Practicing the Presence of God
Starting and ending each day for me includes devotions in the morning and a brief devotional before I fall asleep. I reason that I am starting my day and ending my day in God’s presence. Throughout my day, I’ll acknowledge Him with a “Thank You, Lord!” “I appreciate You, God!” “I love you, Jesus!”
But, sometimes, I reflect over the day and realize since my morning’s devotions, this is one of the first times I am acknowledging His presence.
Sure, I found plenty of time to scroll through my Instagram and Facebook feeds and check my e-mail more times than I care to admit, but how much time did I actually spend with God? With the One Who gifted me this day?
Typically, I’ll pay more attention to God’s presence when I’ve accomplished this or that. But we all know how that ends up, don’t we? At best I’ve fallen into the habit of fitting the Lord into my days instead of centering my days around Him. If you’re like me, it’s easy to find a “good” excuse as to why it ends up this way: I’ll pray or think about being in God’s presence when a quiet opening fits into my schedule.
Here I am again replaying words I speak of often: “In His presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11) And I know it is true. I have been so caught up in His presence, that I didn’t want to leave. I know that peace and joy that comes from daily “hang-outs” with my Lord.
When I think about continually practicing the presence of God, I think of Brother Lawrence, a 16th century lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Despite his lowly position in life as a cook and janitor, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the book: “The Practice of the Presence of God.”
One of my must used scriptures is “..in all your ways acknowledge Him…..and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) ALL our ways acknowledging Him is sincerely practicing the presence of God. Each day reminding ourselves: “God is with me.” We talk to Him when we’re walking down the street, driving in our car, or even while having conversations with our family or friends. He is always with us, so why wouldn’t we acknowledge His presence?
When learning to play the piano, I remember my piano teacher saying, “practice makes perfect”. And in this moment, I’m hearing Holy Spirit telling me “Practicing the presence of Jesus makes life so much easier to handle and so much sweeter the journey!”
Doesn’t it make sense to get our priorities in order? Putting God first, opening up our Guidebook (the Bible), having little talks with Him, expressing “I love you” to Him, inviting a friend to pray with us and praying for others. That will be practicing the presence of God and THAT will make the journey to heaven fool-proof!