Practicing His Presence

 

DeDevotion 11 –Practicing His Presence

 

Psa.139:7-10 – “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me”

 

Mindfulness helps us to cultivate a sacred mindset, a mindset with a strong awareness of God’s presence in our daily activities. Like the Palmist, we can see the fingerprint of God in everything and that enhances the most mundane of activities in life. When we breathe in the fresh air; enjoy beautiful, scenery; enjoy the sunset, feel the raindrops or embrace our loved ones in our arms, etc, etc. in simple moments like these, we can be aware and enjoy the simple pleasures of life and give thanks to God for these wonderful gifts of life that He has given to us.

 

1 Thess. 5:17-18 – “Pray without ceasing…”

 

The words “without ceasing” do not mean “non-stop” but rather “constantly recurring”. In other words, we are encouraged to punctuate our daily lives with intervals of prayer. We can infer this as living with moment-by-moment mindfulness of God’s presence with us.

 

Our minds and hearts are prone to wander. Many of us build good habits and spiritual discipline around morning devotional time, but often feel like we transit to another world when we go to work. It is so easy for us to get carried away by all the technological distractions, the worry of deadlines and urgency of emails, and the pressure of expectations. It is not enough just to know God calls us to a vocation; we need habits to reinforce that we are invited to work alongside him in that vocation. For that reason, the scripture repeatedly reminded us to remember God in every situation. Below are a few examples:

 

Deut.8:2 – “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

 

Deut.8:18 -  “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

 

Deut.15:15 – “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I command you this thing today.”

 

God is not just asking us to be nostalgic, but rather to give prayerful attention to His goodness and power. He is asking us to be mindful of Him always, especially amid difficult situations so that we can draw strength from Him. God is omnipresent, hence, His presence is within us, as well as all around us to empower us. However, not all of us feel and are consciously aware of this measure of His presence in our lives.

 

Below is an excerpt from Brother Lawrence’s book on “Practicing the presence of God”:

 

“All we have to do is to recognize God as being intimately present within us. Then we may speak directly to Him every time we need to ask for help, to know His will in moments of uncertainty, and to do whatever He wants us to do in a way that pleases Him. We should offer our work to Him before we begin, and thank Him afterward for the privilege of having done it for His sake. This continuous conversation would also include praising and loving God incessantly for His infinite goodness and perfection.”

 

We can be the greatest obstacle that keeps God’s grace operating in our lives due to our mindlessness of His presence. Like Brother Lawrence, we should be ever mindful of God’s indwelling presence and His never-ending love for us.

 

Mindful of His Presence

 

Psa.16:8 - “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

 

What does it mean to set the Lord always before us? It simply means that we choose to relate everything we encounter to our trust in God.  In David's eyes, God was no mere abstraction, but a Person at his side. Like David, if we want to be grounded in faith so that we will not be shaken easily, we need to cultivate the mindfulness of the constant presence of God.

 

What we choose to focus on usually becomes the dominant influence in our life. We may be a Child of God, but if our focus is always on our problems, our problems will determine the direction of our life. If our focus is on the approval and acceptance of people, then the fear of man will determine what we think and do.

 

Jesus says, "Without Me you can do nothing" (Jn.15:5). Our growth in grace, our joy, our fruitfulness, all depend upon our union with Christ. It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly, by abiding in Him that we are to grow in grace. He is not only the Author, but the Finisher of our faith. He is not only at the beginning and the end of our course, but at every step of the way. By being constantly mindful of God’s presence in our life, we will gain insights that will help us make the right decisions and live the way God desires. More importantly, by keeping a conscious awareness of God’s presence in our life, it can gladden the heart, brighten life, give meaning to every life circumstance, and also be a deterrent to sinning.

 

Practicing God’s presence simply means keeping our mind on His holy presence and allowing this presence to infuse every moment and every detail throughout our daily routine. This simple spiritual discipline does not happen automatically or by default even though we are in Christ as a child of God. It needs to be nurtured and cultivated intentionally until it becomes our second nature.

 

It is not about multitasking, but it is about going beyond our “morning devotions”, and mindfully taking His presence with us all day long. It is also not about emphasizing the spiritual over the material or the sacred over the secular but is about integrating the two realms in our daily experience so that we thrive in life and are filled with His peace and joy constantly rather than just surviving and striving with stress and frustration.

 

Many of us unconsciously live a compartmentalized Christian life. Though we are disciplined in our morning devotion of prayer and reading the scripture, we often leave our spiritual life and Jesus at home. Instead, we should take our life with God and keep that awareness throughout the day, every day.  Through the discipline of Christian mindfulness, we can turn every mundane activity into A Holy Moment and use boredom as a catalyst for worship and prayer.