Plain Talk With God

Here is some more from the intro to Brother Lawrence's Practicing the Presence of God:

"If, in this life, we might enjoy the peace of paradise, we must accustom ourselves to a familiar, humble, and affectionate conversation with God." ... Brother Lawrence

God created us that we might discover and enjoy the kingdom of His presence on earth as it is in heaven. We do this through the practice of the presence of God, what Brother Lawrence, in the seventeenth century, called establishing the holy habit.

To become established in the practice of the presence of God we need to acquire new habits. We do this by developing a personal relationship with Our Father through constant communion with Him.

As we begin to form a habit of engaging in a silent conversation of the heart with God, it is most helpful to use some of the beautiful existing prayers. The Lord's Prayer is the perfect model for all our conversation with Our Father. Though we need not use 'Thy' and 'Thou' in our ongoing conversation, from formal prayer we learn to appreciate how these words reflect special honor and respect for God.

When we continually converse with God throughout the day by using simple and honest words, our talk becomes prayerful in that we speak to Our Father in a way that acknowledges that He, Our Creator, knows us better than we know ourselves.

In a letter, Brother Lawrence wrote: "Gradually become accustomed to worship Him in this way: to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time, even every moment if you can. Act in faith with love and humility."

The key to our constant communion with God, then, is love and humility. These come naturally as we become established in practicing God's presence. All we need to do is read the following comment to see the result of our acquiring the holy habit:

"Brother Lawrence said that the worst that could happen to him was to lose that sense of God which he had enjoyed so long. Yet the goodness of God assured him He would not forsake him and that God would give him strength to bear whatever evil He permitted to happen to him."

What more could we possibly have in this life? Dear One, this is the very real blessing and assurance we enjoy in practicing the presence of God.