"When we are faithful to keep ourselves in His holy presence, and set Him always before us, this hinders our offending Him, and doing anything that may displease Him."
  ... Brother Lawrence

Contents
The Way
Living For God
A Life That Makes Sense
God's Will
Through All Eternity

The Way

1.  The Practice of the Presence of God is a way of life where we engage in continual conversation with God; walk with Him in love, humility, simplicity, and faith; and think, say, and do what is most pleasing to Him; because that is God's will for us.

        Our Lord's first disciples, teachers, and followers, after a period of time in personal prayer, study, and guidance from the Holy Spirit, God's presence, started out by sharing all they knew of Jesus. They called their teaching The Way.

        They explained that Jesus was the Christ, the Promised One, the Messiah, and the Son of God, whose example we must follow in order to live in the Father's kingdom which is both here and now and eternal. They taught The Way of Our Lord, a way of love, simplicity, humility, faith, and living to please Our Father by doing His will.

        Does this sound familiar? The Way is the practice of the presence of God, pure and simple classic Christianity as Our Lord showed us and as His first teachers presented it.

        Down through the years, many have written beautiful works about practicing God's presence. Some used that phrase and some did not. Some wrote about different aspects of the practice of the presence of God.

        The little we have of the conversations and letters of Brother Lawrence, collected after his death in 1691 and finally published under the title of 'The Practice of the Presence of God', is especially beautiful. His simple approach to beginning and becoming established in a life in God's presence makes it possible for anyone to practice.

2.  "Over time, by often repeating these acts, they become habitual, and the presence of God becomes quite natural to us."
  ... Brother Lawrence

        Beyond firmly establishing ourselves in, what Brother Lawrence refers to as, the holy habit, there are no higher levels, no additional steps, no further degrees to attain. It is always this basic, rock solid foundation upon which we offer ourselves to God for refinement. It is always this basic, rock solid foundation to which we turn and return.

        When we practice God's presence in the way of Brother Lawrence we become united with those first disciples of Christ who lived and shared The Way. We live classic Christianity.

        Classic Christianity is the simple, clean, and pure way of life God sent His Son to demonstrate to us. It is this wholehearted, yet no-frills, approach to our living in His presence and kingdom that makes it possible for anyone to practice.

        Though we do not often associate the two, another word for simple is elegant. Can there be a more appropriate description of this simple and humble way for each of us to walk with God as He intended than elegance? Dear One, please consider those lilies of the field, then thank Him right now.

Living For God

1.  "After having given myself wholly to God, to make all the satisfaction I could for my sins, I renounced, for the love of Him, everything that was not He, and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world." ... Brother Lawrence

        When our chief aim is to live a life most pleasing to God, every day takes on a quality of sacredness. We do all we do for Him. All the little things become special offerings to please God. A silent, heartfelt 'Thank You, Father' hums within. We engage in a running conversation with Him throughout the day.

        As practicing God's presence becomes our habit, we discover the pure delight that comes from every little exchange with God. How gentle, how charming, how tender it is to be in God's company.

         As this becomes our habit, we also begin to discover things that are offensive to God. Sometimes we notice that we have changed a habit, an attitude, or a way of thinking. The change seemed to just naturally occur out of our conversation with God.

        At other times changing something that is offensive to Our Father requires diligent effort and prayer. We may feel a bit shocked or embarrassed that we never saw before what is so obvious now. This is when we need to remember Brother Lawrence's caution: "We must work faithfully without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to God mildly and with tranquillity."

        Allowing ourselves to become upset serves no good purpose. Instead, while we turn to the merciful God who is our only help, we call on His strength and power to change us. And we thank Him. We thank Him because these changes, whether they come effortlessly or with much struggle, are ultimately His gifts to us. They always turn out to be a favor God grants us when we live in His presence.

        We stumble. We stumble often. With Our Father's help we get up. Brother Lawrence speaks of the blessing that results from persistence: "by rising after my falls, and by frequently renewed acts of faith and love, I have come to a state where it would be as difficult for me not to think of God as it was at first to accustom myself to it."

        In time we begin to feel protective of this special relationship. We treasure every moment with God. We relish quiet and stillness. We avoid empty entertainment and frivolous distractions. We realize the importance of taking proper care of that private place of unceasing prayer and conversation with God that we ourselves have become through the indwelling of His gracious presence.

        We each really do become a temple of the Holy Spirit. We each really do become a monastery, a chapel, a sanctuary. With this realization, we become more aware of the things that are not of God. With this realization, God begins to remove us from exposure to harmful influences often by inner promptings and often by His gently drawing us closer to Him.

