Acquiring God's Presence

We read on the picture to the right, these words: “To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” [Marilyn vos Savant] In many ways, we might think that acquiring God's presence is the same as acquiring knowledge or wisdom. Brother Lawrence, on pages 69 & 70 of his book "The Practice of the Presence of God," leads us into a better understanding of how we can acquire God's presence in our lives.
1. The first means is a new life, received by salvation through the blood of Christ. Brother Lawrence starts in the obvious place, that we can attain nothing from God apart from the blood of Christ. First and foremost we must have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. It all starts here!
2. The second is faithfully practicing God's presence. This must always be done ... without giving way to anxiety or problems. Jesus Himself was clear to us that the worries of this world can keep us from God's presence. Jesus says this in His description of the seeds that fell on the thorns in the "Parable of the Sower." In Matthew 13:22, Jesus says: "As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world ... choke the word, and it yields nothing." To let ourselves be influenced by God's presence, we can't allow ourselves to get caught up in our worries. We must let God's presence envelop us in a way that keeps the worries out!
3. The souls eyes must be kept on God, particularly when something is being done in the outside world. Since much time and effort are needed to perfect this practice, one should not be discouraged by failure. Romans 12:2 tells us "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Because we have the Holy Spirit within us, we can know the mind of God. And when we know the mind of God, we can rest in the knowledge that we are in God's will. That is what the practice of the presence of God does for us, it keeps us in God's will. So when we are "in" the world, we don't have to act like the world. God's presence will keep guiding our way.

Giving Attention To God

One of the aspects of practicing the presence of God is learning how to give our attention to God. It is easy in this world to get distracted. There are so many choices of things to do; so many ways to be busy. In his book the "Practice of the Presence of God" (p. 67), Brother Lawrence talks about how giving our attention to God helps to bring confidence in our lives.
A friend of Brother Lawrence's said it this way: "By dwelling in the presence of God he has established such a sweet communion with the Lord that his spirit abides, without much effort, in the restful peace of God." How wonderful it would be to have a "restful peace" in our lives. This was a struggle even for the disciples. Remember how they were in the boat, in a storm, and were fearful, so much so that they had to wake Jesus up. Jesus questioned them: "Where is your faith?" It should have been in the presence of God; as should ours!
On top of this, when we give our attention to God, we are able to rejoice in the blessings of life. God is blessing us in so many ways we aren't aware of, usually because our attention is somewhere else. In the difficulty of life, it is important to note that God is at work. But even more, God is helping us to overcome all the difficulties we face. As the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
And then Brother Lawrence concludes this writing with these words: "The presence of God is, then, the life and nourishment of the soul, which can be acquired with the grace of God." Just as the body needs food for nourishment, so does our soul. As the Bible is like the meal we need to eat, so experiencing God's presence is like the dessert; the extra special nourishment that blesses us beyond measure!

Union With God

Brother Lawrence reminds us in his book on page 65 that the only way that we can have "union with God is through salvation." We must be saved, through Jesus Christ, to be in a relationship with God, because without the cleansing we receive from Christ, our sin keeps us from truly knowing God and experiencing God.
Brother Lawrence goes on to say: "a saved soul comes to know God through a series of experiences, some of which bring it into closer union with Him and some take it further away. The soul learns which activities bring God's presence nearer." This is very true. There are experiences in our lives that cause us to be separated from God. We walk down a path God would not have us walk on, and we feel far from God; we wonder where God has gone. But then there are those experiences when we feel God's presence in a profound way.
This is what the "Practice of the Presence of God" is all about; being in the most perfect union with God in which we can be. "The most perfect union with God," Brother Lawrence says, "is the actual presence of God. Although this relationship with God is totally spiritual, it is quite dynamic..." Dynamic. Powerful. Life-changing. To get to that place where we experience God in our spirit (on a spiritual level) cannot be taught, but only experienced! It is the most profound of experiences.
Brother Lawrence also says that this perfect union with God "is an inexpressible state of the soul--gentle, peaceful, respectful, humble, loving, and very simple..." To be in the inexpressible state only comes from disengaging ourselves from the things of the world (material desire, love of money, selfish actions, etc...) and walking in the beauty of the design of God (loving one another, forgiving others, showing grace and mercy, and on and on). As we seek to follow the example set for us by Christ, we will then experience the connection with God that finds its way into our soul!

