The manifest presence of God
I’m genuinely excited for the under 30s. They missed 1994. They weren’t in Toronto when the Spirit moved through that little airport church and the world felt the tremor. People fell under the weight of God. Laughed until they cried. Wept until they laughed. For those who were there it felt like something inside shifted and wouldn’t shift back. The hunger for His manifest presence remains.
Hand on heart thing here, I’m convinced it’s about to happen again. Different, though. Different flavour, colour, smell. Not Toronto 2.0. Something fresh. The creative genius of God doesn’t repeat Himself. He improvises. He doesn’t just do an encore; same thing, same way, same style. He does a new thing. The manifest presence that’s coming for the tired, dry, exhausted church of 2026 won’t look like 1994. But it will feel just as intense. Just as undeniable. Something you feel from the inside outwards, reordering everything it touches.
Buckle your seats.
And listen. We don’t need to book flights anywhere. Sheffield S2 2RJ works just fine. So does your living room. Your church basement. Your prayer meeting with six people who actually showed up. God doesn’t have favourite postcodes. The Spirit blows where He wishes, and He’s never needed our permission about how or where to move.
The question has never been geography. It’s always been hunger. That raw, indomitable, passionate hunger for His Presence.
Here’s the reality: God is already present everywhere. You can’t escape Him. David tried. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Nowhere. That’s where.
But omnipresence and visitation are different things. One is theological fact. The other is lived reality. One you believe because Scripture says so. The other you know because something just happened inside you that you can’t explain and don’t want to.
Moses understood this. He walked with God daily but we know he wanted more of God. As they travelled, there it was, right front of the the whole of Israel, cloud by day, fire by night. God’s powerful presence went before Moses and Israel every step of the way. All the way through the harsh wilderness they were lead by a phenomenal pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, but Moses wasn’t tempted to settle with that. Moses asked to see God’s glory. Stunning! God didn’t respond “I’m already here, isn’t that enough?” He said yes – then promptly hid Moses in the rock and passed by. It was a transforming moment, Moses staggered down the mountain with his face shining.
That’s visitation. Not just God showing up. God revealing Himself in a way that changes what ‘normal’ means.
You can’t schedule it or manufacture it with the right worship set or prayer technique. There’s no formula. He moves when and where and how He chooses. And when He does, it won’t look like what came before. It’ll look like Him. Fresh. Creative. Surprising.
But you can live ready:
Be Hungry.
Not for experience. For Him, being convinced that the church ‘stuff of life’ programmes and activities, good as they are, were never meant to be enough.
Be Humble.
Because the moment your theology becomes a wall instead of a window into seeing and knowing God, you’ve missed it. God opposes the proud.
Obedient.
Walking with Jesus before the fire falls, having your heart already in place because visitation comes to people already on the path.
So here’s my delicious question for you, it’s one of invitation. Are you ready? Not for a repeat. For something new – for the God who moved in 1994 to move again, in His own way, with His own creative genius, right where you are.
Sheffield S2 2RJ is as good a place as any to meet Him. Other postcodes are available.
