If God Is Everywhere, Why Does Tozer Say We Must Pursue Him?

Tozer says we pursue God even though God is everywhere because omnipresence and conscious fellowship answer different questions. God’s omnipresence tells us that He is not spatially absent. Pursuit describes the believer learning to recognize, trust, worship, obey, and enjoy the God who is already present.

Omnipresence answers the question, “Where is God?”

Psalm 139 makes the biblical point forcefully: there is no place to which a person can flee from God’s presence. Acts 17 likewise describes God as near and as the One in whom human life depends.

Chapter 5 of The Pursuit of God, “The Universal Presence,” leans into that truth. Tozer is not trying to move God from far away to nearby. He is correcting the assumption that God must be coaxed into places He has somehow vacated.

At the same time, Tozer does not collapse God into creation. God is present to creation, but creation is not God. That distinction keeps his language from becoming pantheistic.

Pursuit answers the question, “How am I responding to Him?”

A person can acknowledge God’s presence as a doctrine and still move through an entire day with almost no conscious trust, worship, gratitude, repentance, or dependence. Tozer’s concern is that truth can remain mentally correct while practically neglected.

So pursuit is not travel through spiritual space. It is a growing responsiveness to God.

A useful way to state the difference is:

Omnipresence is true because of who God is.
Fellowship describes a relationship in which the believer consciously responds to God.

The first does not increase or decrease with our feelings. The second can be neglected, deepened, interrupted by sin, restored through confession, and strengthened through faith and obedience.

God’s presence is not the same as the feeling of His presence

This distinction matters pastorally. Some Christians assume that a strong spiritual feeling proves God is near, while a dry season proves He has withdrawn.

Scripture gives a steadier foundation. God’s faithfulness is not measured by emotional intensity. A believer may feel distracted, tired, anxious, or spiritually dull and still be called to trust what God has revealed about Himself.

Tozer values a conscious awareness of God, but awareness should grow from truth rather than replace truth. Feelings can accompany fellowship; they cannot serve as its final authority.

Why “universal presence” is more demanding than it sounds

If God is truly present, then ordinary life is lived before Him. Work, conversation, hidden motives, recreation, family relationships, prayer, and private choices all take place in His presence.

That makes omnipresence more than a comforting doctrine. It is also a call to integrity.

The question becomes less “How do I create a spiritual atmosphere?” and more “How should I live because God is already here?”

Tozer wants doctrine to become practiced reality

This is one of the recurring movements in the book. Tozer does not want Christians merely to affirm that God is present; he wants them to live in light of that reality.

That can involve:

turning ordinary moments into prayer;
remembering God during work rather than only during devotions;
confessing sin quickly because nothing is hidden from Him;
giving thanks in routine circumstances;
obeying when no one else sees;
learning to worship without needing an emotionally dramatic setting.

None of those practices make God more present. They train the believer to respond more faithfully to the God who is present.

What should you do when God feels distant?

Do not begin by assuming the feeling is an accurate map of God’s location. Begin with what Scripture says.

Remember what is objectively true. God is not absent because your emotions are quiet.
Examine your response. Is there unconfessed sin, neglected obedience, exhaustion, distraction, or suffering that needs attention?
Return to simple practices. Read Scripture slowly, pray plainly, worship, confess, and remain connected to other believers.
Refuse to manufacture an experience. Seek faithfulness before intensity.

This protects a pursuit of God from becoming a chase after spiritual sensations.

From pursuing God’s presence to abiding in Christ

Tozer’s language of presence naturally leads toward Jesus’ language of abiding. John 15 gives the believer a specifically Christ-centered way to think about continuing fellowship: remain in Christ, let His words remain in you, obey in love, and depend on Him for fruit. Explore that next stage in Kingdom Pathway 2 — Abide in Me.