Brother Lawrence:

Remaining in the Presence of God

Jesus told us to pray constantly and we wonder how this is possible. If we follow the advice of Brother Lawrence we can see how (Hal M. Helms, ed., trans. Robert J. Edmonson, The Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence (Orleans, MA Paraclete Press), 1985). All page references are to this edition.

Brother Lawrence was born in 1611 and from 1649 until his death in 1691 was a Carmelite monk. The life and private writings of this obscure monk teach us how to live in the presence of God; how to pray; and how to bring God completely into our lives. His goal was to live in the presence of God, and his principles for daily living enabled him to achieve his objective. First and foremost, he said that love for God is everything and out of this love should proceed a continual awareness of God and conversation with him. His guiding principle around which all his activities, both secular and spiritual, would revolve was the absolute negation of everything that does not come from God. We do this by engaging in continual conversation with God.

Here are just three of his principles for daily living and prayer that we can apply to our lives:

Loving God. “Do everything for the love of God, use every one of our duties to show that love to Him and maintain his presence in us by the communion of our hearts with him. We do not need to be clear; all we need to do is have a good go at it.” Page 146.

Going to God. “The essence of going to God is renouncing once and for all everything we recognize as not tending toward God, in order to accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him without a lot of head knowledge. All we must do is recognize God’s intimate presence within us and speak to Him every moment, asking Him for his help. In this way we will know His will in doubtful things and we will do those things well that He is clearly asking of us, offering them to him before doing them and giving him thanks for having done them once we have finished.” Page 74.

Be with God always. “Think often about God in the daytime, at night, in all your occupations, in your exercise, and even during your times of amusement. He is always near you and with you. Do not leave God by Himself. You would think it uncivil to leave a friend by himself who was visiting you. Why abandon God and leave Him by Himself? So do not forget Him! Think often about Him without ceasing. Live and die with Him.” Pages 104-105.

This all sounds great, but it’s one thing for a monk living in a secluded and protected spiritual environment to provide guidance on how to live in the presence of God, but it’s quite another matter for those living in a hustling godless environment. Brother Lawrence answers:

 “The business and commerce of the world cannot serve as excuse for neglecting our duty. God is everywhere. We can speak to him no matter where we are. Our hearts can speak to Him in a thousand different ways. All we need is a little love, and then living this way will not be difficult.” Page 157

Moreover, perhaps there’s not that much of a distinction. We all have our problems and distractions, whatever we do wherever we live. Brother Lawrence worked in the kitchen of the monastery, and gives us the following:

“At the beginning of my duties, I said to God with a son-like trust, ‘My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You. But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections.’ Finally, during my work, I continued to speak to Him in a familiar way, offering Him my little services, and asking for His grace. At the end of my work, I examined how I had done it, and if I found any good in it, I thanked God. If I noticed errors, I asked His forgiveness for them, and without becoming discouraged, I resolved to change and began anew to remain with God as if I had never strayed. So, by picking myself up after my falls, and by doing many little acts of faith and love, I came to a state in which it would be as difficult for me not to think of God, as it had been difficult to accustom myself to thinking of Him at the beginning.” Page 37.

Another of Brother Lawrence’s teachings we can incorporate into our daily lives is that we can always be with God. “We do not have to be constantly in church to be with God. We can make our heart a prayer room into which we can retire from time to time to converse with him. Everyone is capable of these familiar conversations with God — some more, some less. He knows what our capabilities are. Let us begin, for perhaps he is only awaiting a generous resolve on our part.” Pages 89-90.

There is much we can learn from from this Carmelit monk and one thing we need to understand is that there is no excuse for ignoring or not searching for God. If we decide that spending time trying to find God through prayer or holding on to his presence isn’t worthwhile, or relegating prayer to the pile of unimportant projects, then why would we expect or even want to spend eternity with him. God wants to hear from you. It’s not so difficult. The upshot is that we can converse with God (i.e., pray) continually.

Brother Lawrence’s maxims and sayings will help us remain in the presence of God. Although Brother Lawrence was a Catholic monk, his advice is universal and not tied to Catholic dogma. Additional information about Brother Lawrence and his maxims are easily retreivable on the internet.

Some websites and references

• Hal M. Helms, ed., trans. Robert J. Edmonson, The Practice of the Presence of God – Brother Lawrence (Orleans, MA Paraclete Press), 1985

Footnotes and Attributions

The drawing of Brother Lawrence in the kitchen is from a book published by Fleming Revell Co. in 1900. Accessed from Wikimedia Commons.

 Last modified July 20, 2019