The Practice of the Presence of God is a well known book by Brother Lawrence, a 17th century monk. Our sermon series for November is not based on his book, but shares a common theme. We must regularly practice being in God’s presence.
Anything we want to do well requires practice. It would be ridiculous to assume you could pick up a musical instrument and in just a few tries be able to play proficiently. Unfortunately, we don’t think of spiritual skills in the same way. Although some people may be more adept at certain spiritual disciplines in the same way some are more adept at musical talents or other skills, everyone requires practice to achieve their best.
Our emphasis is to get practical. We’ve taught on many of these topics often, but this month we hope to not only communicate the ideas but also encourage and give examples of ways to implement these disciplines. We hope to find ways to engage in some of these skills during the services, as well as ways to incorporate them into our lives. Spiritual growth—like physical, intellectual, or emotional growth—is gradual. At times we may experience a growth spurt, but normally it is so gradual it can go unnoticed. We’ve all experienced seeing a niece or nephew or the child of a friend after several years and exclaiming, “Wow, how they’ve grown!” In the same way, we may not notice the small incremental growth in ourselves and those around us, but God is faithful as we give attention to the things that feed our souls.
We will explore prayer, hearing God’s voice, worship, prophetic ministry, soaking (a.k.a. contemplative prayer), and fasting. This entire year has been about developing our spirituality. We started out with Joy Wins and Emotionally Healthy Communities. With the onset of the pandemic, we delved into the book of James to learn from the first century church’s experience with Living Exiled. This was followed with the Perseverance character studies and the Fear Not series. The S.O.U.L. Search really drilled it down to teach us a new way to measure and communicate where we are spiritually.
Our hope is that this series on practical ways to practice God’s presence will further develop our spiritual health. In this year of extended stress and trials of dealing with all of the unknowns of the pandemic, election, racial tensions, economic challenges, etc., it is good to know that we can continue to prosper in our spiritual maturity. In fact, the outward challenges are some of the best motivators of growing inwardly. Let’s all “up our game” in growing closer to God.