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Center for Action and Contemplation

Practicing the Presence

Discover Brother Lawrence’s Simple and Sacred Practice in the January “We Conspire” series
January 24th, 2025
Practicing the Presence

How do you experience the Divine presence in the midst of your committed and busy life? In January’s “We Conspire” series, we meet the 17th century Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence, whose simple guidance and humble life have inspired millions to “practice the presence of God.” His wisdom reminds us that Divine connection is available in every moment if we learn to quiet our minds and surrender our hearts. 

In the mid-17th century, a man named Nicholas Herman joined the Carmelite monastery in Paris, France. Wounded from fighting in the European Thirty Years’ war, and suffering a sustained leg injury, he took the monastic name “Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.” He worked in the monastery kitchen and eventually became the head cook. Amid the chaos of food preparation and the clanging of pots and pans, Brother Lawrence began to practice a simple method of prayer that helped him return to an awareness of Divine presence. He called it the practice of the presence of God, and described it as “The most sacred, the most robust, the easiest, and the most effective form of prayer.”¹

Brother Lawrence’s method of prayer is so simple that it might seem misleading. It is to cultivate and hand over one’s awareness to God in every moment, in whatever we are doing. Brother Lawrence recommends newcomers to the prayer use a phrase to recollect their intention toward embodying the Divine presence, such as “My God, I am all yours,” or “God love, I love you with all my heart,” or “Love, create in me a new heart,” or any other phrases love produces on the spot.”² Sometimes a friendly conversation with God might be what’s needed: “We continue to apply ourselves so that all our actions, without exception, become a kind of brief conversation with God.”³ Practice of the Divine presence sometimes simply means taking brief pauses to “savor grace” and “love God deep in our heart.”⁴ It involves a surrendered and resting trust in God to which one returns to at all times.   

“We continue to apply ourselves so that all our actions, without exception, become a kind of brief conversation with God.” —Brother Lawrence  

Brother Lawrence might be a surprising teacher of enlightenment. He did not earn academic accolades or teach the twists and turns of theology. He lived through war, plague, and poverty. He suffered anxiety, injury, various humiliations, and even called himself a “clumsy oaf.” His leg pain became so great that, after twenty years in the kitchen, his monastic superiors transferred him to work repairing sandals. Yet translator and CAC affiliate faculty member Carmen Acevedo Butcher commends him to us: “His exceptional calm and responses to life’s hardships make this unassuming friar an accessible and humanizing mentor of the time-tested practice of the presence prayer.”⁵

“Brother Lawrence’s exceptional calm and responses to life’s hardships make this unassuming friar an accessible and humanizing mentor of the time-tested practice of the presence prayer.” —Carmen Acevedo Butcher 

For Brother Lawrence, even suffering itself becomes fodder to practice the Divine presence. We know of Brother Lawrence’s kind and gentle witness through numerous spiritual maxims he wrote down, letters that he penned to others, and interviews he gave to a curious, eager-to-learn monk named Joseph of Beaufort. In one letter, written to a nun at a nearby convent undergoing health challenges, Brother Lawrence is convinced that the Divine love given to us through practicing the presence heals our wounds despite painful circumstances. Nearing death and unable to walk, Brother Lawrence nevertheless envisions God as a parent full of love, affirming when we are embraced by such a Divine friend and parent “all the bitterness is removed, and only the sweetness remains.”⁶


Reflect with Us 
We invite you to consider when you have experienced the Divine presence amid your daily demands. What ways have you “practiced the presence of God”? Share your reflection with us. 

We Conspire is a series from the Center for Action and Contemplation featuring wisdom and stories from the growing Christian contemplative movement. Sign up for the monthly email series and receive a free invitation to practice each month. 

References:
[1] Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher (Broadleaf, 2022), 54.

[2] Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, 54.

[3] Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, 142.

[4] Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, 142.

[5] Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, 28–29.

[6] Practicing the Presence of God, trans. Carmen Acevedo Butcher, 117.

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