Last week I finished reading The Practice of the Presence of God. In college I heard people refer to this book often and when I saw a copy of it in a bookstore recently I skimmed the back. The quote on the back read: “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” The title hadn’t really secured my interest but this quote spoke close to my heart and what I have wanted to learn about and so I bought it.

In the high school group the students seem to talk a lot about forgetting God. This is not at all an uncommon plight. We get so busy with school, work, family…so caught up in our day-to-day existence that we can go whole days without ever turning our thoughts, let alone our time, to the Lord. Someone once told me this was a problem because we think of God as far away, somewhere up in the clouds. But for a believer He is much closer, He indwells us. I have been confused by this double living often and have been frustrated seeing it in my own life. How can God be so near, all the while we are ignoring Him? How can we claim to be so convinced of His greatness and glory and yet not be devoted to Him at all times?

The Practice of the Presence of God is a tiny book (under 100 pages long) consisting of a few conversations with Brother Lawrence and his reply to several letters written to Him seeking advice on spiritual issues. Though this book is small it offers a wealth of wisdom from taking a personal look into the life of this man. From a little research I was able to learn that Brother Lawrence was a layman with the monks of the Carmelite Order of the Roman Catholic Church in the seventeenth century. As such the writing has a older tone and I was not confident that all of his conclusions quite lined up Biblically. However, I have learned a great lesson from this book–living in God’s presence no matter how quickly or frequently I forget it, is an ever-present reality. God sees all and knows all. The practice of His presence is to discipline my life to revolve around this reality. To remember Him and live aware of Him at all times, in my thoughts, speech, action and prayer.

I have often become overwhelmed by Paul’s exhortation for us to “Pray without ceasing…” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I used to think this meant that one’s mind was to be engaged at all time in speaking prayer to God. Brother Lawrence sheds light on this practice as being continually in conversation with Him in spirit–being aware of His presence continually offering praise to Him and presenting requests as He is kept at the forefront of the mind. To pray without ceasing is to always be in our hearts and minds before His throne. Brother Lawrence writes:

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I learned a second strong lesson from this book, that of God as ultimate priority. Another overwhelming command we have been given–the greatest command–says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) This is humanly impossible to achieve. We become so easily distracted and our affections are swept away by many things other than the Lord. And yet I long to understand this command and be whole-hearted in my devotion to the Lord. On this issue Brother Lawrence writes:

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Let us think often that our only business in this life is to
please God, and that all besides is but folly and vanity.
Let us think of Him perpetually. Let us put all our trust
in Him. I doubt not but we shall soon find the effects of it in
receiving the abundance of His grace, with which we can do
all things, and without which we can do nothing but sin.

We must know before we can love.
In order to know God, we must often think of Him;
and when we come to love Him,
we shall also think of Him often,
for our heart will be with our treasure.
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Thoughts focused on the Lord and acknowledging my need for His continual grace is what practicing His presence is all about. If God where the center of my life, there would be no room for me. If my desires were perpetually wrapped in Him, I would not be distracted by self but would serve Him with a surrendered will. If I made it a practice to actually know and love God with all my heart, living for Him would never be a burden or something I feel obligated to do. I can’t imagine a life more sweet than one continually enveloped in God’s holy presence, resting fully in His abundant grace…

This week I had a terrific Tuesday and then all of the other days of the week were good and productive as well and I never seemed to make it on to blog! Bobby and I spent a good amount of time this week finishing things in the baby’s room. The big challenge was sorting and organizing every item and all of the gifts we’ve received and now everything is in its proper place. This weekend we had a high school worship night. I found this time to be very encouraging. Students gather to play instruments and lift their voices to the Lord in praise.

One of the songs we sang was written by Bobby and Ty especially for that evening. It is called “Drawing Near.” The lyrics are a beautiful prayer of both praise and yearning. The verses really speak of who God is and what He has done–worthy of adoration. The chorus and bridge express a longing to know Him and be near to Him. As we practiced this song it became my prayer to the Lord. I feel that I have seen a glimpse of His greatness in my salvation and the mercy that is renewed to me each morning. But I know that I have so much more to learn of Him. I am not satisfied with a mediocre acceptance of who He is or what He has done…I long to know Him, to see Him.

This has been a very productive Tuesday. Have you ever had a day when because you woke up much earlier than you usually do, the day seems to be longer? I had one of those days today. With an early appointment at the doctor I had– what seemed like–so much time left in the day. I had time to nap, read, run errands, make some gift exchanges, pre-register at the hospital and meet with some girls for a Bible study. To top it all off, today was the day that I went all out and did what I’ve wanted to do for awhile now. I bought an iPod. It’s the “Nano”, much smaller than the original iPod. I think “nano” means “one billionth of”, like nanosecond, but I was never sure why Apple named it that until I brought it home and saw just how tiny it is. It is about four inches long and maybe as thick as or even a little narrower than a pencil.

Tonight some girls and I spent some time studying Hebrews 12:14, discussing holiness. Hebrews gives a rather jarring reality check to us believers when it says, “Pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” We talked about the call to be holy is overwhelming because the only comparison descriptions we came up with were “sinless” and “perfect”. Even as believers, this is an impossible feat apart from the grace of God. We must be faithful to draw near to Him, obey His Word and flee temptation.

