Brother Lawrence said, that “we must believe that it is advantageous for us and pleasing to God to sacrifice ourselves to him; that it is normal for his divine providence to abandon us to all sorts of trials, miseries and temptations. Once we recognize this, should we be surprised that we experience suffering, temptation, opposition,…

Brother Lawrence said that “when we undertake the spiritual life we must seriously consider who we are, recognizing that we are worthy of all scorn, unworthy of the name Christian, and subject to all kinds of miseries and a multitude of setbacks. These disturb us and make our health, our moods, our inner dispositions and…

Brother Lawrence said that “everything is possible for one who believes, still more for one who hopes, [even more for one who loves,] and most of all for one who practices and perseveres in these three virtues.” Jesus challenges us: “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The psalm writer tells us: “Put…

Brother Lawrence said that “we must cultivate faith, hope, and love, for these alone can conform us completely to the will of God. All other things are insignificant and we must not settle for them, but rather regard them as a bridge to be crossed quickly so we can lose ourselves in our sole end…

Brother Lawrence said that “we must never tire of doing little things for the love of God who considers not the magnitude of the work, but the love. In the beginning we must not be surprised if we often fail; in the end, once the habit is formed, we will able to act without thinking…

Brother Lawrence said that “we must entrust ourselves to God and to him alone, once and for all, and he will not deceive us.” First in a total, once-and-for-all surrender, we leave everything to follow Jesus and entrust ourselves to God, God only, holding nothing back. Then we live out our surrender, continually relying upon…

Brother Lawrence sometimes expressed things in an peculiar way. “He kept himself close to God, praising and blessing him with all his strength, spending his life in continual joy.” Yet at the same time, he was “hoping that God would give him something to suffer when he was stronger.” Did Brother Lawrence really want God…

Brother Lawrence noticed that “for him, mental prayer had become the experience of God’s presence, his soul having withdrawn from everything except love. He hardly noticed any difference outside of this time since he kept himself close to God, praising and blessing him with all his strength, spending his life in continual joy.” The kind…

Brother Lawrence said that “it is a big mistake to think that the period of mental prayer should be different from any other. We must be just as closely united with God during our activities as we are during our times of prayer.” We tend to compartmentalize our lives. We separate the sacred and the…

Brother Lawrence said that he “found no better way to approach God than by the ordinary works required in his case by obedience, purifying them as much as he could from all human respect, and doing them for the pure love of God.” Most of us would like to do big things, great things for…