Brother Lawrence was a lay member of a Carmelite monastery in 17th century France. In the book “The Practice of the Presence of God,” which contains conversations and letters by Brother Lawrence about his spiritual discipline, the following excerpt is recorded:

“The time of business,” said he, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer. In the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Supper.” 

Brother Lawrence had grasped the reality that we are able to experience God’s presence at all times — that as Christians, God is always with us and it is only our refusal to focus on Him that allows us to be unaware of His nearness. 

Over the millennia, we have somehow decided that God must be invited, or that we must do special things so that He will visit us. We have conveniently disregarded multiple scriptures of God’s word that tell us that He is always with us. 

A few of those verses that speak to His presence with us are: Joshua 1:9, “…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”; Deuteronomy 31:6, “…He is the One Who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you”; Matthew 28:20, “…and lo, I am with you, even to the end of the age.”

The list goes on and on of verses declaring that God is always present, and that He is always willing to commune with His children.

It is perhaps one of our greatest failures as professing Christians that we do not avail ourselves of His willingness to have us be always aware of His eternal presence. If we could fathom, as did Brother Lawrence, how life changing this awareness of God can be, we would seek with all of our faculties to make it so. For Brother Lawrence it gave his life meaning and purpose beyond the mundane life at the monastery. He was so excited at his discovery that he was transformed, and set free from the conventional thinking that God was only present in worship services. The realization that he could experience God at every moment was so enlightening that it touched every facet of his life. Now, he was always worshiping, always praying, always in communion with God, even while he fulfilled his duties.

Maybe the Church needs to begin “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.