Practicing the Presence of God
There is a book I love called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. This book and the Bible got me through the incredibly busy season of raising five children with my husband while working part-time as a pediatric telehealth nurse. In this book, we learn from Brother Lawrence how to welcome God’s presence into our everyday lives. A humble man, Brother Lawrence served as a monk with the Carmelites in Paris in 1666, and while consecrating himself to prayer, he also served in the monastery kitchen.[1] He learned to fellowship with the Lord in the midst of his busyness. My favorite quote from the book is:
The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great a tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.[2]
What mom is not busy no matter how many children she has! Do you have noise and clatter in your kitchen? Do you have several persons (often little persons!) there at the same time, calling for different things? I had a nursing baby, toddler, preschooler, grade schooler, and middle schooler at the same time. There was a lot of clambering and calling for different things in my kitchen as I am sure there is in yours! But all of us can find His presence in the midst of our busyness, just as Brother Lawrence did.
As I have journeyed with the Lord through motherhood, practicing His presence has been the tool that has helped me the most. Just like any new tool you use, it takes practice to become adept at practicing His presence. Am I perfect at it yet? Nope! I am still learning! I am still practicing!
If you have a friend over visiting in your home, maybe having tea with them, it would be rude for you not to speak to them, wouldn’t it? Yet, even though God is so NEAR to us, we often ignore His presence. He is always NEAR, and when we forget to speak to Him, it feels like we are also being rude to Him. Another quote from Brother Lawrence is:
He is always near you and with you: leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone who came to visit you: why, then, must God be neglected? Do not, then forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian. In a word, this is our profession.[3]
We make welcoming His presence so complicated, when it is as simple as talking to Him, because He is right there, a breath away. We think that we have to kneel, be quiet, or have some kind of sacred moment in order to move from conversation with those around us into prayer. But there is nothing like that needed. We can go right from conversation with someone into prayer together with God.
Remember Joshua 1:9:
The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
…that includes your kitchen, your living room, your bathroom, everywhere! Acknowledge His presence, by talking to Him right there in your home and in the middle of your busy life … you can even start right now! And if you forget He is there, ask Him to remind you- I do! In our next blogs, we will start to talk about the practicles of practicing His prescence…
So, moms, let’s remember that
TO WELCOME HIM INTO OUR HOME, WE JUST NEED TO START TALKING TO HIM.
In His Love,
Suzanne
[1] Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1958), 9.
[2] Ibid., 8.
[3] Ibid., 54.
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