The more aware you become of the presence of Jesus, the more you will be impacted by His power. Christians too often go offline with Jesus and go through daily life with no “innernet” connection. Then they wonder why they don’t feel His presence.

By focusing your heart on the living Jesus, you can gaze at Him without physically seeing Him. (Although my eyes have never seen the living Jesus, I continually realize that He’s present and working inside me.) If you keep the living Jesus as the center of your inner life, your outward circumstances will have little impact on you.

Here’s a quick assessment. Check your awareness of the presence of Jesus: 1–You don’t sense His presence at all; to 10–You’re overwhelmed by His presence. Take a minute and ponder this. Then write down and look at your personal “awareness of Jesus assessment number?”

Here are a few ways (that have worked for me) that you can also use to raise your your number:

• Humble yourself. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
• Continually talk to and talk to Jesus.
• Seek Jesus as the number one priority in your life.
• Repent every time you become aware of sin in your heart, mind, words, or actions.
• Read Scripture everyday with an open heart.
• Pay attention to and obey inner promptings from Jesus.
• Hang out with people who are aware of and excited about the living Jesus. (Pray together, open up to each other, hold each other accountable, minister to one another.)
• Pray in tongues through out the day.
• Tell people about things that Jesus has taught you and done in your life.
• When your attention wanders, bring it back to Jesus.
• Frequently repeat the Jesus prayer in your mind: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
• Continually express love and adoration to Jesus. Put on worship music and passionately sing to Jesus, through the words of the songs. Express your own praise to Him.
• Find and read books that set your heart on fire with love for Jesus.