Adoring God

One of the aspects we should have toward God is how to adore God "in Spirit and in truth." When Jesus was talking to the Woman at the Well, He challenged her in this way, by saying in John 4:23-24,
"²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Brother Lawrence helps to instruct us in this with three points:
1. "First, to adore God in Spirit and in truth means to adore Him as we should. Because God is a Spirit, He must be adored in Spirit. That is to say, we must worship Him with a humble, sincere love that comes from the depth and center of our soul...we must repeat it until it becomes part of our nature..." The truth is, in any aspect of life, to be good at something we must repeat it regularly. This is true of the way we love God as well. As sinful people, we love conditionally. To learn how to love God from the depths of our being will take work and practice.
2. "Secondly, to adore God in truth is to recognize Him for what He is, and ourselves for what we are. Adoring God in truth means that our heart actually sees God as infinitely perfect and worthy of our praise...." Until we see God as greater than we are, we will not feel the need to worship God. We might appreciate God at times, but it will not be adoration; it will not be devotion. If you stop and think, you will see that God has been there many times to help you, guide you, protect you. If you talk to other Christians, you will find this out all the more. If you seek to know God, you will discover that God is greater than you are, and worthy of your love, praise and devotion.
3. "Thirdly, to adore God in truth is to admit that our nature is just the opposite of His. Yet, He is willing to make us like Him..." How wonderful this is to know, that God desires to help us be more like Him. Through Jesus Christ, God can impart to us His unconditional love, His power, and His wisdom. God helps us to overcome our sinful nature, and allows us to make a difference with our lives. God is able to take the difficulties we face, and bring fruit out of them.
FOR THIS AND MORE WE SHOULD ADORE GOD WITH ALL THAT WE HAVE AND ALL THAT WE ARE! Amen.

Practice Makes Perfect

Brother Lawrence tells us, "The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure in His divine company..." (p. 59) To achieve anything good in life, we must practice. Even the most talented of people have to practice to become better. If we want to be the best we were created to be, we must practice. But the trick is that it is not practicing the behavior of being perfect, but practicing the behavior of being in the presence of God. As we are in God's presence, He will lead us to become more perfect in our being.
So how do we practice to become perfect? As Brother Lawrence says, "We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work...purely and simply reveal our hearts.." We can be in the same room with someone, and not converse with them. We must make the effort to be in a conversation. It is the same with God. Since God is always present with us, we need to make the effort to converse with God. And the conversation doesn't need to be deep and earth shattering. Just simple thoughts. And it doesn't have to be in a quiet sanctuary. It can happen while you are doing your work, driving your car, or walking down the street!
What will help us in this process, is as Brother Lawrence says (p. 61) "...believing that He really lives in our hearts..." When we believe this, it becomes real to us and we can know. Even more, we experience God's presence the more we live our this belief. In our coming to God in this way, we allow God to have "His good pleasure to do with each of us whatever He chooses.." This is when the joy of life really comes upon us.

