If we knew how much He loves us, we should be always ready to receive equally, and with indifference, from His hand, the sweet and the bitter; all would please that came from him. (59) Nicolas entered the priory in Paris as a lay brother, not having the education necessary to become a cleric, and took the religious name, "Lawrence of the Resurrection." He spent almost all of the rest of his life within the walls of the priory, working in the kitchen for many of these years and as a repairer of sandals in his later years.

The Practice of the Presence of God - Wikipedia

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive. It is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us." Take a 1-minute survey to join our mailing list and receive a free ebook in the format of your choosing. Read on your preferred digital device, including smart phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. And once we KNOW - listening to Brother Lawrence - how to get there, we’ll finally be sure of Who we are and what our Purpose is.

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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.

The Practice of the Presence of God - bsmi.org

That like the tree, all of us - in our ordinary, unoccupied state, stripped of all our endless diversions and distractions - will remain denuded of all REAL and LASTING comforts, in empty surroundings, unless God steps in.As evangelicals, we talk a lot about the presence of God but seldom look to the Bible to see what it is. When we do, we find that it is first and foremost a theme on which the story of Scripture hinges. If we read our Bibles though we begin to see a two-fold pattern. This article is part of the 10 Things You Should Know series. 1. God is immanent because he is transcendent.

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

I was disappointed to learn that really only about half of this book was written by Brother Lawrence. The first section contains a series of "conversations" recorded by someone who had spoken with Brother Lawrence and the last section was a short biography of his life. I found this biography to be so inundated with bad theology and an almost worshipful view of Brother Lawrence that it left a severe distaste of the entire book. What Brother Lawrence teaches through Practice is that no matter where we are, or what we are doing, we can and should be in God's presence at all times. But how to achieve this state, you may well ask? Although he answers this question in many different ways throughout the book, probably the most clear-cut answer lies here:

10. To be a joyful Christian is to know God’s presence.

It is truly fitting and proper—somewhat ironic too—that the author of the shortest, sweetest, and perhaps the most useful guide to prayer and union with God was written by a Catholic who never became a saint, never became a priest, and worked almost his entire life in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, Brother Lawrence sounds like a great guy. In fact the book is part memoir, part biography, part letters and so on. It's a collection of documents by and about Brother Lawrence who, from the sound of it, was a genuinely humble, dedicated follower of Christ. I think this book may inspire some people; it just didn't inspire me, and probably that's indicative of my own spiritual status (low on the scale). I know I SHOULD practice the presence of God; I'm not sure HOW, and maybe it's one of those things like riding a bike; you try until you get it, and once you get it you don't know how you were ever not able to do it. a b c Herman, Nicholas, The Practice of the Presence of God, The Christian Classics Ethereal Library . I learned from brother Lawrence a couple of ways to sustain the dialogue. One thing I learned was that he described his conversations with God as extremely pleasurable. He kept at the conversation because he enjoyed being with God. There's joy in being with God. So I agree with him that being with God can make paradise available even for the sufferer, not because the suffering is a gift, but because God's presence is the ever promised gift even despite suffering.

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

Now, Aquinas said the pinnacle of all our spiritual experiences is to See God. Did Brother Lawrence achieve that height? April 9, 2018: Concluding another official read of this book, although whether it be the fifth, sixth or more, who can say? In any event, this will never be a closed book on my shelf, mostly because I want to be ‘practicing the presence of God’ always. Guardian Angel help me. Having found different methods of going to God and different practices to attain the spiritual life in several books, I decided that they would serve more to hinder than to facilitate in me what I was seeking—which was nothing other than a means to be wholly God's. This made me decide to give all to gain all; so after having given all to God in satisfaction for my sins, I began to live as if there were no one in the world but Him and me.” (p73) On the surface, such an approach sounds very simplistic, or even selfish. However, the same day I read those words of Brother Lawrence, I read almost the exact same idea expressed by another Carmelite from 200 years earlier. In describing the transforming union that a soul undergoes when it finally achieves oneness with God, St. John of the Cross writes, “And here lies the remarkable delight of this awakening: the soul knows creatures through God and not God through creatures.” (p189, Fire Within, Thomas Dubay, S.M.) God has various ways of drawing us to Him. But sometimes He hides from us. In those times, the sole support of our confidence must be our faith, which must be totally in God. Such faith will not fail.” 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.But in grace, God steps in to pay the price. To overcome man’s sin and ensure his purposes, the Creator becomes covenant Redeemer. Through his covenant promises, the Lord restores what Adam failed to do. God makes a people and a place through the covenant all the while keeping his promises to humanity.