        When our chief aim is to live a life most pleasing to God, worldly things and the ways of the world no longer hold any interest for us. We realize that we have only one basic need: the need of a close personal relationship with God. This is an important realization for us because it shifts our entire focus. When God finally gets through to us that all we need is Him, oh, Dear One, what a happy day!

        When all the things we thought we needed, when all the things the world tells us we need, when all the needs we learned since childhood become as nothing compared to our relationship with God, our hearts become light as a feather. When we finally see that God is all we need because He is both the Creator and Supplier of all things on earth and in heaven, the quiet joy that fills us is beyond description.

        This is not only something that happens on the inside, but it also extends to the outside and to our surroundings. We literally find ourselves living simply, gently, and lightly.

2.  "For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth and center of my soul as much as I can. While I am with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable."
... Brother Lawrence

        When our chief aim is to live a life most pleasing to God we realize how important it is to be "little known by the world but greatly loved by God." This means the less visible we are in matters of the world, the more visible we are to God. The less time we give to worldly things, the more time we give to the things of God.

        With great compassion, Our Lord said it would be far easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. The same can be said for the person who seeks recognition and notoriety. It would be far easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a person who seeks the limelight to practice the presence of God.

        The more compromises we make with worldly ways, the greater the distance we place between ourselves and God's presence and kingdom. Brother Lawrence noted that when the love of God was not people's main motive, the results "appeared plainly by their works and was the reason why we see so little solid virtue."

        We cannot accommodate the ways of the world or yield to worldly thinking and fully practice God's presence. Only when we focus on God, make Him our priority above everything else, and keep ourselves in His holy presence, do worldly habits, ways of thinking, and attitudes fall away.

3.  "Brother Lawrence said we ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs just as they happen. God never failed to grant it, as he had often experienced."

        If there is one thing Satan cannot stand, it is godliness. The very idea of it makes him furious. Our entertaining the slightest thought of it puts him into a rage and ready to seek revenge.

        The longer we practice the presence of God, the more we recognize the truth of Brother Lawrence's words that the least turning from God is insupportable. The longer we practice the presence of God, the more we recognize that we cannot now and never could match wits, overcome, or fight off the devil in our own strength. The longer we practice the presence of God, the more we recognize that "The battle belongs to the Lord."

        God will fight for us, and often through us, only when He has our complete surrender to His will and His way. God will fight only when we replace our pride and self-confidence with obedience and trust in Him.

        Many of us come to the practice of the presence of God having gone a few rounds too many with the forces of evil. Bent, bloodied, and soundly defeated, we learned that all our good efforts were wasted without true humility. Without true humility, the awareness of our powerlessness, though we may have the best intentions, we play God. We take on what is God's business and God's business alone.

        When we discover that we are guilty of having meddled in God's affairs and how we have offended Our Father, who loves us beyond all measure, we may feel overwhelmed. This is the time to repent by turning any guilt we may have into gratitude. How can we ever thank Him for humbling us enough to bring us to Him? We acknowledge that "The battle belongs to the Lord." We surrender. We give up doing things our way. We say, "Father, do with me as You will."

4.  Brother Lawrence said "that it was impossible not only that God should deceive but that He should long let a soul suffer which is perfectly resigned to Him and resolved to endure everything for His sake."

        The other thing that Satan cannot stand is The Gospel. The four books of The Gospel are the complete manual on godliness. This is reason enough for Satan to detest The Gospel since he hates godliness. But, there is more. To add insult to injury, The Gospel is the complete manual on worldliness. Nowhere else are the workings of Satan and his evil designs on God's green earth so clearly exposed.

        The vivid description of Our Lord's forty days in the wilderness ending with the three temptations of Satan is an excellent summary of Satan's most blatant ploys. Then we discover throughout the remainder of The Gospel the vast array of wicked and destructive tricks and deceptions he uses. We begin to see that, despite his huge assortment of lures and snares, all means are rooted in the same appeals: pride and greed.

        When we consider that The Gospel is the greatest threat to Satan's worldly power, is there any wonder he has always used every means at his disposal to discredit, confuse, and twist Christ's message? Can there be any question that he has always used his worldly influence to keep us away from The Gospel and all of Holy Scripture?

        Can there be any doubt that he uses everyone and every thing to portray The Gospel as an outdated, irrelevant text, even though the world, as viewed through The Gospel, looks much like the world of any time in history including today?

