Practicing His Presence

Our Sunday School class is studying Max Lucado's Bible Study 'Come Thirsty' - a companion study to his book by the same name. I'm a big fan of Max Lucado and this study has not disappointed! Our discussion this week was on prayer, particularly how it is 'an attitude rather than an action'.

How do we follow Paul's admonishment in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to 'pray without ceasing'? Max Lucado says we must "Think of prayers as less an activity for God and more an awareness of God. Seek to live in uninterrupted awareness. Acknowledge His presence everywhere you go."

I like that. We tend to think of praying as doing when more often than not it's just being with God and letting our hearts flow out to Him.

Or as one lady put it, we need to 'practice His presence' in our lives. Practice implies discipline which brings to mind physical activity, but being in God's presence is more of a mental thing for me. God is everywhere all the time. It's the acknowledgement of that, as Max says, that we need to practice. Why is this so hard for me?

I keep an ongoing dialogue with God every day, but I sometimes find there are blocks of time where I shut Him out. This sounds so ludicrous doesn't it? 'Take a break, God, I can handle this.' But in essence, that's what I do when I forget to include Him in every moment of my life.

What about you? Are you 'practicing His Presence' in your life? It brings His peace, His power, His strength to every moment -

The Lord says, "I made myself known to people who were not looking for me. I was found by those who were not asking me for help. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am,' Is 65:1

All for Him,

Missy