know, but now I know. Your Spirit has departed from me. Have mercy on me. Come back to me. Restore me.
Today, examine yourself. Are you still carrying the presence? Are you still praying with backing? Are you still binding with authority? Or are you just making noise?
Are you still making progress, or are you making mistakes? Are you still escaping traps, or are you falling into them?
Are you still free, or are you enslaved? If the Spirit has departed, do not pretend. Do not cover it with activity. Do not cover it with title. Do not cover it with shouting.
Cry out. Say, Lord, do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore Your presence. Restore Your glory. Restore Your power. Because without Your Spirit, I am nothing. Without Your Spirit, I will fail. Without Your Spirit, I cannot survive.
Beloved, today, the Spirit of God is knocking at the door of your heart. He is saying, I have not left you completely. I am still calling you. I am still waiting for you. I am still willing to come back.
Will you open the door? Will you cry out? Will you return? Do not let Ichabod be written over your life. Do not let the glory depart permanently.
Do not let the enemy mock you forever. Cry out now. Say, Holy Spirit, come back. I need You. I cannot live without You. I cannot minister without You. I cannot survive without You. Without You, I will fail. Without You, I will fall into traps.
Without You, I will be enslaved. Come back, Holy Spirit. Restore Your presence. Restore Your glory. Restore Your power. And He will come back. Because He is merciful. Because He is faithful. Because He loves you.
PROPHETIC DECLARATION
I declare in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth: the presence of God shall not depart from my life. I shall not be a Samson who wakes up without knowing that the Lord has departed. I shall not be a Saul whom God answers no more. I shall not carry the form of godliness without its power. Every Delilah draining my anointing is exposed and cut off.
Every compromise that grieved the Holy Spirit is confessed and forsaken. Every broken altar in my life is repaired, and the fire of God falls again. The hair of my head begins to grow again; my strength, my anointing and my authority are restored.
The Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against every flood of the enemy in my life. When I bind, it is bound; when I cast out, it goes. My prayers carry fire, and heaven answers me. Not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord, I shall prevail. The presence of God goes with me, gives me rest and separates me for His glory, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen!