        For those of us whose chief aim is to live a life most pleasing to God, The Gospel details the dangers of worldliness and the benefits of godliness. Most importantly, The Gospel, through the living example of Our Lord, shows us the way to live in the world without being worldly.

        We learn that Our Father's will for us is to live in His presence, engage in continual conversation with Him, walk with Him in love, humility, simplicity, and faith; and think, say, and do what is most pleasing to Him. The victory belongs to God. Our job is simply to obey and, with fullness of heart, say, 'Thank You, Father' as He shares the bounty of His victory with us, His own children.

5.  "When an occasion of practicing some virtue was offered, Brother Lawrence addressed himself to God, saying, 'Lord, I cannot do this unless Thou enablest me', and then he received strength more than sufficient."

        When our chief aim is to live a life most pleasing to God our entire focus is on the first and greatest commandment. We realize that if we put God first and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, all else - the other commandments, virtue, and every good thing, flows and cascades from our living the commandment of total conformity to God's will.

        We live in private prayer. We quietly go about Our Father's business. We do what we do prayerfully. We have Him always in mind. We do everything we do for Him. Day by day, moment by moment, our one and only desire is to love and please Him.

        When we practice the basics of engaging in continual conversation with God; walking with Him in love, humility, simplicity, and faith; and thinking, saying, and doing what is most pleasing to God, we find that things not only seem to get simpler, but many things actually do get simpler.

        Our thinking becomes much clearer because it is no longer cluttered with "trifles and fooleries". We know where to turn for answers. The Gospel becomes more understandable than we ever thought possible. We see in Brother Lawrence's words a reflection of the original words spoken by Our Lord. And, in constant consultation with Our Father, we weigh, measure, and view things in light of The Gospel.

        Yes, the beginning is difficult. Many people fall away. Many say, 'this is not for me' or 'this is not for me, right now.' But for those of us who wholeheartedly embrace the practice of the presence of God and rely on His strength to get us through, we come to a point where we simply cannot imagine living any other way. And we thank Him over and over and over again.

A Life That Makes Sense

1.  "I do not say we must put any violent constraint upon ourselves. No, we must serve God in a holy freedom. We must work faithfully without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to God mildly and with tranquillity as often as we find it wandering from Him." ... Brother Lawrence

        The way of life dedicated to pleasing Our Father by doing His will is a life that makes sense. When we come to the realization that the only reason God gave us life and set us down on this planet was simply to love and honor Him, The Most Loving of Loving, everything seems to gently slip into place.

        It is not what we accomplish. It is not what we have. It is not who we are or even who we become. It is simply all about loving Him. We exist to love Him. He made us to love Him.

        We may very well say, 'Yes, but doesn't any of the rest of it count?' Yes, it does. However, the rest of it, no matter the quantity and quality, no matter how much and how wonderful are the things we do unto others, no matter the amount of time and space we give God; if we do not love Him above all else, it all counts for nothing. He will say, "I do not know you."

        Our love for Him is His number one priority. Everything else is a distant second with Him. Our love for Him is the only thing that gives value to any of the rest of it. Our love is so valuable to Him that if that is the only thing we are able to give Him, the sum total at the end of this life, it is enough and more than enough.

2.  "We are made for God alone, who can only be pleased when we turn away from ourselves to devote ourselves to Him."
... Brother Lawrence

        Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point of living? When we understand that His primary reason is to love Him and when we see how important that love is to God, we need never struggle with those questions again.

        Our love, imperfect as it is, keeps Our Father's creation in balance. We are a part of His plan. That is why we may be completely penniless, alone, and unable to move and still be of great value to Him because of our love. If all we have is love, then by our love, we serve Him. The mere lifting of one heart is priceless to Him.

        We are here because this is where He needs us to be for Him. God has many reasons. Some additional reasons we may understand through our personal relationship with Him. Some additional reasons we may never know. But it does not matter.

        When we live for Him, when we dedicate our lives to Him, when we live day by day in His presence, we live to please Him here until He needs us there, where the end of life is not a dead end but His doorway.

3.  "But the hour comes, and is now, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father seeks such people to worship Him." ... Our Lord, Jesus Christ

        Our Lord gave one of His most profound answers to a question posed by the woman at the well. Her question was about where to worship God. It seems that place, the proper place, has always been, and still is, a divisive issue in religious worship. This may be due to the fact that our earthly affairs are ordered along the boundaries of time and space.

