{"id":375,"date":"2019-02-25T14:02:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T14:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/?page_id=375"},"modified":"2019-02-25T14:08:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T14:08:28","slug":"coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming in Direct Contact – The Power of God’s Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last updated: February 25, 2019 at 14:08 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For some time, I had been pondering the effectiveness of prayer and the difference between praying in church versus elsewhere. Do we really need to go to church for God to hear and answer our prayers? Won’t God hear us if we pray in our homes, on the road, at work and everywhere else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, there is no limit to God’s power and abilities, He can and does hear and answer prayers from everywhere. But why then is a prayer in church one hundred times more powerful than a prayer sent from anywhere else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer came to me this morning while I was washing clothes. I had some beautiful white shirts that somehow got badly stained. So I decided to soak them down with bleach and soap power. The next day, 95% of those stains were faded out. But there were some stubborn ones, and I realized that these stains needed “direct contact” with the bleach to be removed. I placed the shirt on a smooth surface and poured a few drops of the bleach directly on the stain. In a few minutes, they were almost completely faded, and with a few rubs they were gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bible tells us that “where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, there our Lord will be with us. ” Our prayers from anywhere go up to God. But when we are in church, we are in direct contact with God, and our prayers became 100 times more powerful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article expresses the views of the author (Patrick Carpen<\/a>) at the time of writing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For some time, I had been pondering the effectiveness of prayer and the difference between praying in church versus elsewhere. Do we really need to go to church for God Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,25,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-375","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-blessings","category-prayer","category-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nComing in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coming in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For some time, I had been pondering the effectiveness of prayer and the difference between praying in church versus elsewhere. Do we really need to go to church for God Continue Reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-25T14:08:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/02\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/\",\"name\":\"Coming in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-25T14:02:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-25T14:08:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coming in Direct Contact – The Power of God’s Presence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/\",\"name\":\"Spirituality\",\"description\":\"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/patrickcarpen.com\\\/spirituality\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Coming in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Coming in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality","og_description":"For some time, I had been pondering the effectiveness of prayer and the difference between praying in church versus elsewhere. Do we really need to go to church for God Continue Reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/","og_site_name":"Spirituality","article_modified_time":"2019-02-25T14:08:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/02\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/","name":"Coming in Direct Contact - The Power of God's Presence - Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/02\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-25T14:02:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-25T14:08:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/02\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/02\/e83db7082cf4033ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d018b0114294f9c4_640_pray.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","width":640,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/coming-in-direct-contact-the-power-of-gods-presence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Coming in Direct Contact – The Power of God’s Presence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/","name":"Spirituality","description":"By Patrick Carpen: The Greatest Writer On Earth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PekbFp-63","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":242,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/what-are-christians-good-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":0},"title":"What Are Christians Good For?","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"July 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This article was first published on the 5th of July, 2016 and last updated on the 5th of July, 2016 by Patrick Carpen. People often have lots of negative things to say about Christians. One man wrote on Facebook \"Christianity is the worst religion with the most hypocrites\". I responded\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":425,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/i-want-to-see-gods-unnatural-favor\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":1},"title":"I Want to See God’s Unnatural Favor","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"October 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I came back \"inspired\" from church last evening. I got inspired to receive God's goodness. In fact, I want to see God's unnatural favor in my life again. I have seen it in the past, and I want to see it again. But this time, I want to see it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blessings"","block_context":{"text":"blessings","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/blog\/category\/blessings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/10\/55e0d14b485ba514ea898675c6203f78083edbe2525774407c2a7f_640_peace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/10\/55e0d14b485ba514ea898675c6203f78083edbe2525774407c2a7f_640_peace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/10\/55e0d14b485ba514ea898675c6203f78083edbe2525774407c2a7f_640_peace.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":405,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/can-man-curse-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":2},"title":"Can Man Curse Man?","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"August 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the bible, we learn that \"life and death lies in the power of the tongue.\" In the old testament, God instructs His people to bless others by saying \"The Lord bless and keep you.\" The nation of Israel was founded in God's sanctified blessing to Jacob through his father\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blessings"","block_context":{"text":"blessings","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/blog\/category\/blessings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/08\/54e0dc474b55ae14ea898675c6203f78083edbe354517441732d73_640_mouth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/08\/54e0dc474b55ae14ea898675c6203f78083edbe354517441732d73_640_mouth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/08\/54e0dc474b55ae14ea898675c6203f78083edbe354517441732d73_640_mouth.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":451,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/the-power-of-praising-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":3},"title":"The Power of Praising God","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"December 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The power of praising God cannot be overstated and should not be underestimated. David of the old testament book of Kings and Chronicles was perhaps the man who praised God most. He was a pioneer in Psalms of praise and prayers dedicated to God. He wrote \"five times a day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blessings"","block_context":{"text":"blessings","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/blog\/category\/blessings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/12\/54e6d3444e57a914ea898675c6203f78083edbe25652784a742c72_640_praise.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/12\/54e6d3444e57a914ea898675c6203f78083edbe25652784a742c72_640_praise.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/12\/54e6d3444e57a914ea898675c6203f78083edbe25652784a742c72_640_praise.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":358,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/the-door\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":4},"title":"The Door","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"January 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Sunday evening, I went to church, but there was no one there. I wondered what had happened: why there was no gathering. I returned home, but later that night, I called the Pastor. \"Brother Solomon,\" I said, \"I went to church this evening but the door was locked, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "blessings"","block_context":{"text":"blessings","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/blog\/category\/blessings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/01\/e832b40921f2013ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d11eb2124393f4c9_640_door.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/01\/e832b40921f2013ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d11eb2124393f4c9_640_door.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2019\/01\/e832b40921f2013ecd0b470de7444e90fe76e7d11eb2124393f4c9_640_door.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":544,"url":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/do-not-put-god-to-a-test-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":375,"position":5},"title":"Do Not Put God to a Test","author":"Patrick Carpen","date":"April 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I've read at least one story of a pastor being bitten by a snake in a church. There is one particular story where a pastor died while handling a venomous snake and his son, also a pastor, tried the same stunt and suffered the same fate. Yes, the Bible does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "faith"","block_context":{"text":"faith","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/blog\/category\/faith\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/375\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}