The Power of His Presence #2 – Pastor Paul Hohman

Power of His Presence Overview

In this powerful second installment of a two-part series, Pastor Paul Hohman continues his exploration of what it truly means to dwell in the presence of God. Drawing primarily from Psalm 100, Matthew 21:12-16, Ephesians 5:15-20, and Acts 16:25-34, Pastor Hohman unpacks the progressive steps Scripture outlines for entering God’s presence: making a joyful shout to the Lord, serving Him with gladness, and coming before Him with singing and thanksgiving. He offers a vivid analogy about how neglecting God’s presence leads to frustration and irritability, while consistently pressing into it produces fullness of joy, peace that surpasses understanding, and unconditional love. Pastor Hohman recounts a remarkable healing testimony from Uganda, where a man with a fractured skull was completely healed after pressing into corporate worship despite intense pain. He also examines the scene in Matthew 21 where Jesus cleansed the temple, showing that restoring a house of prayer immediately invited the blind and lame to be healed. Throughout, the message is clear and urgent: praise silences the enemy, thanksgiving opens the gates of God’s presence, and no circumstance is too dark for His power to break through.

Power of His Presence Outline

• 00:00 – Welcome and Series Introduction: Pastor Paul Hohman introduces the second part of his series on the power of God’s presence, setting the stage with Psalm 100 as the foundational text.
• 04:30 – The Danger of Getting Out of Balance: An analogy about how busyness, hobbies, and life pressures can crowd out time with God, leading to frustration and irritability rather than fullness of joy.
• 10:00 – Psalm 100 and the Pattern of Entering His Presence: A verse-by-verse walk through Psalm 100:1-4, covering the joyful shout, serving with gladness, singing, and entering with thanksgiving and praise.
• 18:30 – Serving the Lord With Gladness: An exhortation to serve actively in the local church, with practical examples of behind-the-scenes roles and a warning against Satan’s discouraging lies.
• 26:00 – Matthew 21 and the Cleansed Temple: Jesus drives out the money changers, restores the house of prayer, and immediately heals the blind and lame, demonstrating that His presence brings wholeness.
• 33:00 – Praise Silences the Enemy: From Psalm 8 and Matthew 21:16, Pastor Hohman shows that even children’s praise perfects strength and stills the enemy and the avenger.
• 38:00 – The Uganda Healing Testimony: A firsthand account of a man whose fractured skull was completely healed after pressing into corporate worship, confirmed by before-and-after X-rays.
• 43:30 – Paul and Silas in Prison: Acts 16:25-34 illustrates that midnight praise in the darkest circumstances releases supernatural earthquakes, opens prison doors, and leads to salvation.
• 48:00 – Ephesians 5 and the Spirit-Filled Life: Walking circumspectly, redeeming the time, being filled with the Spirit, and giving thanks always forms the practical daily framework for living in His presence.
• 50:30 – Closing Exhortation and Call to Assemble: Pastor Hohman urges believers to assemble often, praise much, and never allow feelings to keep them from the presence where fullness of joy is found.

Scripture References

Psalm 100:1-4, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 35:27, Psalm 139:13-14, Psalm 140:12-13, Psalm 8:1-2, Matthew 18:20, Matthew 21:12-16, Romans 12:1, Isaiah 55:8-9, Ephesians 5:15-20, Acts 16:25-34, Joshua 24:15

Key Takeaways

• In God’s presence there is fullness of joy, not partial or conditional happiness, but complete and overflowing joy that no circumstance can take away.
• Praise is a weapon: according to Psalm 8, out of the mouths of babes God has perfected praise that silences the enemy and the avenger.
• Corporate worship carries a synergy that individual devotion alone cannot replicate, because where two or three are gathered in His name, He is in their midst.
• Thanksgiving is the gate into God’s presence, and a heart that continually thanks God stays open to His power, healing, and supernatural intervention.
• When Paul and Silas praised God at midnight in prison, a great earthquake shook the foundations, all doors opened, and every chain fell off, proving that praise releases breakthrough.
• God does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart, so serving Him with gladness and worshiping Him in spirit and truth is always within reach regardless of circumstance.
• Separation from the local assembly deprives believers of relational strength and corporate anointing, making regular gathering with like-minded believers essential to spiritual health.

Power of His Presence Notes

Fullness of Joy Found in Presence

Pastor Hohman anchors the entire message in Psalm 16:11, which declares that in God’s presence is fullness of joy. He contrasts the partial, fleeting happiness the world offers with the complete, sustaining joy only found in intimacy with God. Whether life brings financial pressure, relational strain, or physical pain, the answer is consistent: press into His presence. The sermon argues that irritability and frustration are diagnostic signs that a believer has drifted from that place of nearness, and the remedy is not circumstantial improvement but a deliberate return to worship, thanksgiving, and the gathering of believers.

Corporate Synergy Changes Everything

Drawing on Matthew 18:20 and Psalm 133, Pastor Hohman explains that coming together as a local church body creates a spiritual synergy far greater than individual devotion alone. When believers unite in worship with one mind and purpose, the Lord commands His blessing, even life forevermore. This is why the sermon strongly encourages regular attendance in the local assembly. Online access and private devotion are valuable, but they cannot fully replace the synergistic power released when a community physically gathers to shout joyfully, sing, and give thanks together in one accord.

The Temple Cleansing and Immediate Healing

The scene in Matthew 21:12-16 becomes a vivid object lesson for the sermon. Jesus drove out those who had turned the house of prayer into a marketplace, and the moment the environment was restored to its proper purpose, the blind and the lame came and were healed. Pastor Hohman uses this passage to show that the atmosphere of a gathering matters enormously. When distractions and misplaced priorities are cleared away and genuine praise rises, the healing, delivering power of God fills that space. Children shouting Hosanna understood this better than the trained religious leaders standing nearby.

Healing Testimony That Confirms the Message

One of the most arresting moments in the sermon is the firsthand account from Uganda. A man whose skull had been crushed in a motor accident, confirmed by hospital X-rays showing fracture lines across his entire cranium, refused to stay home and instead pressed into corporate worship despite excruciating pain. By the end of the service he felt no pain, returned to the same doctor the next day, and the new X-rays showed a completely whole skull with no trace of any previous fracture. The doctor called it an abnormality. Pastor Hohman calls it the power of His presence.

Midnight Praise Breaks Every Chain

Acts 16:25-34 provides the sermon’s climactic illustration. Paul and Silas, beaten and imprisoned in the darkest inner cell, chose praise over complaint at midnight. Their worship invited the presence of God so powerfully that a great earthquake shook the prison foundations, every door flew open, and every prisoner’s chains fell off. Pastor Hohman notes they were not praying for an earthquake; they were simply worshiping. The breakthrough was a byproduct of presence. This story becomes a direct exhortation to every listener facing their own midnight: the way out is not louder complaints but deeper praise.

Practical Steps to Cultivate Daily Presence

Beyond the Sunday gathering, Pastor Hohman draws from Ephesians 5:15-20 to outline a daily lifestyle of presence. Walking circumspectly means staying spiritually alert and redeeming every moment. Being filled with the Spirit expresses itself in speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and in giving thanks always for all things. He encourages listeners to begin each morning in worship, pray quietly throughout the workday, and close each night in gratitude. Memorizing Scripture and declaring it over one’s life keeps the mind renewed and the enemy silent, ensuring that the fullness of joy found in God’s presence becomes a continuous, lived reality.

Frequently Asked Questions