The Practice of the Presence of God: The 1st Conversation

THE first time I saw Brother Lawrence was the August 3, 1666. He told me that GOD had done him a singular favor, in his conversion at the age of eighteen.

He said that in the winter, he saw a tree without its leaves. And he thought that within a little time, the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit would appear. Because of this, he received a high view of the Providence and Power of GOD, which has never since been erased from his soul. He said 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 has grown in the forty years since.

He said that he had been a servant to Monsieur Fieubert, the treasurer, and that he was a large awkward fellow who broke everything.

He said that he had wanted to go into a monastery, thinking that he would be punished for his awkwardness and the faults he might commit, and in that way he would sacrifice to GOD his life, with its pleasures. But GOD had disappointed him, because he had only experienced satisfaction in that place.

He said that we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. He said it was a shameful thing to leave His conversation, to think of small, foolish things.

He said that we should feed and nourish our souls with high ideas of GOD; which would give us great joy in being devoted to Him.

He said that we ought to enliven our faith. He said it was very sad that we had so little faith; and that instead of making faith the rule of their behavior, men had fun with unimportant loves, which changed daily. He said that the way of Faith was the spirit of the Church, and that it was sufficient to bring us to a high level of perfection.

He said that we ought to give ourselves to GOD. We should give GOD both things earthly and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction only in doing His will. This is true whether He leads us by suffering or by comfort. They would be equal to a soul truly resigned to GOD’s will. He said that there should be faithfulness in those drynesses, or insensibilities in prayer. GOD uses these to test our love to Him. He said that was a good time for us to resign ourselves to Him in a good and effective way. One of these resignations alone would often advance our spiritual growth a lot.

He said that, regarding the miseries and sins he heard about daily in the world, he was not at all surprised by them. On the contrary, he was surprised there were not more, considering the evil sinners were capable of. He said that he prayed for them; but because he knows that GOD could fix the problems they made, whenever He wanted, he didn’t worry about it any more.

He said that to resign onself to GOD as GOD requires, we should be attentive to all the passions which are about spiritual things as well as those that are not spiritual. He said that GOD would give light about those passions to those who truly desire to serve Him. He said that if my plan was to serve GOD sincerely, I might come to him (Bro. Lawrence) as often as I pleased, without worrying about being troublesome; but if not, that I should not visit anymore.

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1. What did Brother Lawrence say he learned by looking at a tree when he was 18 years old?

Why was this important to him, and why did it make him love God?

What is a time you learned something like that?

2. Why do you think Brother Lawrence felt satisfaction from living in the monastery?

3. Consider: “The Lord said, ‘I will go with you and give you peace.’ Then Moses replied, ‘If you aren’t going with us, please don’t make us leave this place. But if you do go with us, everyone will know that you are pleased with your people and with me.” (Exodus 33:14-16)

What rewards do we get in God’s presence? Why is it shameful to leave his presence?

4. Consider: “[God] knows all your thoughts and your reasons for doing things, and so if you turn to him, he will hear your prayers. But if you ignore him, he will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

Why is it important to give everything to God?

5. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, “If I live, it will be for Christ, and if I die, I will gain even more,” (1:21) and “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (4:12,13 NIV)

What was Paul’s secret? Are you as content as Paul? How does focusing on God make us content?

6. Again consider the words of James: “My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking anything.” (1:2-4)

Why are the hard times in our lives valuable or important?

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Based on the words of Brother Lawrence

Edited and paraphrased, questions: Amanda Brockus

You can access the original text at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice.toc.html.

Introduction

This site is mainly for people who want to study the Bible and English at the same time. I am starting this site very small, mainly with studies written by people I know. This is because I want to avoid any copyright problems.

I will simplify the studies to make them more accessible to an ESL audience. I also will include some vocabulary. Some words will appear as links. If you rest your computer mouse over those words, a definition will appear. Go ahead, try it here.

I hope these studies will be helpful to your spiritual and educational life.

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Introduction to 1 Corinthians

Read Acts 18:1-18

Imagine an evangelist being forced to leave a church in your hometown.

In this church, people’s traditions were more important than the personal experience of God during a Sunday morning meeting. This church was so polite and formal that the people thought the Word of God was only good stories with very little real truth.

But, somehow a man who worshiped God was invited to speak. Sunday after Sunday he told people that Jesus is the Christ. They believed that “Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.” (I Cor. 15:3,4)

Soon, people said, “We have never done it that way!”, “Hypocrite!” and “God did not call us to judge people. He is a God of love.” The evangelist was forced to leave the church.

