The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence

Brother Lawrence insisted that, to be constantly aware of God's presence, it is necessary to form the habit of continually talking with Him throughout each day.

Our only happiness should come from doing God's will, whether it brings us some pain or great pleasure. After all, if we are truly devoted to doing God's will, pain and pleasure won't make any difference to us.

When we are willing to accept God's help and guard our souls according to His desires, we may commune with Him whenever we like.

Sometimes he even wished that he could avoid receiving his reward so that he would have the pleasure of doing something solely for God.

When he sinned, he confessed it to God with these words: "I can do nothing better without You. Please keep me from falling and correct the mistakes I make." After that, he did not feel guilty about the sin.

rejoicing at being able to do little things for the love of God.

aware of his sins and was not at all surprised by them. "That is my nature," he would say, "the only thing I know how to do." He simply confessed his sins to God, without pleading with Him or making excuses. After this, he was able to peacefully resume his regular activity of love and adoration. If Brother Lawrence didn't sin, he thanked God for it, because only God's grace could keep him from sinning.

The worst trial he could imagine was losing his sense of God's presence, which had been with him for so long a time.

complete surrender to God's will is the only secure road to follow. In it, there is always enough light to assure safe travel.

some people go only as far as their regular devotions, stopping there and neglecting love, which is the purpose of those devotions. This could easily be seen in their actions and explained why they possessed so little solid virtue.

Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, he added. All that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.

This brother in the Lord sinned only when he strayed from God's company or when he forgot to ask Him for His help.

When we are in doubt, he continued, 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.

He said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.

The most effective way Brother Lawrence had for communicating with God was to simply do his ordinary work. He did this obediently, out of a pure love of God, purifying it as much as was humanly possible. He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayers unite us with Him in our quiet devotions.

Never tire of doing even the smallest things for Him, because He isn't impressed so much with the dimensions of our work as with the love in which it is done.

Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. Still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues.

He responds faithfully to God's calling, either by offering his heart to God, by a tender, loving look, or by some affectionate words, such as, "My God, I am all Yours; do what You will with me." Then it is almost as if this God of love returns to his soul to rest again, satisfied with these few words.

God is always in the depth of his soul, no matter what he does or what happens to him. Imagine what contentment and satisfaction he enjoys, possessing such an ever-present treasure! He isn't anxious to find it and doesn't worry about where to look for it, because he has already found it and may take whatever he wants from it.

we must continuously walk in God's Spirit, since in the spirit-life not to advance is to fall back.

Make a commitment never to deliberately stray from Him, to live the rest of your life in His holy presence. Don't do this in expectation of receiving heavenly comforts; simply do it out of love for Him.

God won't allow a soul that is searching for Him to be comforted anywhere other than with Him.

without Him, even the greatest pleasures will be joyless.

When I wasn't praying, I kept myself carefully in God's presence, even while I was working. I knew He was always near me, in the deepest part of my heart. This gave me such great respect for God that I was content with faith alone.

Sometimes I imagine that I'm a piece of stone, waiting for the sculptor.

He begins sculpting my soul into the perfect image of His beloved Son.

I hope that the problems God has allowed him to have will cause him to become more concerned about his spiritual life.

When I consider the blessings God has given and still continues to give me, I feel ashamed. I feel I have abused those blessings, barely using them profitably to become more like Christ.

We have to know someone before we can truly love him. In order to know God, we must think about Him often. Once we get to know Him, we will think about Him even more often, because where our treasure is, there also is our heart!

I pray that our brother is wise enough to profit from his loss and to trust God completely.

Even though we should love our friends, that love shouldn't hinder our love of God, who must be first.

The difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way we look at them — through faith or unbelief — that makes them seem so. We must be convinced that our Father is full of love for us and that He only permits trials to come our way for our own good.

The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.

The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure in His divine company, speaking humbly and lovingly with Him in all seasons, at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way. This is especially important in times of temptation, sorrow, separation from God, and even in times of unfaithfulness and sin.

We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work;

we should purely and simply reveal our hearts as the words come to us.

We should also take note of the sins that we most frequently fall into and what occasions contribute to our fall.

to adore God in truth is to recognize Him for what He is and ourselves for what we are.

God desired to keep saints for Himself until the end of the world. These saints would pay Him a respect worthy of His grandeur and majesty and would be models of virtue because of the holy example they set. God was not content to have these extraordinary men born in the early centuries only. He still raises up people who perfectly fulfill these two duties of a saint and who guard the fruits of the Spirit in themselves, transmit them, and make them live again in others.

God then allowed him to perceive the nothingness of the pleasures of the world and touched him with a love of heavenly things.

Even when mistakenly told by one of his superiors that there was talk of dismissing him from the monastery, he replied, "I am in the hands of God; He will do with me as He pleases. If I do not serve Him here, I will serve Him elsewhere."

At the beginning of my duties, I would say to the Lord with confidence, 'My God, since You are with me and since, by Your will, I must occupy myself with external things, please grant me the grace to remain with You, in Your presence. Work with me, so that my work might be the very best. Receive as an offering of love both my work and all my affections.'

"During my work, I would always continue to speak to the Lord as though He were right with me, offering Him my services and thanking Him for His assistance. Also, at the end of my work, I used to examine it carefully. If I found good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed faults, I asked His forgiveness without being discouraged, and then went on with my work, still dwelling in Him. "Thus, continuing in the practice of conversing with God throughout each day and quickly seeking His forgiveness when I fell or strayed, His presence has become as easy and natural to me now as it once was difficult to attain."

he advised all of his friends to practice it as carefully and faithfully as they could. Wanting them to undertake this act with a firm resolution and courage, he used the strongest reasons he could to persuade them. In his spiritual enthusiasm and by his godly example, he not only touched their minds, but also penetrated their very hearts. He helped them to love and undertake this holy practice with as much fervor as they had previously regarded it with indifference. His example truly did serve better than his words. One had only to look at Brother Lawrence to desire to dwell in God's presence even as he did, no matter how rushed one might be.

Even when he was busiest in the kitchen, it was evident that the brother's spirit was dwelling in God. He often did the work that two usually did, but he never seemed to bustle. Rather, he gave each chore the time that it required, always preserving his modest and tranquil air, working neither slowly nor swiftly, dwelling in calmness of soul and unalterable peace.

Though he was indeed a humble man, he never sought the glory of humility, but only its reality.

he favored those who were simpler and less sophisticated in their walk with Christ over the more enlightened.

seek God in the things He had created. His soul, moved by the grandeur and the diversity of God's creations, became so powerfully attached to God that nothing could separate it from Him. He observed in each of creation's wonders God's wisdom, His goodness, and the different characteristics of His power.

The more desperate things appeared to him, the more he hoped — like a rock beaten by the waves of the sea and yet settling itself more firmly in the midst of the tempest.

He would work it to the good of the general order.