Practicing The Presence Of God - Part 1

"I Make It My Priority
To Presevere In His Holy Presence,
Wherein I Maintain A Simple Attention
And Fond Regard For God"
- Brother Lawrence

Most of us are familiar with - The Practice of the Presence of God: The Original 17th Century Letters and Conversations of Brother Lawrence. (http://www.practicegodspresence.com)
Brother Lawrence (1614 to 1691) was a monk who serve in the monastry's kitchen - today is most commonly remembered for the closeness of his relationship with God, as recorded in this little book. He spent almost all of his adult life in solitude, poverty, and obscurity within the walls of a priory. He was known for profound peace and high commitment to Jesus Christ. He cared not for the worldly status of his tasks, but the motivation behind it. "We can do little things for God," he wrote. "I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." Generations after his death, this book has become one of the most popular Christian books in history. It was often quoted by John Wesley and A.W. Tozer, and today tens of millions of copies are in circulation.

Being in the presence of the Lord could arguably be considered the single most important part of our lives. While in a sense, it is always with us and we cannot live without it, we find ourselves hungering for it more and more.

While God is omnipresent, and His presence is always with us, we continue to long for an encounter with the presence of God. When we talk about experiencing the presence of the Lord, we are talking about the realization of His manifest presence – of perceiving His presence and being conscious of Him.

{Ominipresence describes His being in all places. David speaks of it when he writes, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7). David went on to say, "If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to theplace of dead, you are there. I could ask the darkness I cannot hide from you. (verse 8) This speaks of the Lord's promise to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Though we cannot sense this presence, it doesn't negate His being there. We are just unaware of it.

The second presence Scripture defines as His manifest presence, The word manifest means to bring from the unseen, or unknown into the seen, heard, or known. The manifest presence of the Lord was what Moses passionately desired (Exodus 33:12-33). This is when God reveals Himself not just to our spirits, but it is when our mind and senses become aware of His nearness as well. It is when His knowledge is revealed to our minds. This is the presence Jesus spoke of when He said, "I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14:21) }
{ an extract from - Drawing Near by John Bevere}

God can manifest His presence in various ways. In Scriptures some saw Him, others heard His voice without seeing Him, while others sensed His nearness and immediately knew things they'd never known before because of His revelation. But one thing is certain, when He comes, you know it, you'll sense Him within your inner-most being, and know He is there

Practicing His presence through worship is one of the most valuable things we can do. God has promised that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8) and we will experience His presence in ever increasing measures. The key is to experiencing His manifest presence is that we first draw near to Him ... and He will draw near to us! We determine the level of our relationship with God.

How do we practice the presence of God? - Part 2

Blessings
TPWC