Brother Lawrence wrote, “We would be surprised to know what the soul sometimes says to God, who is so pleased with these conversations that he grants it all its desires, providing it is willing to remain with him always, and in its center.” Have you ever been surprised by your own words in prayer? Perhaps…

Brother Lawrence emphasized what is important in practicing God’s presence: “It is important . . . to realize that this conversation with God takes place in the depths and center of the soul. It is there that the soul speaks to God heart to heart, and always in a deep and profound peace that the…

Brother Lawrence reported how a friend described practicing God’s presence: “This person says that the habit is formed by the repetition of acts and by frequently bringing the mind back into God’s presence. He says that as soon as he is free from his occupations, and often even when he is most taken up by…

Brother Lawrence wrote that the practice of the “presence of God is an application of our mind to God, or a remembrance of God present, that can be brought about either by imagination or the understanding.” In addition to knowing and loving God in our hearts, Brother Lawrence also tells us to know and love…

Brother Lawrence discerns the difference between our wills and our emotions. “There is a great difference between the tastes and sentiments of the will and the operations of the same will, because the tastes and sentiments of the will are in the soul as in their object, and its operation, which is properly love, terminates…

In finding true spiritual freedom, Brother Lawrence calls us to confront all lesser loves in order to “love God above all things.” Picture an old wagon wheel with God as the center and all other loves as the spokes. Think of all the people and things you love – friends, activities, food, projects, hobbies, sports….

Brother Lawrence told us how to know God who is incomprehensible: “We must admit that God is incomprehensible, and that to be united with him we must deprive the will of all sorts of spiritual and physical satisfactions so that, being thereby set free, it can love God above all things. If the will can…

Brother Lawrence offers some insights on how spiritual growth happens: “Actual union is the most perfect. And completely spiritual as it is, its movement is perceptible because the soul is not asleep as in the other unions, but finds itself powerfully stirred. Its operation is more intense than fire, more luminous than the sun in…

The pattern for spiritual growth Brother Lawrence presents can be illustrated by a rock being dropped into a pond and sending out ever-widening circles. “There are three kinds of union: the first is habitual, the second virtual, and the third actual. Habitual union is when we are united to God solely by grace. Virtual union…

Brother Lawrence said simply that God “wants to make us like himself, if we so desire.” I’m captured by this phrase “if we so desire”. I find the question “what do you want?” one of the most difficult questions to answer consistently. I have to reflect, pray, listen. We have a choice. But wishing and…