I recently finished reading “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. It was a tremendous blessing. Bother Lawrence was a very devout Christian who lived in the 17th Century and spent most of his life in a monastery to totally devote himself to God. This book is considered a Christian classic.
The following are some points he made in the book related to the Christian walk that I thought particularly significant:
1. He established himself in a sense of God’s Presence by continually conversing with Him and not letting trifles and fooleries distract him. Prayer was not just for times set aside for it but a continual process.
2. Faith was sufficient to bring us to a high degree of perfection.
3. As far as the great sins he saw everywhere in the world, he was not surprised but in fact surprised there were not more considering the malice sinners were capable of. He gave the sins of the world no thought, but simply prayed for the sinners, knowing that God could remedy the mischief when he pleased.
4. He was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of God, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts.
5. When he failed in his duty, he carried no guilt and readily acknowledged his sin, understanding that was his nature and that he never would do otherwise if left to himself. He expected, without anxiety, the pardon of his sins from the blood of Jesus. He noted that God seemed to grant the greatest favors to the greatest sinners as more signal monuments of His mercy. Without being discouraged on account of his sins, he prayed for God’s grace with a perfect confidence, as relying upon the infinite merits of his Lord.
6. He examined himself from time to time which allowed him to realize that he was worthy of great contempt. He then recognized that he deserved all of the pain and labors that God sent to humble him. He believed that if we knew how much God loves us, we would always be ready to receive both the bitter and the sweet from His Hand. It would make no difference.
This book was such an inspiration to me. In particular the way Brother Lawrence really believed God’s Word that after committing a sin but repenting and confessing it to God He would forgive him. Not doubting God or feeling guilty but trusting to His forgiveness he was able to get back up and quickly move forward in his spiritual life and not give Satan an opportunity to discourage him.
How I pray that we all could walk as close to God as Brother Lawrence including trusting God to honor His Word as well as accepting whatever he brings into our lives. It would be wonderful to remain consistently in the presence of God and according to Brother Lawrence we can.
Discover more from The Conservative Christian Apologist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Well said. One thing I liked was his humility,. Once he was assigned a job that was not at all suitable for him, he didn’t complain or make excuses, but trusted it to God and did the best he could. In the end those whom he served in this tasks were very well pleased and considered his work outstanding.
LikeLike
I am working through the book and really love the thought of “praying without ceasing”. I struggle with the thought that God would send a sickness like Brother Lawrence indicated. He said God sent the disease of the body to cure diseases of the soul. I am struggling with that and wish he would have said God allowed the disease.
I also struggle with Him indicating that it is by our own will that we can break through and be in constant communication with God as to say we have accomplished something in and of ourselves and not through God’s strength.
Then I remember that this is a letter and not the scriptures. I am trying to pull from it practices that will allow me to be more reliant on God. There are so many things in the book that keep pushing for completely being sold out to God in every part of our lives.
LikeLike
Yes, God does allow trials to test our faith to produce steadfastness and make us mature and complete Christians (James 1:2-4). It is true they we have no power in ourselves to deal with trials in our life but trials cause us to have to rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to be Overcomers. And what is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith (I John 5:4). I think Brother Lawrence would have better said by our own “faith” rather than on our own.
Faith in God is the key that unlocks God’s power. Easy to say and many times hard to do. However we only need a mustard seed’s worth. God’s grace will be found sufficient to get us through any trial if we maintain our faith in Him through it. Spiritual disciplines like prayer will greatly aid in increasing our faith.
LikeLike
I appreciate your comments but Brother Lawrence indicated he believed God sent the disease in his 11th letter.
“But those who consider sickness as coming from the hand of God see it as part of His mercy”
It seems that we could chose better words here. God knows the future so He knows when we are going to be afflicted in the future. We live in a fallen sinful world so sickness and illness abound and all are affected, some more than others. But to indicate God sent a sickness seems against the loving God of the Bible.
Can you tell me the scripture that would indicate that prayer will increase out faith. I can only think of one verse that tells us how to increase faith.
Romans 10:17
King James Version
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Steve
LikeLike