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Practicing the Presence of God Lessons from Br. Lawrence. Simple yet profound Immanently practical Appeals to fundamental human need to love and be loved. The Beauty of His Method. Guard heart with extreme care. Br. Lawrence’s Method.
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Simple yet profound Immanently practical Appeals to fundamental human need to love and be loved The Beauty of His Method
Guard heart with extreme care Br. Lawrence’s Method
"I think it proper to inform you in what manner I consider myself before God, whom I behold as my King. I consider myself as the most wretched of men, inwardly full of sores and corruption, and one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Touched with a sensible regret, I confess to Him all my wickedness, I ask His forgiveness, and I abandon myself into His hands so that He may do what He pleases with me…
But the King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, and gives me the key of His treasures. He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite. It is in this way that I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence."
"I make it my ordinary business to abide in the presence of God with the humility of a useless, though faithful, servant."
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God "Keep the soul's gaze fixed on God in faith, calmly, humbly, lovingly, without allowing anxious cares and worries to enter in.“ Br. Lawrence’s Method
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Simple, but not easy: "Since this cannot become a habitual practice without time and great patience, do not be disheartened at your many failures. This habit can only be formed with difficulty, but once it is formed your joy in it will be great!" Br. Lawrence’s Method
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Do all for the love of God All things “secular” and “sacred” All acts “become little acts of communion with God” Br. Lawrence’s Method
"Possessed thus entirely with the greatness and the majesty of this infinite Being, I went straightway to the place that duty had marked out for me--the kitchen." “Brother Lawrence said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.”
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Do all for the love of God All things “secular” and “sacred” All acts “become little acts of communion with God” All acts both “great” and small” Br. Lawrence’s Method
“Brother Lawrence said he concentrated on doing little things for Him, since he was unable to do bigger things.”
“And it is not necessary,” Brother Lawrence continued, “to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it, after which I arise, more content than a king. When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God.”
Motive and Act Inseparable: "The littleness of the work does not lessen one bit the value of the offering, for God does not consider the greatness of the work, but the love that motivates doing it."
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Do all for the love of God Offer short prayers to God Before, during, and after any duty Br. Lawrence’s Method
During: "Moreover, as I worked, I would continue to hold familiar conversation, offering to Him my little acts of service, and entreating the unfailing assistance of His grace."
After: "When I had finished, I would examine how I had performed my duty. If well, I gave Him thanks. If ill, I besought His pardon. Then, without losing heart, I set my spirit right, and returned anew to His presence, as though I had never wandered from Him. Thus, by rising after every fall, and by doing all in faith and love without wearying, I have come to a state in which it would be as little possible for me not to think of God as it was hard to discipline myself to it at the beginning."
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Do all for the love of God Offer short prayers to God Before, during, and after any duty Turn all thoughts over to God Br. Lawrence’s Method
Guard heart with extreme care Keep “soul’s gaze” fixed on God Do all for the love of God Offer short prayers to God Treasure God’s presence supremely Br. Lawrence’s Method
"The presence of God is thus the life and nourishment of the soul."
"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of continual communion with God. Only those who practice and experience it can comprehend it. Yet I do not advise you to do it for that motive. It is not pleasure that we should seek in this exercise—we should do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us do it."
Since God fills heaven and earth with his presence, we should fill heaven and earth with his glory." (Stephen Charnock)
