Practicing His Presence

No books other than the Bible have had a greater impact upon my life than these. I first encountered Brother Lawrence’s book, "The Practice of the Presence of God", over thirty years ago and it has continued to inspire me ever since. A few years later, I discovered "Practicing His Presence" in which Brother Lawrence’s original writings were both translated and updated into modern English and combined with those of Frank Laubach. In this book, these two men share their inspiring testimonies of walking with God. One of these men, Frank Laubach, lived during the twentieth century and the other, Brother Lawrence, during the seventeenth century. Although they lived three hundred years apart, they share similar experiences of living in the awareness of the presence of Christ and how it transformed their lives.

The concept of walking in the presence of God is nothing new and has been the secret of many great Christians throughout the centuries. Enoch’s life is a testament to how this practice glorifies God. He is introduced walking with God in Genesis 5:24 and later described in Hebrews 11:5 as having skipped death completely because he pleased God. Enoch was simply taken up by Him. Jesus even commanded the disciples to abide, or remain, in His presence stressing that “…he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) By abiding in Christ all can share David’s experience; “In Thy presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11)

The message of this book is simple and profound. A.W. Tozer described it this way in his classic book "The Pursuit of God", “While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves – blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.”

Keep on abiding,

Steve