Week 9 - Practicing the Presence of God

This week I am taking a break from my typical health and self-improvement tasks to focus on more of the spiritual side of things.

About three years ago, I went through a book called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.  Brother Lawrence was a Catholic monk who lived in the 1600s.  He spent most of his life in a monastery kitchen, faithfully disciplining his heart to be aware of God’s presence throughout the day.

As a Christian, there are many times when I am aware of God’s presence (e.g., at church worship services, in personal devotion, etc.).  But, I would say for most of the day, 23 hours at least, I am not consciously aware of or thinking about God.  My days at work start with Bible reading, but by 5pm I am stressed to the max, consumed with the many tasks of a technology startup.

This week, my experiment is to be more aware of God’s presence throughout the day.  I have three methods I am putting in place to help:

1. I have turned on the hourly chime feature on my watch.  Every time it beeps, I stop what I am doing (if possible) and re-tune my mind to the fact that God is present, watching, and accessible to His children.
2. I am not listening to the car radio when I am in the car and using that time to be aware of His presence.
3. I am trying to talk to God more throughout the day.  Not flippantly, but constantly, just like Brother Lawrence.

This will be a week-long experiment.  I would love to hear your thoughts!

Tagged as: brother lawrence, God, monastic, monk, spirtiual