Spiritual Maxims

As we get to page 57 in Brother Lawrence's book "The Practice of the Presence of God," we get to some "Spiritual Maxims" from Brother Lawrence. He talks about how when we believe, hope, and love, then "all things will be possible to us in God." He talks about how these maxims can help lead us toward perfection.
Maxim 1: "We should be considerate of God in everything we do and say....We must make a firm resolution to overcome, with God's grace, all the difficulties encountered in a spiritual life."
The spiritual life is wrought with many challenges. Just living day to day for many people is a challenge. As Garfield says: "'Good morning' is a contradiction in terms." But God can give us the power, by His grace (meaning that we don't deserve the presence of God's power). to be able to live a spiritual life. The more we seek to do and say as God would have us do and say, the more able we will be to live the spiritual life.
Maxim 2: "From the very beginning of our Christian walk, we should remember who we are and that we are unworthy of the name of Christian, except what Christ has done for us..."
This is a good reminder of what the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" We are really nothing without Jesus Christ, because we stumble over our sin so regularly. But in Christ, we can really become something!
Maxim 3: "We must believe with certainty that it is both pleasing to God and good for us to sacrifice ourselves to Him. Without this complete submission of our hearts and minds to His will He cannot work in us to make us perfect."
It is true that in life we will make sacrifices for those things that are most important to us. I will make great sacrifices to be available to coach my son's baseball team because I know it is important to him that I do this, and it is a great bonding time for us. If we do not believe that sacrificing our time to God is valuable, and if we do not believe that living for Christ is important, then we can never hope to do this in our lives.
Maxim 4: "The more we aspire to be perfect, the more dependent we are on the grace of God....The world, the flesh, and the devil wage a fierce and continuous war on our souls...Although this total dependence may sometimes go against our human nature, God takes great pleasure in it..."
We cannot even hope to be perfect without Christ, because it is Christ who makes God's power available to us. And in Christ, we have righteousness imparted to us. We have to will ourselves to become dependent on Christ, so that we can live the way God created us to live. God is pleased in this, because when we humble ourselves, God can work in and through us.

God's Presence 17: Deliverance

One of the desires we have when we are under attack or in a trial is to be delivered from this trial. Most of us want to be delivered "now." But God has His own timing for our own good. As Brother Lawrence reminds us in his book, p. 53: "I cannot thank God enough for the way He has begun to deliver you from your trial. God knows very well what we need and that all He does is for our good. If we knew how much He loves us, we would always be ready to face life--both its pleasures and its troubles."
Peter challenges us in this thinking as well, as we read in the Bible from 1 Peter 1:6-8, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." While God will deliver us from our trials and burdens, God will often let trials come into our lives for a purpose. Brother Lawrence says it like this: "You know, the difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way that we look at them--through faith or unbelief. 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 only way that we can become convinced of this, is to follow God and know God more and more. The longer we know God, and the better we know God, the more history we will have to experience God's power, love, and faithfulness in our lives.
As you go through the trials of life, trust in God, and God will deliver you in due time!

God's Presence 16: Courage

Life can be difficult; life can be challenging; life can be a struggle. With this in mind, we hear these words from Brother Lawrence: "Take courage! God often allows us to go through difficulties to purify our souls and to teach us to rely on Him more. As we are told in 1 Peter 1:6-7, 'In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.' So offer God your problems unceasingly, and ask Him for strength to overcome them. Talk to Him often; forget Him as seldom as possible." (p. 51)
In other words, when we seek God and remember God, then we will tend to give God our problems more, and worry less. We usually worry because we are concerned about how things will come out; we are afraid they will come out badly. But to worry means that we don't understand who God is, and what God wants to do in our lives. To worry means that we are taking our eyes off of God, and focusing on ourselves.
So Brother Lawrence encourages us with these words: "Remember that God never leaves us unless we go away first. We should be careful never to separate ourselves from His presence." Now it is very possible that we separate ourselves from God unwillingly. Maybe we get busy and our mind gets distracted. Or maybe we get caught up in something that seems like it will fulfill us, but in the end it doesn't.
Continue to practice being aware of God's presence, and by doing this, it will give you greater courage and assurance of God's love and power and authority in your life.