He could have said, “Let me back,” but, instead, he “shook the dust from his clothes and told them, ‘Whatever happens to you will be your own fault! I am not to blame.’” (Acts 18:6) He also explained that he would talk to those who would listen.

The evangelist went next door to a place where people worshiped God. People came to hear the truth and believed. Yet church members still threatened and accused, trying to stop what was happening. (Why do we often hate what we do not understand?)

The evangelist felt both discouragement and success. Then God “said, ‘Don’t be afraid to keep on preaching. Don’t stop! I am with you, and you won’t be harmed. Many people in this city belong to me.’” (Acts 18:9, 10)

The evangelist continued teaching for a year and a half. The church leaders panicked and went to the president, but he wanted the people to talk to each other. He refused to get involved saying they should settle it themselves.

“If you were charging this man with a crime or some other wrong, I would have to listen to you. But since this concerns only words, names, and your own law, you will have to take care of it. I refuse to judge such matters.” (Acts 18:14, 15)

The evangelist openly preached to all kinds of people: Americans, Indians, Brazilians, Frenchmen, Koreans, Kenyans, people who committed sexual sins, thieves, drug addicts, gamblers, as well as the covetous, and many others. (I Cor. 6:9, 10)

Now, imagine all of these accepting Jesus as Christ and going to one church together. They know grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. But they don’t know how to live a Christian life in their city. They only know how to live a sinful life in the church. They want to add their beliefs and experiences to the evangelist’s message.

Before the evangelist goes to another city, he asks a new leader to help the people apply the message to their experiences and understanding. (This is like letting God’s Word change how we think about our world.) There are conflicts. The new leader knows he needs help and sends an e-mail to the evangelist. (I Cor. 1:11).

The evangelist is very busy at another church, so he sends an e-mail to everyone in the church. He promises to visit as soon as he can. He teaches the church to seek truth and live by it. Finally, he answers their questions (I Cor. 7:1).

This is what happened in Corinth.

Corinth was a large city of 400,000 to 600,000 people, the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. It was near the water that, today, divides Greece in half. To the west was the Gulf of Corinth; to the east, the port of Cenchrea.

Corinth had a lot of people from different places and with different ideas. Corinth was known for not following laws or rules. To “Corinthianize” began to mean, “go to the devil”. There are also some phrases that use “Corinth” to mean the same thing.

God’s grace swept over the city and made a church of people who really believed. But their past did not disappear as they entered the church doors. So much was the same, but Paul wanted them to know what should change and how to change it.

Thought Questions

1. Mark 7:8 (Amplified) You disregard and give up and ask to depart from you the commandment of God and cling to the traditions of men [keeping it carefully and faithfully]. (CEV: “You disobey God’s commands in order to obey what humans have taught.”) What are some traditions that keep us from hearing God’s truth? If Paul went to your church, would you be ready to hear the truth?

2. How should we respond to people who ignore God’s message? (Acts 18:6)

3. How has God strengthened you when you felt both discouragement and success? You see your success, and yet you doubt.

4. How should church conflicts be solved? The Jews believed in the Law and traditions, but they could not see Jesus as Christ. Some Christians believe in Biblical principles, but deny essential truth. What issues threaten to divide Christians in your home country? Is there a time to let government resolve conflict? Explain.

5. How can we let the “Church” influence the “world” instead of letting the “world” influence the “Church”? How do we let the world influence the “Church” instead of letting the “Church” influence the “world”?

Questions posed by Spittler (page 15)

1. What is the difference between an adult Christian and a baby Christian? How can a person show elements of God’s Spirit and still be immature?

2. How can we live our lives when we have important responsibilities in God’s Kingdom and also obvious sin?

3. What does it mean to live an “adequately Christian life in a dominantly pagan culture”?

Thoughts to consider as we study I Corinthians

(Morris, 26)

1. Morris states that Paul “set right disorders which the Corinthians took lightly, but which he saw as grave sins.” (Paul corrected things that he thought were important and the Corinthians didn’t.) What did the Corinthians think was unimportant?

2. What are the questions that the Corinthians had for Paul?

3. What issues of belief did Paul address? Why did Paul spend a whole chapter talking about the resurrection?

Bibliography

Hamar, Paul A. 1980. The Book of First Corinthians. Springfield, Mo. Gospel Publishing House

Morris, Leon 1999. I Corinthians. Leicester, England. Inter-Varsity Press.

Spittler, Russell P. 1976. The Corinthian Correspondence. Springfield, Mo. Gospel Publishing House

by Janice Brockus

edited Amanda Brockus