The Practice of the Presence of God
4/5
()
About this ebook
The Practice of the Presence of God is a text compiled by Father Joseph de Beaufort of the wisdom and teachings of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Carmelite monk.
It is a collection of his letters, and records made, by other participants in them, of his conversations. A constant theme is the development of an awareness of the presence of God.
Read more from Brother Lawrence
The Brother Lawrence Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practice of the Presence of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mystical Paths to God: Three Journeys Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractice of the Presence: A Revolutionary Translation by Carmen Acevedo Butcher Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMystical Paths to God: Three Journeys: The Practice of the Presence of God; Interior Castle; Dark Night of the Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Believer's Secret of the Abiding Presence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Practice and Presence of God: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSublime Classic Catholic Super Pack Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Practice of the Presence of God and The Spiritual Maxims Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Practice of the Presence of God and The Spiritual Maxims Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Practice of the Presence of God: and The Spiritual Maxims Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Men Pray: Voices of Strength, Faith, Healing, Hope and Courage Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Practicing the Presence of God: Learn to Live Moment-by-Moment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of a Holy Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practice of the Presence of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Practice of the Presence of God
Related ebooks
A Short Method of Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Practice of the Presence of God and The Spiritual Maxims Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Practice and Presence of God: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Short Method of Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Short And Easy Method of Prayer: Easy to Read Layout Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Practice of the Presence of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Imitation of Christ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If Ye Shall Ask Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hinds Feet on High Places Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Interior Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quiet Talks on Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Humility: The Beauty of Holiness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWith Christ in the School of Prayer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel on Prayer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contemporary Classic/Devotions for a Deeper Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Night of the Soul Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCelebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Believer's Secret of the Abiding Presence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orthodoxy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Imitation of Christ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better (updated with two new chapters) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Holy Bible (World English Bible, Easy Navigation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Practice of the Presence of God
10 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Horrible. Bad writing, bad editing. Sometimes bad advice. Hardly a scripture referenced.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of those books many have recommended and it has been on my shelf for years. I finally read it!
One of my favorite fictional characters is Tevya from "Fiddler on the Rood." His relationship with God inspired me to have a similar relationship. Having finally read Brother Lawrence's philosophy, I wonder if Sholem Aleichem (author of the book on which "Fiddler on the Roof" was based) read the words of this French monk as well.
According to Brother Lawerance, to practice the presence is to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). This is what I see in Tevya and how I have tried to live, with more failure than success. Reading this book has encouraged me to start again to keep my conversation with my God at all times, recognizing that I am in His presence at all times. Brother Lawerance helps me to understand how this changes how I need to live.
Book preview
The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence
read.
First Conversation
Conversion and previous employment. * Satisfaction in God’s presence. * Faith our duty. * Resignation the fruit of watchfulness.
THE first time I saw Brother Lawrence was upon the 3rd of August, 1666. He told me that GOD had done him a singular favour, in his conversion at the age of eighteen.
That in the winter, seeing a tree stripped of its leaves, and considering that within a little time, the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of GOD, which has never since been effaced from his soul. That this view had perfectly set him loose from the world, and kindled in him such a love for GOD, that he could not tell whether it had increased in above forty years that he had lived since.
That he had been footman to M. Fieubert, the treasurer, and that he was a great awkward fellow who broke everything.
That he had desired to be received into a monastery, thinking that he would there be made to smart for his awkwardness and the faults he should commit, and so he should sacrifice to GOD his life, with its pleasures: but that GOD had disappointed him, he having met with nothing but satisfaction in that state.
That we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries.
That we should feed and nourish our souls with high notions of GOD; which would yield us great joy in being devoted to Him.
That we ought to quicken, i.e., to enliven, our faith. That it was lamentable we had so little; and that instead of taking faith for the rule of their conduct, men amused themselves with trivial devotions, which changed daily. That the way of Faith was the spirit of the Church, and that it was sufficient to bring us to a high degree of perfection.
That we ought to give ourselves up to GOD, with regard both to things temporal and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction only in the fulfilling of His will, whether He lead us by suffering or by consolation, for all would be equal to a soul truly resigned. That there needed fidelity in those drynesses, or insensibilities and irksomenesses in prayer, by which GOD tries our love to Him; that then was the time for us to make good and effectual acts of resignation, whereof one alone would oftentimes very much promote our spiritual advancement.
That as for the miseries and sins he heard of daily in the world, he was so far from wondering at them, that, on the contrary, he was surprised there were not more, considering the malice sinners were capable of: that for his part, he prayed for them; but knowing that GOD could remedy the mischiefs they did, when He pleased, he gave himself no farther trouble.
That to arrive at such resignation as GOD requires, we should watch attentively over all the passions which mingle as well in spiritual things as those of a grosser nature: that GOD would give light concerning those passions to those who truly desire to serve Him. That if this was my design, viz., sincerely to serve GOD, I might come to him (Bro. Lawrence) as often