“…God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. But omnipresence is difficult to fathom. Perhaps my problem with prayer was I couldn’t sense God’s presence when I prayed. Presence is crucial to relationships. Absence causes love to fade away.

So I read about Divine presence. The transcendent view stresses the otherness of God: He’s above the clouds, beyond the stars, not in the material world. And I realized scripted prayers placed God out there for me—too far to sense his presence, too distant for relationship.

The immanent view sees God within all parts of creation: He’s in every object, element, animal, plant and person—including me. And I realized my improvised bedtime prayers placed God within myself—so close he dissolved into my substance, too indistinct for relationship.

Yet I knew, absolutely, that I had felt God’s presence in my life. I’d catch my breath at a tangerine sunrise and whisper, “Thank you, God,” then be moved to smile at everyone I passed along the street. Or I’d be startled by an ambulance siren and think, God, please let that person live….

So while I can’t sense Divine presence beyond the clouds or within me, I feel God close, and clearly, in unexpected moments like these—moments of awe, joy, fear, sorrow, or contrition. God captures my attention in these moments. I cry in recognition, feel a surge of heart. I respond with acts of love, often in spite of myself.”

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/goodletters/2013/06/pondering-prayer/