Rest

In Genesis, chapter 1, we are told about how God created the world and all the things in it. Then in Genesis 2:2-3 we are told: ^"2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." From the beginning of time God has ordained a time of rest.
As I get ready to take my vacation this week, I am thankful for this time of rest. We are told that each day we should try to get some rest, but it can be a challenge. So because we struggle to find times of rest, it is good to have an extended period of rest where we vacation. So these next three weeks I will be taking a rest from my blog as well.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says: ²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." In times away from work, it is easier to give my mind, body, and soul to the Lord, and let Him give me rest. I am thankful for how this time away refreshes my mind and spirit, and energizes me so that I can again be ready to serve Him.
I will miss not blogging on "The Practice of the Presence of God," but hopefully I will be practicing this all the more. On top of this, I will be having some wonderful time with my wife and two kids. I am looking forward to having this special time away with them as we travel to God's beautiful country of Monterey and Yosemite. I pray that I will let the beauty of nature fill me with the reminder of how God creates beauty, and that I will let this beauty come alive inside of me. Blessings to all who read this, and let God give you His rest each time you go to Him.

God's Presence 15: Humility

One of the powerful aspects of the book "The Practice of the Presence of God" is how Brother Lawrence is such a humble and sincere man. In his eleventh letter he writes: "Since you are seriously interested in knowing how I attained the ability God granted me to dwell in His presence, I will try to explain it. But I must ask you not to show my letter to anyone. If I thought you were going to let someone else read it, I would not discuss the matter..." (p. 49) First of all he attests to the fact that the only reason he has the ability to be aware of God's presence is because God gave him that ability. In a society where it is always about "me" this is quite refreshing. But he also has a tremendously humble attitude. It reminds me of what Peter said: 1 Peter 5:6- "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
The key to being in the presence of God, Brother Lawrence says, is "I wanted to simply belong totally to God." The truth is, as long as we are caught up in our own selfishness and sinfulness, as long as we are more concerned about what the world has for us, we will not be able to practice being aware of God's presence in our lives. So, we have to make the decision about whom we will follow.
But Brother Lawrence continues: "I began to live as if there were no one but God and myself in the world." I remember how when I first met my wife Tami (of course she wasn't my wife then), all I could think about was being with her and talking to her. Most people have this experience in some way when they start to date someone special. This is how it needs to be with us and God if we are going to allow ourselves to experience God's presence; we must humble ourselves and only think about God.
Brother Lawrence has some good closing thoughts to this letter (p. 50): "But when we faithfully keep ourselves in His holy presence and always remember that He is before us, we avoid offending Him (at least voluntarily). Then, we may take the holy liberty of asking Him for the grace we need." Wouldn't it be nice to have this kind of closeness with God? It can be done. Let us humble ourselves before God this day. Tell me what you think.

God's Presence 14: Trusting

Brother Lawrence reminds us in the Tenth Letter: "(if he) puts all his confidence in GOD, He will soon give him another friend, more powerful and more inclined to serve him." God has placed many people around us to help us in our lives. Sometimes these people are in our lives for a long time, other times just for a short time. But if we trust in God, God will provide us with the people we need in our lives to help us to not only do what we are created to do, but challenge us to be in a wonderful, trusting relationship with God.
He goes on to say: "Pray remember what I have recommended to you, which is, to think often on GOD, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone." Trusting has to do with not only knowing that God is near, but regularly practicing allowing God to be active in your life. Because God is near, we need to practice letting God lead us and guide us. This doesn't come to us naturally, we have to learn how to let God gain control and lead us. When we can let God be always near, then we will all the better for it.
He then asks a challenging question: "why then must GOD be neglected?" And we might wonder, how do I neglect God? But the truth is, because we think we should control our lives without God, and only let God in sometimes, we truly are neglecting God. God wants to (and should be) the Lord of our lives, and we should be regularly thinking about God, and lifting up our questions and concerns to God, and allowing God to speak to us through our thoughts, and the the Bible, and the events around us.
Where do you need to trust God more? How can you neglect God less, and think about God more?