        Our Lord, ever ready to share His mission of opening our eyes to the larger, divine kingdom, lifted the issue of worship out of the mundane by introducing different concepts: spirit and truth. He, in effect, said it is not about when and where we worship. The Father is more interested in how we worship. Look beyond the earthly notions of time and space and see that the greater matter is the manner of worship.

        Spirit and truth have no proper time. Spirit and truth have no proper place. Our Lord's point was that, if worship in spirit and truth is what really matters to Our Father, then time and place are matters not worth arguing about. More importantly, if worship in spirit and truth is what really matters to Our Father, then anyone, anywhere can worship Him.

        Time and again, Our Lord urged people to get out of their vain forms and traditions of worship. Jesus pointed out, over and over again, that outward appearances meant very little to Our Father and often greatly offended Him.

        No matter the place, no matter the time, what is all important to God is the quality of our worship. We worship in spirit through our unceasing prayer, the continuous conversation that is unseen by anyone but Him. We worship in truth by making every effort to think, say, and do that which is most pleasing to Him. We worship in spirit and in truth by following in the footsteps of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and by living His Word.

        For anyone who wants to live a life that makes sense, Our Lord made it perfectly clear. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" ... "Follow me".

God's Will

1.  "God knows best what we need. All that He does is for our good. If we knew how much He loves us, we would always be ready to receive both the bitter and the sweet from His Hand. It would make no difference. All that came from Him would be pleasing." ... Brother Lawrence

        God's will is for us to know Him, love Him, and serve Him; to place nothing or no one before Him; to live as His child according to the earthly life and manner of His Son, Jesus Christ. God's will is to constantly share Himself through His presence alive within us.

        How we so often struggle with God's will. Sometimes it seems perfectly simple and perfectly obvious. Sometimes, God's will seems like a giant ancient volume that sits before us but is glued shut to prevent our prying eyes. At other times, the will of God just does not seem to coincide with, what seems to us, our unique, exceptional, or special situation.

        As long as we continue to view God's will as separate from our own will and at odds with our desires, we remain in a state of confusion and frustration. The longer we secretly insist that we know best, the greater the distance we place between ourselves and God and the closer we align ourselves with the corrupt and unpredictable ways of the world.

        When we realize that our free will is a gift from God to be returned to Him, the struggle ends as soon as we act upon it. Often the struggle with God's will ends with a simple and sincere, 'Yes, Father', doing what we do not want to do or do not feel like doing, or, perhaps, thanking Him for the condition in which He has placed us.

        Contrary as it may seem, we discover our true freedom when we give our free will back to God. When we reach the point where, like Brother Lawrence, we can sincerely say that we have no will but God's will, we have become established in God's presence and are living in Our Father's kingdom.

2.  "We need to beg God's assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have completed them."
... Brother Lawrence

        Until we make a determined effort to practice the presence of God, His will is most likely to continue to be a puzzle and, at once, clearly appear, then as quickly evaporate in our clouded minds. Without the benefit of establishing the holy habit, God's will is most likely to continue to be something we understand in our mind but are not able to act upon because of conflict in our heart.

        When we read The Gospel to discover God's will, something wonderful happens. Because our intention is a sincere desire, God begins to favor us with new understanding. The words come alive. The New Message really is new to us, fresh with meaning and vibrant with feeling. We experience a sense, perhaps for the first time, that The Gospel is whole and complete. We realize there is no other book and we need nothing more; but, oh, how we need The Gospel!

3.  "In his trouble of mind, Brother Lawrence contented himself with directing all his actions to God. He did everything with a desire to please Him and let what would come of it."

        We need, from time to time and in God's presence, to look closely at our strengths and weaknesses. We need to discuss with God and ask His help in seeing clearly. Because He knows us better than we know ourselves, we need Him to show us what we cannot objectively see.

        To God, both our strengths and weaknesses are important. Our strengths are for His glory. Our weaknesses are for His sake. We should take care not to overvalue our strengths because God may ask us to foresake them from time to time. We should take care not to underestimate our weaknesses because God may use them for His special purposes as is His manner to often work through them. We can only be truly His when we offer both our weaknesses and strengths to Him to do with as He sees fit.

        In both our strengths and weaknesses, we need to look closely at the many ways we are subject to temptation. On what do we "pride ourselves"? In what ways are we vain and vulnerable to flattery? Conversely, in what ways do we "hide ourselves", act falsely, rationalize, or minimize? What are the things we are inclined to overlook? For which of our faults do we blame others? About what are we most likely to make excuses or become defensive?

        "Brother Lawrence said he was very sensible of his faults but not discouraged by them. He confessed them to God and made no excuses. Then he peaceably resumed his usual practice of love and adoration."

