Practicing The Presence Of GOD!

I know I could be reading a book about success and prosperity, but I have been reading a book by a 17th century monk by the name of Brother Lawrence. This man was an ex soldier from the war turned monk in a monastery. He had a limp and was kind of clumsy. The weird thing about him was that he lived every day practicing the presence of god. He wrote letters to his friends and encouraged them in some small way to practice the presence of god. They made a book out of his letters and I would like to quote some of what he had to say.

Dear Friend,

I'd like to use this occasion to inform you of the thoughts of one of our brothers concerning the wonderful results and the continual help he receives from the presence of God.  We could both profit from them. (It is believed that Brother Lawrence was referring to himself in the following. His humility restrained him from saying so.)

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. He has no reason for doing this, except to show his gratitude for God's pure love, and because God deserves infinitely more than that anyway.

This brother has become so accustomed to God'd Divine presence that he relies on it for help on all sorts of occasions. His soul has been filled with a constant inner joy that is sometimes so overwhelming, that he feels compelled to do what may seem to some as childish things, in order to prevent the feeling from becoming intense.

If he sometimes strays from this Divine presence, God immediately recalls him by communicating with him through the Holy Spirit. This often happens to him when he is busiest with his work. He responds faithfully to Gods'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.

He often calls men blind, complaining that we are content with too little. God has infinite treasures to give us, he says. Why should we be satisfied with a brief moment of worship? With such meager devotion, we restrain the flow of God's abundant grace. If God can find a soul filled with a lively faith, He pours His grace into it in a torrent which, having found an open channel, gushes out exuberantly.

We often stop the torrent by our lack of respect for it. But we mustn't restrain it any longer. Let us go into our hearts, dear friend, breaking down the dike, making way for grace, and making up for lost time!

Once again, let us examine our inner selves. Time is pressing down on us, and each of us must be responsible for himself. Our business is to be open as possible to God's grace. However, we must continuously walk in God's Spirit since in the spirit-life not to advance is to fall back.

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 totally be in control. So it makes sense to sacrifice ourselves for some time in His presence.


I hope this helps. I got a call the other day from my sister who I haven't talked to in about ten years. She was in the hospital, and when I found out about it, I called and asked her if I could pray with her. I got a call a week later and my sister said that she was doing much better. She also said that I had something she was attracted to. Now you should know that my sister has Native American beliefs and believes in a higher power for the 12 step program she is in. She is a big advocate for AA and NA. I applaud her for that. Anyways, she told me she saw the light that I have, and that she shines the light also in the darkness of the lives of those in the NA/AA programs. I was blown away. What did I do, but practice the presence of God in my daily life.

You should also know that my biological dad is in a nursing home. Not because he's old, but because he is an alcoholic smoker that didn't take care of himself, had heart attacks and strokes until he finally couldn't take care of himself. One day about twenty years ago I told my dad that he needed Jesus. My dad got very angry with me and said,"John don't you tell me about that Jesus crap I don't want to hear it." Now being a christian, that is the last thing I want to here from my dad. Hey dad if you don't have Jesus and you die, your going to hell. Well I couldn't tell that to my dad because the doorway had been shut! This tore me up inside.

Now my dad has some memory loss because of the strokes and I haven't been a good son and visited or called or wrote being so concerned with squeaking out a living for my self. When my sister called she said, "John you need to talk to Dad and share the light." I said he already closed the door. She said maybe dad doesn't want to hear what you have to say as much as he wants to see what you are doing! That's when the words I live by hit me square in the face. Actions speak louder than word! How is that for ironic.

So now I have to reconnect with my sister and my dad and practice the presence of God. Well that's okay, I may not win my dad to Jesus, but at least my soul is content with knowing that I have a relationship with God, and that it is him who wills and who does through me. So I strive every day to practice the presence of God, I talk to him out loud and look pretty strange to some people. I'm okay with that because the peace that comes on my soul is like someone just let out the air from a big balloon.

This brings me full circle to business. How can I expect to do great in business if I still hold onto it thinking it's mine. Remember GOD is in control. When I release what ever business I'm in, this frees God to work freely through me to increase the business for the glory of his kingdom! The light shines from being in his presence just like it did for Moses when he came down off the mountain carrying the ten commandments, and had to put a veil over his face because the light of God was so emanating from his face. God is God, the Big Kahuna. He longs to bless us.

Do we really think that by putting all of our links on the Internet or rushing to a meeting and not meeting with the Big Boss first that we are going to be successful. People are attracted to the light that shines from us because we have spent the time with God. That attraction will bring the people that we need to do business with for the glory of God's kingdom.

So talk to God today, and if there is anything between you and him, get rid of it, and receive his blessings!

Food For Thought
Thanks for Reading