Try It Again

I knew I'd have problems being consistent with this thing, but I'm gonna try it anyway. For this next post, I'd like to talk about the presence of God. I've read a famous book by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection called The Practice of the Presence of God. It's very good, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to go deeper in their prayer life. Actually, not even that, but to anyone wants their life to revolve around unceasing communion with God. Now I'm reading a book by Germaine Copeland called A Short Method of Prayer. I haven't read much of it yet, but it almost seems like the same book as the other one. Which is definitely not a bad thing. It never hurts to have something as important as prayer confirmed and reiterated. It's definitely helping me, and I'm beginning to see that God's presence in our lives is a free gift from him and that to reject it is not only just stupid on our part but probably an offense to Him as well. Every born-again believer has free access to the gift of God's continuous presence in their lives. I think a lot of believers are intimidated by this fact because it sounds so religious and/or mystical, and it seems like only super-Christian, super-holy, old saints living in a monastery somewhere could attain to such a thing. That's how I usually feel about it, but I'm beginning to think that it may be much simpler than that. Copeland says that it starts with meditation, simply thinking about (but not necessarily trying to understand) the fact that God is with us, that Jesus has promised to be with us always, and that he also promised that the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in us and be our counselor and comforter. I keep thinking about those things. Of course, as I do, my mind is constantly being distracted to think about other things, but that's natural and to be expected. But I keep forcing myself to go back to thinking about God's presence. And I'm finding that as I do, it seems to be becoming more real to me. I then find it easier to pray because I then believe more fully that he's there and he's listening. And I guess that's all there is to it. It almost seems too simple, but God is all about simplicity. Well, that's what I'm going through right now. I recommend you try it too. Don't be discouraged if you get easily distracted. Just keep doing it. And as I read more of the book, I'll keep you updated on what else it says. Later.