The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Is your life so busy you barely take time to breathe let alone pray without ceasing? We think this nugget of truths can help us to focus on God no matter what we’re doing.  Brother Lawrence was not a monk. He was a  wounded soldier, failed footman, and finally a cook and dishwasher and cobbler who lived centuries ago. How can he help us today? Brother Lawrence was known to be ‘sensible of his faults but not discouraged by them.’ People wrote him letters seeking his advice.

His responses were short lessons such as “One does not become holy all at once” and 

“Our only business was to love and delight ourselves in God…”

Brother Lawrence said it was a great delusion to think that times of prayer were different from other times. God is always with us! We are never alone! Before working he prayed:

“ O my God, since Thou are with me and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy presence, and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections.” 

I love that his book is called The Practice of the Presence of God because we must practice  and practice and practice to form this amazing ‘holy habit’.Christ followers are not perfect but we should be different. We should be working wholeheartedly because we are serving our heavenly Father no matter what we are endeavoring to accomplish.   Mowing a lawn, cooking a meal, washing laundry, bandaging a wound, teaching a child the list is endless but the drive and determination to do our best should be consistent. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 is the focus scripture in the movie Remember the Goal. The coach put it on T-shirts for her team to help them remember, “...whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Brother Lawrence and the cross-country coach share the same mindset. 

There were many powerful lines in this book but my favorite was pithy and packed a punch, 

“Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God.”