The Practice of the Presence of God

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And if we never afterwards STOP talking to Him - about whatever pops into our minds, however trivial... we’ll always find Him, in whatever we DO. The name he chose for himself was Lawrence, for St. Lawrence was the Patron Saint of Cooks, having achieved his martyrdom by being cooked to death on a grate. (“Turn me over! I'm done on this side!” St. Lawrence cried out to his torturers, and this dark witticism eventually earned him the additional title of Patron Saint of Comedians.) February 27, 2018: Listened to the audio version again today. Listening is the easy part. Remembering to bring Him into every moment is the constant struggle. That is why it is so good to keep returning and rereading this book. Attwater's was a common approach taken by many translators of this passage: "Conversation with God occurs in the depth and center of the soul," in one translation; [9] and in another, "Great would be our surprise, if we but knew what converse the soul holds at times with God." [10] Finally, and this strikes at the heart of man’s pride and perhaps at the heart of why I and so many others in our modern world struggle with prayer, prayer is not a matter of becoming smarter or stronger. “Neither skill nor knowledge is required to enable us to go to God…” Rather, this sort of continual prayer can only come by a deep sense of our helplessness and weakness before God. We can’t work our way there, and we can’t think our way there. “The greater the perfection to which a soul aspires, the more dependent is she upon divine grace, and this grace becomes more necessary every moment because without it the soul can do nothing. The world, the flesh, and the Devil together wage so fierce and unremitting a war that, without actual grace and a humble reliance thereon, the soul would be dragged down in spite of herself.”

Presence of God by Brother of the The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother of the

Update: For those seeking more practical direction on HOW to implement these principles in the Christian life, I also recommend "We Would See Jesus" by Roy & Revel Hession, published 1958. Maximes spirituelles fort utiles aux âmes pieuses, pour acquérir la présence de Dieu (Edme Couterot, 1692): 97.The presence of God is the concentration of the soul’s attention on God, remembering that He is always present.” One way to recall easily the mind and time of prayer, and to preserve it more in rest, is not to let it wander too far at other times. (47) Ryan Lister(PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of theology at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of The Presence of God and serves as director of doctrine and discipleship for Humble Beast, where he also helped start the Canvas Conference. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Chase, and their four children. And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.

EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD: Teachings from the Book of EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD: Teachings from the Book of

Brother Lawrence makes an example of the chore of doing dishes and serving in the kitchen to bolster his proposition that any activity can be completed inside the presence of God but I found that to be pretty hollow. I don't disagree that doing dishes (or any seemingly mundane task)can be done as an act of service and love but I thought it was weak to use that as an example of a trying or difficult circumstance which would really challenge our ability to be God-centered. I don't know; maybe he really hated doing dishes. However if that's the most difficult situation he faced in his life in the monastery, it makes me wonder how credible his teaching really is. I'm not really sure what to say about this little book. I guess I was expecting some great revelation about how to be a better Christian but the basic message here is "practice the presence of God every day." Hmmm. That's a bit like opening a book and finding written inside, "This is a book. Read it." If I would have stopped reading about 3/4 of the way through, I probably would have given this book three stars instead of two.I first read this book 26 years ago, and now I must atone for a grave injustice I did it at that time. I was asked to read it by an acquaintance, and I agreed with distaste: can any good come out of a book written by a Catholic monk? I asked my Presbyterian self. Accordingly my opinion when finished was that it was a book of no value. This article is part of the 10 Things You Should Know series. 1. God is immanent because he is transcendent. As a Christian husband and father of one (and another on the way), I am moved by the practical principles for religious devotion to Christ that are laid out in this book, but I do wish that they were not hypocritically represented by a clergyman who divorced himself entirely from life amongst lay people. It sets a terrible precedent when Jesus said,"no one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light" (Luke 11:33).

Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of

When we are in doubt, God never fails to show us the right way to go, as long as our only goal is to please Him and show our love for Him.” God does all of this so that he can be our God and we can be his people (Gen 17:7; Ex 6:7; 29:45, Rev 21:3, etc.). At the heart of the covenant, then, is a relationship—one that is decidedly on his terms. God enters into his creation to create a people and a place for his presence. And so the covenant is as the Lord declares at Sinai: “I will dwell among the people of Israel and be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them” (Ex 29:45-46). 7. The presence of God is the means and end of redemption. After decades of such service, in his seventies and until his death in his eighties, suddenly he was sought out for what had become his obvious piety. The major barrier to this book is the slightly stilted language. I have recommended this to several people and they cannot get past this, essentially missing the book's message. If nothing else this makes me understand why the King James Bible remains obtuse for many. Fast forward to the end of our Bibles and we see a very similar picture but on a much larger scale. All of heaven has collided with the whole earth to make a perfect sanctuary for God to dwell with man (Rev 21:1-4). In the book of Revelation, Eden has returned and expanded into new heaven and new earth where all of God’s people enjoy his presence eternally. 4. Humanity’s mission and the presence of God are inseparable.First, the Bible makes clear that the presence of God is a central goal in God’s redemptive mission. All of God’s work ends with the Lord dwelling with man. And second, the presence of God is, not only an objective, it is also the means by which the redemptive mission is fulfilled. God writes himself into his own story to bring salvation. To understand our Bibles and how it changes us, we need to know God’s presence. 8. The presence of God finds its greatest expression in Immanuel, God with us. That 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. (13) There is a difference between saying “God is everywhere,” and saying “God is here.” The former is the default category for most Christians. We talk about God’s presence being inescapable and that he is “everywhere present” (Ps 139:5-12; 1 Kings 8:27). What I expected from this book was an account of the faith of a hardworking Christian man in the midst of his daily labors, what I got was a man who was disappointed by how "satisfying" life in the monastery was and who expected future suffering (purgatory) to make up for his carefree life as a monk. This was a man who did not truly believe in the sufficiency of Christ's suffering on his behalf. Thinking he had to make up the difference somehow, such was the mindset of the monks. It's alot easier to be taken up with spiritual ecstasies when you have no real responsibilities in the world.