God's Presence 13: Spiritually Mature

As we get older we are expected to act more mature. This is true of our spiritual life as well. We have been talking about how to practice experiencing God's presence in our lives. As the theory goes, the longer we practice this, the more mature we should be in regards to this practice. But Brother Lawrence reminds us: "It is not possible to become spiritually mature all at once. I recommend that you work with her, because we should help each other with our advice and, even more, with our good example." (page 45)
This is important to remember, that our spiritual maturity shouldn't be up to just us, but we should work together to help each other grow in our faith. As we share our struggles with each other, then we can help challenge each other to persevere in our journey. As the Bible says: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man helps another."
But maturity in our faith also has to do with our focus. Again, Brother Lawrence says: "Let us often remember...our sole occupation in life is to please God. What meaning can anything else have?" How much easier it is to grow mature in our faith when we are focused on just pleasing God. When we can remove the distractions in life, we can concentrate better on seeking how to please God with the way we live. Even more, when our focus is more on God, we can know God more deeply, and seek God more readily.
But the encouraging news is that God gives us more time. Each day is another opportunity for us to seek God, and know God, and let God's presence be expressed in and through us. Maturity in Christ is always about being serious. But it is about knowing of God's presence, and letting God's presence be there for you in the good times and the bad.

God's Presence 12: Distractions

In life, there are many distractions. To the right is a television, which is one of many things in our world that causes us to be distracted from the important things in life. Distractions often keep us from the presence of God. As Brother Lawrence says in his eighth letter (p. 43): "Our minds are so flighty. But I remember that our God-given will governs our strength. It must recall the mind of God. Otherwise our spirit may wander, dragging us down to the things of this earth."
What causes you to be distracted? Hopefully the answer to this question is fairly easy for you. Because if it is not, then you will be distracted without even knowing that you are being distracted. If we want to even hope to keep ourselves in the presence of God, then we must be aware of those things that distract us so that we can seek to overcome them with God's help.
Brother Lawrence gives us some words of wisdom in this when he says: "I think the remedy for the problem is to confess our faults to God and humble ourselves before Him." When we can acknowledge that it is a struggle to keep focused on God, then we put ourselves in the right place; the place that helps us to acknowledge that we need God's help in this. Instead of getting upset at our struggle, we recognize that we struggle. As Brother Lawrence says: "being upset will only distract you more. Allow your will to recall your attention gently to God. Such perseverance will please Him."
It isn't about always being focused, but being aware of how and when we are not. By seeking to be more aware, we then are again "practicing" having God's presence in our lives! This is what it means to take our faith in God and our relationship with God seriously.

God's Presence 11 (The Hand of God)

Brother Lawrence starts out his seventh letter with some powerful words: "We have a God who is infinitely good and who knows what He is doing." (p. 41) Have you ever wondered if God knew what He was doing?
One of the primary questions people ask is: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The problem with this question is that it infers that either God is doing the bad to good people, or that God doesn't stop the bad from happening. But people tend to forget that much of the bad that exists comes from people who choose to do the bad. And those who aren't choosing the bad can be a result of their actions. Bad also comes to those who make bad choices (but people don't want to take responsibility for their own actions, they would rather blame God).
Romans 8:28 tells us: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." If you have trusted God for any length of time, you have experienced this in your life; God coming into your life and bringing good out of the bad that has happened. And so with this in mind, Brother Lawrence says: "His perfect time is when you may least expect it....Thank Him for strength and patience He is giving you, even in the midst of this trial, for it is an evident mark of His concern for you."
Trials can make us strong. Trials can give us a spirit of perseverance. Trials help us to appreciate the good we have in life. Trials are a badge of honor, as we understand that God cares enough for us to allow us to go through the trial so that we can learn the lessons God wants us to learn.
This is why Brother Lawrence encourages us to communicate with God always. As we are constantly communicating with God, and letting God communicate with us, we will be able to know of God's presence, and God's work, and God's care for our lives. So we can know that we "have a God who is infinitely good and who knows what He is doing." We have a God whose hand is upon us, over us, around us, and works in and through us!

