Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God: those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive; it is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.
Were I a preacher, I should above all other things preach the practice of the presence of God; and were I a director, I should advise all the world to do it: so necessary do I think it, and so easy too. Ah! knew we but the want we have of the grace and assistance of God, we should never lose sight of Him, no, not for a moment.
Believe me; make immediately a holy and firm resolution never more wilfully to forget Him, and to spend the rest of your days in His sacred presence, deprived for the love of Him, if He thinks fit, of all consolations. Set heartily about this work, and if you do it as you ought, be assured that you will soon find the effects of it.”
Brother Lawrence (1611-1691) in the “Fifth Letter” in The Practice of the Presence of God (London: Epworth Press) 15.
As a GTP team, we have discussed that “continual conversation with God” is the pathway for positioning ourselves to be healthy workers for God who exhibit peace, joy, discernment, and vibrant faith. But we must set ourselves heartily to this, not for what we will gain (as the list of gains goes on and on) but to be generous conduits of God’s love.
What about you? Do you practice God’s presence to help you survive, or do you do it to thrive as a conduit of divine love? I wrote a 30 day devotional called Thrive with Ross Piper of Christian Super. Reply if you’d like a free copy of it in PDF form. And practice God’s presence daily and you too will find the effects of it.