Praying breath prayers – prayers that you can pray in one breath – is a valuable exercise in practicing God’s presence. Brother Lawrence illustrated: “Formulate a few words interiorly, such as: ‘My God, I am completely yours,’ or ‘God of love, I love you with all my heart,’ or ‘Lord, fashion me according to your…

In practicing God’s presence Brother Lawrence had no qualms in reiterating ways for making the habit stick: (1) The priority of “purity of life”. (2) That “fostering this awareness of God within, must always be performed gently, humbly, and lovingly, without giving in to disturbance or anxiety.” (3) Taking “special care that this inner awareness,…

To keep us from discouragement, Brother Lawrence says that God often brings the Christ follower “savory, delicious [spiritual] nourishment, though it never sought nor did anything to obtain it, and in no way contributed to it itself, except by its consent.” We do actively pursue God. Yet at times God will surprise us with his…

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…