from The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

James 4:8 says to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. It's a relationship between God and man, realized by Christ's giving his life to bring us close to God. Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite cook in Paris, described the way people draw near and relate to the true, living God by practicing his presence... practice being conscious of his presence and seeking communion with him while living a life of worship. Here is just a small portion of what he said:

"Our sanctification does not depend as much on our changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves."

"God has infinite treasures to give us... Why should we be satisfied with a brief moment of worship? With such meager devotion, we retrain the flow of God's abundant grace. If God can find a soul filled with a lively faith, He pours His grace into it in a torrent, which, having found an open channel, gushes out abundantly."

"The Holy Spirit dwelling in us leads us to love GOD in a diversity of ways."

Thoughts on worshipping in spirit and in truth... "to adore God in truth is to recognize Him for what He is, and ourselves for what we are... to admit that our nature is just the opposite of His."

Explaining how God alone is capable of making Himself known as He really is, Lawrence said "God alone paints Himself in the depths of our souls." And oh, He does it so marvelously.

"...the greatest glory one can give to God is to entirely mistrust one's own strength, relying completely on God's protection."