Practicing the Presence of God

[C.A.B.L]

Greetings Friends,

I recently came across a book that has dramatically changed the way I think and worship God. It's called, "Practicing the Presence of God" it's not really a book per se', but is a collection of interviews and letters with a man named, Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite lay brother, was born Nicholas Herman around 1610 in Herimenil, Lorraine, a Duchy of France. His birth records were destroyed in a fire at his parish church during the Thirty Years War, a war in which he fought as a young soldier. It was also the war in which he sustained a near fatal injury to his sciatic nerve. The injury left him quite crippled and in chronic pain for the rest of his life.

Despite his disability, he served the Lord with a fervent spirit and a humble heart, never blaming God for his troubles. His ministry was serving the world in obedience through love for God. His main purpose was to glorify the Lord in everything he did, whether it was washing dishes, which was his job, to facing challenges of everyday life. When asked how he came to have such a close relationship with God, he replied that the key was to always remind himself of God's presence and in doing so train his mind to always put God first.

I encourage you to read this book, it will change the way you think, dramatically.

Have a blessed holiday,
Matt

 

[Count]

It is one of the greatest books I have ever read. For those interested to read this book can be found at www.seedsowers.com


[size=+1]Practicing His Presence[/size]


Book Description



If you wish to know your Lord in a deeper way, you are invited to join the vast host of Christians who, over three centuries, have turned to this book more than any other - except the Scriptures - in order to begin that journey to the depths of Christ.

Imagine a book that is 300 years old and has never been out of print! Such is the book you see on your screen. Other than Pilgrim's Progress, there is probably no other piece of Christian literature that has stood the test of the centuries so well. An estimated 22 million copies of the original The Practice of the Presence of God have been printed in the English language alone. In recent years, however, interest in this book has waned as the original English edition became so outdated that it was virtually unreadable. The publishers have now revised and reissued this book under the title Practicing His Presence and the profundity, depth, and beauty of Brother Lawrence's masterpiece lives again!

We have also included in this edition, not only the letters of Brother Lawrence - from the 17th century - but also those of Frank Laubach - from the 20th century - who, like Brother Lawrence before him, wrote a series of letters chronicling his experiences in practicing the presence of Jesus Christ.



Brother Lawrence







[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Little is known of Brother Lawrence. He was born Nicholas Herman in French Lorraine in 1611. Born into poverty, at age eighteen he was converted to Christ. He later became a soldier, and then a footman (a servant who opens the carriage door, waits on tables, etc.). Still later, in 1666, at the age of about 55, he entered a religious community called the Carmelites, located in Paris. He became a "Lay Brother" among these barefooted devotees to Christ. It was among them he took the name Brother Lawrence. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]He spent twenty-five years in this community, dying there at age eighty in 1691. During those years he served mostly in the hospital kitchen. He became known, within the community, and later beyond it, for his quiet and serene faith, and for his simple experience of "the presence of God." [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Eventually Brother Lawrence even received inquiries from people in other parts of France concerning how to have similar reality in their own daily experience with Christ. Even church leaders sought him out for counsel and help. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Little is left to us of what he said. We have a few brief letters by him plus four recollections called "conversations" written by other people who recalled for us what he had said to them. [/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In 1692, a year after Brother Lawrence died, some of his letters were published.[/font]


Frank Laubach







Frank Laubach was born in the United States on September 2, 1884...almost two hundred years after the death of Brother Lawrence. Forty-five years later Frank Laubach was serving as a missionary in the Philippines. Though he had done many commendable things by the time he was forty-five years of age, including a truly remarkable and faithful ministry among the Moslems in the southern Philippines, we would still have to confess he was a relatively obscure soldier of the cross.

It was at this time, at forty-five years of age, that Frank Laubach began the practice of abiding in the presence of Christ. It is so interesting to realize that forty years later, when Frank Laubach took what was for him a very short step out of time into eternity, he died--at the age of eight-five--one of the most widely known and best loved men of the twentieth century.

To try to tell who Frank Laubach was or even to give a sketch of his life in a short space is simply impossible. From Signal Hill in the Philippines until his death at age eight-five on June 11, 1970, he lived one of the fullest lives ever lived by one of christ's followers. He was one of the most traveled Christians of all ages; perhaps the most traveled man of modern times. He was known in virtually every land on earth. Countless honors were bestowed on him, though when once presented with a famous "Man of the Year" award he said humble, "The Lord will not wish to count my trophies, but my scars." He wrote over fifty books, several of them best sellers that had a world-wide influence. He was perhaps the greatest single educator of modern times. He has been referred to by many people as one of the most unique figures of this century. The accomplishments of his life are virtually endless. Nonetheless, the wellsprings of his incredible man's life can be traced back to the lovely, lonely little hill behind the shack where he lived on the island of Mindanao. Frank Laubach wrote down his experiences during these days in a series of letters to his father from which we have gleaned these writings. We sincerely hope that the words of Frank Laubach recorded here will become ageless and we prayerfully hope these words will endure as long as there are Christians left upon this earth to read them.

 

[Christian Dude]

I got a free copy of it with e-Sword Bible software... all you have to do is download the module that contains it.