God's Presence 10 (The Full Treasure)

In his sixth letter (p. 40), Brother Lawrence talks about finding the full treasure that is described in the Gospel. Jesus told a wonderful parable about finding a great treasure in the gospel of Matthew 13:44-46, "⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
The full treasure of the gospels is the kingdom of heaven. And this is not just something that exists in heaven, but something that we can have here on earth. Jesus taught that the kingdom was something that could be received here on earth. Matthew 5:3 says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And in Matthew 5:10, Jesus said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus taught that as we seek to know God, and follow God, and seek to live the "right way" that God instructs us, then we would be able to see and experience the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Jesus made it clear that it was not to be seen by everyone: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
What is so important about discovering the kingdom of heaven. Well, Jesus seemed to think that it was more valuable than pearls or treasure. Finding the kingdom of heaven will bring peace to your life, because you will be resting fully in God and God's will for you. As Brother Lawrence says: "I don't know what's become of me. It seems that a tranquil soul and a quiet spirit come to me even while I sleep. Because I am at rest, the trials of life bring me no suffering. I don't know what God has in store for me, but I feel so serene that it doesn't matter. What do I have to be afraid of when I'm with Him?"
Can you say that, that you don't fear anything and that your life is serene? Seek after God's kingdom by seeking God and God's ways, and you can.

God's Presence 9 (Being Loved By God)

One of the desires in life is to be loved. We long to be loved with a pure love. Unfortunately, much of life brings heartache as others can only love us with conditional love (I love you when, I love you if...). But Brother Lawrence, in his fifth letter (p. 35) reminds us that God loves us with the fullness of pure love.
This pure love does not come from methods or programs. Brother Lawrence says: "On the contrary, I found methods to be discouraging. My intent, at the beginning of my Christian walk, was to give myself to God all at once. I did this out of love for Him, because I wanted to pay for my sins and renounce everything that offended Him." Are you aware of what offends God? It is difficult to love and be loved by God if we don't know what offends God. The Bible is clear in what God desires. At the core, Micah 6:8 tells us, "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Instead of worrying whether or not our walk is good enough, we need to humble ourselves and understand that God loves us as His created being; unconditionally. He does want us to be just, and to love, and to be humble. But He loves us even when we are not. He loves us because we are part of Him; created in His image.
As we allow ourselves to be loved in this unconditional way, we then are freed up to really live for God. We are then motivated to seek to please God with our lives because we want to give thanks to God for this love and this life we are given. As Brother Lawrence says on page 37: "This King, Who is full of goodness and mercy, doesn't punish me. Rather, He embraces me lovingly and invites me to eat at His table (Revelation 3:20). He serves me Himself and gives me the keys to His treasury, treating me as His favorite." And in response, we are to give God our simple, loving attention as much of the day as we can.
In trying to remember God in this way, we remain in God through Christ.

God's Presence 8 (Finding Contentment)

People search for contentment in life. But most people struggle to find it. Brother Lawrence, in his third letter (p. 31) says: "I honestly cannot understand how people who claim to love the Lord can be content without practicing His presence...When I am with Him there, nothing frightens me."
People struggle to find contentment, because they don't know where to look for contentment. Usually, people have a pre-conceived idea of what will bring contentment to their lives, and then they go after it. But the problem is, many people, even when they find what they are looking for, still don't find that they are content.
Brother Lawrence says: "God won't allow a soul that is searching for Him to be comforted anywhere other than with Him." So, if we want to be content, we need to find it in having a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. And this makes sense, because the One who created us knows how to bring contentment to our lives; the One who created us is the only place where we will feel complete.
The apostle Paul also gives us some wisdom on this idea of being content in Philippians 4:12-13- "¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength." It is through God giving us strength to live that we will have the ability to be content.
So, contentment doesn't rest on how much or how little we have, but rather or not we are connected with God. The "Practice of the Presence of God" then, is about "calmly recalling our spirit to God whenever it is distracted." As we get distracted, we then remember to re-connect with God, and God will bring us these feelings of being content. Brother Lawrence ends this letter by saying: "The Holy Spirit dwelling in us leads us to love God in a diversity of ways. God be with you all."