        The practice of the presence of God is an exercise that involves our action and cooperation with God. We must, in consultation with Him, remove those sources of temptation of which we are aware and able to remove, then, wholeheartedly, rely on God to take care of the rest. In conversation, it is very helpful to say to Our Father, "Not my will but Yours be done."

        A very powerful expression of practicing God's presence is The Silent 'Thank You, Father'. Spoken from the heart, we repeat this phrase at all times and in all circumstances -no matter what. The Silent 'Thank You, Father' brings us into awareness and communion with God. It also helps bring us into alignment with His holy will.

4.  "Brother Lawrence found that the shortest way to go straight to God was by a continual exercise of love and doing all things for His sake."

        Living according to God's will requires a great deal of calm, quiet, peace, tranquility, gentleness, meekness, and mildness. These things are not readily found in the world and what is available is of a poor and temporary quality. When we look to the world and those in the world to supply these needs, sooner or later, we are bound to be disappointed.

        Nor do the qualities of calm, quiet, peace, tranquility, gentleness, meekness, and mildness naturally reside within ourselves in amounts enough to sustain us. We are not self-sufficient. Try as we might to develop these qualities through any means that depend on our own strength and effort, we will eventually discover that our abilities are quite limited. Sadly, at this point, many people stop. Resigned to making the best of things, they never get to experience the real gifts of life, those gifts that can only come from a relationship with God.

        Of course, there have always been those who offered special methods and ways of arriving at an advanced state of being and the peace that surpassess all understanding without the need of God's involvement. There have always been others who claim that these qualities can be attained only by a select, holy, and pious few. But Our Father never has and never will put up with such foolish arrogance. Sooner or later the special methods and special people theories collapse from the weight of their own conceit.

        We need only read The Gospel where Our Lord clearly points out the truth that Brother Lawrence based his entire approach upon: Our Source and Supply for calm, quiet, peace, tranquility, gentleness, meekness, and mildness is in God's holy presence. These are the attributes of the kingdom of God which anyone may enjoy by simply doing God's will.

Through All Eternity

1.  "The end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity." ... Brother Lawrence

        "I am praising God. I am thanking God. I am worshipping Him as I hope to do throughout all eternity."  This was the soft answer Brother Lawrence gave just before he died, when he was asked what he had been reflecting upon.

        The questioner, perhaps, expected him to say that he had been going over his life or reviewing his past. Yet, Brother Lawrence, as usual, was right there, in the present moment, with God. Following Our Lord, Brother Lawrence's single focus was on Our Father up to the last breath of his earthly life.

2.  Jesus said, "All those who the Father gives me will come to me. I will not reject anyone who comes to me. I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me. ... It is the will of the One who sent me that I lose none of those He gave me. ... It is the will of the Father who sent me, that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him will have everlasting life."

        Our Lord made this statement early in His ministry during His teaching about the true bread of life. As we read through the books of The Gospel we notice that this message is repeated and expanded upon. This message is the theme. It progresses yet always the basic message remains the same. The theme never changes.

        Jesus tells us that Our Father's will for us is to see and believe. In seeing and believing we keep His word. In seeing and believing we obey His commandments. In seeing and believing we love one another as He loves us. In seeing and believing we follow the ways of Christ.

        In every way we can humanly imagine, Jesus Christ, Son of God, is the living expression of the will of Our Father. Whatever Our Lord thinks and says is Our Father's will for each of us.

        However Our Lord does anything is the way Our Father wants us to do it. The emphasis is on the manner of thinking, saying, and doing, rather than the acts themselves. This is important for us to understand. In following Christ we follow His manner or way. In other words, we, like Brother Lawrence, follow Christ who, in turn, followed only one, Our Father, the Living God.

3.  Jesus came to earth in human form to show us what God is like in a way we could grasp and understand. Through the reality of His walking among us we are able to see and believe. Through His actual being among us we get a glimpse of the life that is fuller than limited human existence. Through the Son, who is God scaled down to human form, we get a sense of the Father, who is God without limit and life everlasting.

        Each time we prayerfully read The Gospel the basic message becomes clearer and clearer: Our Father's will for us is to follow the way and manner of Our Lord. We do this through the practice of the presence of God where we engage in continual conversation with Our Father; walk with Him in love, humility, simplicity, and faith; and think, say, and do what is most pleasing to Him.

        In this way, in the here and now, we become God's children who live in His gentle kingdom on earth as it is in heaven and we become reflections of His light and love.

© Light Heart
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