The Practice of the Presence of God

Last night at small group we were encouraged to read "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk. Comprised of both "conversations with" and "letters from" Bro. Lawrence, it is chock full of incredible thoughts on how, why, and when we ought to practice being in God's presence.  Below are the thoughts that stuck out to me in my first read through the conversations, several of which are things I have been recently learning from the Lord.

Written from a 3rd person perspective as an account of another man's conversations with him:

Brother Lawrence told me...

That we ought to give ourselves up to GOD, with regard both to things temporal and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling His will, whether He lead us by suffering or by consolation, for all would be equal to a soul truly resigned.


That he expected after the pleasant days GOD had given him, he should have his turn of pain and suffering; but that he was not uneasy about it, knowing very well, that as he could do nothing of himself, GOD would not fail to give him the strength to bear them.


That useless thoughts spoil all: that the mischief began there; but that we ought to reject them, as soon as we perceived their impertinence to the matter in hand, or our salvation; and return to our communion with GOD.


That he had no scruples; for, said he, when I fail in my duty, I readily acknowledge it, saying, I am used to do so: I shall never do otherwise, if I am left to myself. If I fail not, then I give GOD thanks, acknowledging that it comes from Him.


That there needed neither art nor science for going to GOD, but only a heart resolutely determined to apply itself to nothing but Him, or for His sake, and to love Him only.


That we need only to recognize GOD intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.


That our sanctification did not depend upon changing our works, but in doing that for GOD's sake, which we commonly do for our own. That it was lamentable to see how many people mistook the means for the end, addicting themselves to certain works, which they performed very imperfectly, by reason of their human or selfish regards.


That the end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshipers of GOD we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity.
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"O my GOD, since Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy Presence; and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections." 
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Amen, O Lord.  Amen.

The Lord Confirmed The Message

The main point of this post is to express my deep thanks to God for my husband, but I must first start with Paul and Barnabas.

I am currently studying Acts of the Apostles in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  This is my second year, having had BSF-Trial-By-Fire last year in the study of Isaiah.  This study of Acts has been so interesting, having so much to do with the work of the Holy Spirit and His empowerment in our lives to be Christ's ambassadors. 

This week's lesson was on Chapter 14, which records the conclusion of Paul's first missionary journey.  This chapter tells us about Paul and Barnabas witnessing to the grace of Christ in the pagan cities of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.  In the first city, Iconium, they are speaking to a mixed crowd of Jews and (Greek) Gentiles.  Many believed, but some of the unbelieving Jews stir up the crowd and "poison their minds". 

Paul and Barnabas could have looked at this situation and just decided there were many other places that would be more receptive to the Gospel, and that they would be better used of God to just move on.  Instead, they heeded the Spirit's urging to stay, and not just stay, but spend considerable time there.  They stayed there,

"...speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders." (vs. 3)

I will get back to Paul and Barnabas in a moment, but I must interject here with some absolute praise to God for giving me a husband who so often and so ably speaks boldly for the Lord.  He doesn't just do it to strangers in a foreign city (though I'm sure he would if given the opportunity).  I have been watching him in the last few months be incredibly bold when speaking to his father, his brothers and sister, and several cousins who show a genuine desire for Truth.  I believe the Lord will do as He did with Paul and Barnabas and confirm the message of His grace in the hearts of these people--perhaps not through signs and wonders as we think of them, but I can testify to the fact that listening to him weave the gospel and logic with such wisdom is a wonder.  As with the apostles, the result is not up to Rob, but up to the Holy Spirit.  I am so thankful and proud of him for speaking with greater concern for these people's eternal relationship with God than any possible rending of his relationship with them here and now. 

As I write here, he is on the phone with his cousin who, after seeing her pictures on facebook two nights ago, stayed up two hours past when he wanted to be in bed to write her a very clear, detailed, and bold message on facebook, encouraging her to turn to God and away from the pit she's sliding into.  She wrote back and asked to talk to him, and he's been on the phone for at least an hour.  Praise you, Oh God, who have by Your Spirit empowered your son Rob to bear witness to the Truth of Your Word!  Soften A's heart!  May the light that You are shedding on her heart right now illuminate her desperate need for you!!!

Okay, so back to the apostles, the ones who did this best (next to Jesus) and gave us such awesome examples of personal surrender to God's will.  They eventually moved on from Iconium, when they discovered (most likely by the discernment of the Spirit) that those in that town had hatched a plot to kill them.  They escaped and moved on to witness in Lystra.  It is here that Paul is nearly stoned to death.  Then he does the unthinkable:

"...he got up and went back into the city..."
     (Acts 14:20)

Could I do this?  Could I return immediately to those who had just stoned me practically to death, and then dragged my body out of the city to avoid being defiled by a dead body (a head-scratcher of an oxymoron in Jewish culture)?

I'm not sure that I have a clear conclusion to this post.  I just wanted to write about how thankful I am for the Spirit witnessing through my husband, for getting to see it and learn from Him/him every time, and to share about the amazing work that God did at the start of the church and continues to do in our day!  May we all be that devoted, that committed to the cause of Christ!!

~Stephanie