God's Presence 7 (Spiritual Fulfillment)

Today I want to talk about spiritual fulfillment. The world tells us to set the pace, do what we think will bring us fulfillment, seek to make ourselves happy, and so on. If we could be fulfilled through the world, then why do so many people go through life unfulfilled? It is because fulfillment can only come through God, the creator who created us. Only our creator knows what will fill us. And primarily, what we need to fill ourselves with is God's presence.
In his second letter, p. 29, Brother Lawrence, in his book "The Practice of the Presence of God" says: "I still believe that all spiritual life consists of practicing God's presence, and that anyone who practices it correctly will soon attain spiritual fulfillment. To accomplish this, it is necessary for the heart to be emptied of everything that would offend God. He wants to possess your heart completely. Before any work can be done in your soul, God must be totally in control."
The problem for most people is that God is not in control of their heart. What usually controls people's hearts is their sinful, selfish desires. That is why they struggle to feel connected with God; struggle to feel God's presence. We would rather do something for ourselves, than do something that connects us with God. Prayer, reading the Bible, Bible study, worship, are not as exciting to people as going to the beach, going to Disneyland, or going to a sporting event. Consequently, people live their lives in want, wishing for fulfillment.
Again, Brother Lawrence says: "I would urge everyone to be aware of God's presence, if for no other reason than because His presence is a delight to our souls and spirit." We are aware of physical hunger, but not as aware of the hunger of our souls and spirits. Let us make it a priority in our lives to seek after God so that we might experience the fulfillment God has for us.

God's Presence 6 (Staying Close to God)

We see here in this picture to our left babies staying close to their mother. This same idea is what I want to talk about today as we continue our series in the book "The Practice of the Presence of God." Brother Lawrence says: "For more than forty years, this brother's principal endeavor has been to stay as close as possible to God, doing saying, and thinking nothing that might displease Him." (p. 25) Brother Lawrence did this for the simple reason of the pure love that God had for Him, and the desire to please God.
Brother Lawrence talks about how amazing the joy is that he experiences when he is able to stay close to God. He refers to it as "a constant inner joy." As I think about these words from Brother Lawrence, it makes me think about the gospel of John, 15:4-5,
"Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can yo unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." The joy comes from living a life of meaning; a life that bears fruit.
Brother Lawrence goes on to say on p. 26, "men are blind, content with too little." What he means by this is that God has infinite treasures to give us, but we would rather have the treasures of the world, than the treasures that the creator of the world has for us!
He then goes on to talk about how we need to examine our inner selves. Why do we need to do this? So that we can be responsible for our own actions. If we let the Holy Spirit reign in us, then the Spirit will make known to us all those things that should be removed, and all those actions which need to be forgiven. In this way, we can stay pure and seek God all the more.

God's Presence 5 (Seeking and Knowing God)

In today's blog, I want to look at the "Fourth Conversation" from the book The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence. In this conversation, Brother Lawrence talks about renouncing all those things in life that do not lead to God. In life, there are many things that attract us. But many of these things actually keep us from seeking God and knowing God. We don't acknowledge this, but it is true. There are times when we would rather focus on the things of the world, than on the things of God. We are not following what the apostle Paul tells us to do in Colossians 3:1-2, "¹Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
Brother Lawrence says that this continuous conversation we should be having with God is an important part in helping us to live the life God has for us to live. He says: "All we have to do is to recognize God as being intimately present with us. Then we may speak directly to Him every time we need to ask for help, to know His will in moments of uncertainty, and to do whatever He wants us to do in a way that pleases Him."
So the challenge is to search our lives and see what might be keeping us from intimately knowing God. It could be a book we are reading, or movies we go to see, or friends that we hang out with. To give this up we have to surrender ourselves to God. But when I look around, I see people more concerned with what they want, than what God wants. I don't see people surrendering themselves to God.
Brother Lawrence also says: "The Lord will cleanse and humble us in order to make us more like Christ." But the question is, do people want to be more like Christ? They come to church, but is that so that they can feel like they have done their duty, or is it to be more like Christ? The conversation concludes with Brother Lawrence encouraging us to rejoice in our difficulties, because they will help our faith to be purified and to become precious.