The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence, Tessa Bielecki (Foreword by)

Overview

The Practice of the Presence of God is among the most enduringly popular of all Christian devotional works. It is a collection of conversations with a simple seventeenth-century French Carmelite monk who, through the simplest of everyday activities, was able to achieve a profound intimacy with God. Brother Lawrence's teaching has resonated with Christians for more than three hundred years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780834825116
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	10/11/2005
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	342 KB

About the Author

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1611–1691) was a Carmelite monk who spent the greater part of his life in the Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Paris.

Read an Excerpt

From The Practice of the Presence of God

The first time I saw Brother Lawrence was upon the third of August, 1666. He told me that God had done him a singular favor 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 power and providence 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 during the more than forty years he had lived since.

That we ought to give ourselves up to God, with regard to both 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 to be 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.

Table of Contents

Foreword VII

The Practice of the Presence of God 1

The Pilgrim's Prayer 3

Conversations 5

Letters 25

The Spiritual Maxims of Brother Lawrence 67

Preface 69

The Spiritual Maxims 73

The Character of Brother Lawrence 91

Gathered Thoughts 115

Editorial Reviews

“The Practice of the Presence of God was a pivotal book in my spiritual growth. It showed me there was no division between work that is secular and work that is sacred. When done ‘unto God rather than men,’ all work is sacred. And Brother Lawrence, with his sleeves rolled up and his hands elbow deep in the sink, shows us in everyday ways how to turn the kitchens in our lives into cathedrals.”
—Ken Gire, author of Moments with the Savior, Windows of the Soul, and The Divine Embrace

From the Publisher