The discussion of Christians as a living witness continues to be of frequent discussion in my circle. The reality that the life of a believer must reflect the virtue and freedom of the Gospel is becoming increasingly clearer to me. It is vital that believers live this way not only to represent Christ to unbelievers but also to verify the saving work we claim has happened in our lives. It is easy to find ways out of “having” to be holy, excuses like “I am only human” or “I’m just not a morning person” are just an example of the abundance of sin-sick ways that we choose self over our holy God. I was inspired and encouraged to meet together tonight to be challenged on the excuses I make in my own life. When I can confess my struggles with sin and self, and know that those who I am opening to are all striving toward the same end as me it provides so much hope and motivation to keep seeking the Lord. I hope that everyone has or will find a godly friend with whom they make it a point to confess and pray with (James 5:16). It isn’t just a perk of the Christian life…it is a necessity.

It’s been a wonderful and busy weekend! On Saturday I was the guest of honor at a fun and definitely memorable baby shower. Kelsey (One of our high school seniors) and her mom, Christine, hosted a lovely gathering for all high school girls and high school moms. I was overwhelmed by the whole experience as so many lovely girls and their moms came. I had a great time talking with the moms and hearing the girl’s reaction “Ooooo…it’s SO cute!” over every gift I opened! Some particularly special highlights of the event include the advice cards that many of the moms wrote for me, the sign-up sheet that Christine had out for moms to bring us a meal after the baby comes, the individually designed onesies that people decorated with washable markers and the prayer time that Christine led at the end. I had a delightful time, and the women just, well…showered us with gifts!

In also had some time this weekend to study Psalm 18, a beautiful and poetic description of God after He had delivered David from the hand of Saul. I encourage you to find some time today to read it! My favorite part of the chapter is verses 30-31.

On Wednesday nights after the high school Bible study Missy, Katie and I always head over to Starbucks to spend some time visiting together. Last night was no exception, but we were at Borders because there were no empty tables at Starbucks. We caught up on all that happened over the weekend, shared how our small groups had gone that night and laughed a lot together. As these conversations often tend, we got into a serious discussion about Christianity.

Missy was sharing about a co-worker who isn’t a believer and thinks we are all just a joke. (To read her blog about it, click here Fixing My Eyes) I had been skimming through a book I found in the “Christian Books” section and read a line that said, “Christianity is a much better noun than adjective.” It seems that when most people think of the title “Christian” two words come to mind: hypocritical and judgmental. We all feel frustrated by this image and thought of different reasons why non-believers might make this conclusion about us. Could it be hopeless, joyless living, fear, disunity among us, unforgiving, unloving attitude? I don’t know if any of our ideas pegged the real problem, but it became clear as I listened to my friends ponder this sad reality that the hypocrisy-Christian association is often very true. We say we are free from sin, and yet we continue to live in it. We say we’ve been forgiven, but will not exercise grace toward others. We say our lives have meaning and purpose, but we live in the same frenzy of worry and confusion as everybody else. What a confusing message some Christians send!

I remembered a verse in Titus which says we ought to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” (Titus 2:10) Carolyn Mahaney writes about this in her book Feminine Appeal, making the point that our conduct has a direct influence on how people around us will think about the gospel. Mahaney says, “Make no mistake, by adorning the gospel, we are not enhancing or improving it” but she exhorts women to cultivate godly qualities because they will show “the transforming effect of the gospel in the lives of women–women who have turned from their sins and trusted the Savior, women whose sins have been forgiven and whose hearts have been changed.”

“Adorn” is not a very common word. When I hear it I think of wearing something, clothes perhaps. I really liked what Katie said about it. That “adorn” makes her think of jewelry, as if you are wearing something so it can be displayed. I thought this hit the nail right on the head. We are not forcing some qualities out of ourselves when we are in a “witnessing situation” nor are we making attractive the saving work of Christ. But when the Gospel is simply and purely “on display” in a person’s life it is surprising and compelling to all who see it.

Why don’t we live this way? Why does it seem that we are adorned with anxiety, fear, unhappiness, discontent, gossip and apathy? Maybe we forget about the Gospel, what it means and how that matters to our lives each day. Maybe we don’t really feel that we know God. Because if these are true of us, we then have to force some semblance of a dynamic virtuous life to appear when necessary. But this is not Paul’s exhortation in Titus 2. What is on display in our lives is what is on in our hearts. The challenge for us is to immerse ourselves in the Word so that we will seek and find God intimately. In doing this we would not easily forget the price of our salvation or the gracious God who transforms us each day into the likeness of His Son.

If we are having a hard time “looking” like a Christian externally, what we are really having a hard time with is being a Christian internally. We don’t need to try to put on the outer clothes of Christianity so we might appear righteous to others. We need to devote ourselves to studying the Word, seeking the Lord in prayer and sharpening each other in fellowship so that the transforming work of salvation inside will be what everyone sees on display outside.