The Work
The Practice of the Presence of God (La Pratique de la Presence de Dieu) is a small collection of conversations and letters that was compiled and published posthumously in 1692 by Father Joseph de Beaufort, a lawyer who had become a deacon and who had been deeply influenced by his conversations with Brother Lawrence. The work consists of four conversations and sixteen letters, running to approximately 100 pages in English translation. The conversations record de Beaufort's visits to Brother Lawrence during his final years; the letters are addressed to various correspondents offering spiritual counsel. It has been translated into dozens of languages and has never been out of print.
Biblical Engagement
Colossians 3:17 ("And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him") is the scriptural cornerstone of Brother Lawrence's teaching. His insight was radical in its simplicity: if every action is to be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus," then washing dishes in the monastery kitchen is as sacred an act as receiving communion, provided it is done with conscious attention to God's presence.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 ("Pray without ceasing") is the apostolic command that Brother Lawrence took with absolute literalness. Where others interpreted this as a discipline of regular set-aside prayer times, Lawrence understood it as a description of a continuous interior orientation toward God that could be maintained through every activity. The result was a form of contemplative practice available to the unlettered and the actively employed as much as to monks and scholars.
Psalm 16:8 ("I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved") is the Old Testament parallel to Brother Lawrence's practice. The psalmist's deliberate, continuous orientation toward God's presence -- "I have set the LORD always before me" -- is the exact spiritual discipline Lawrence describes. He frequently encouraged his correspondents to begin the practice by regularly recalling God's presence during the day, even if the recollection was brief and imperfect.
John 15:4 ("Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me") provides the christological ground for the practice. Lawrence understood the abiding of John 15 not as a periodic spiritual retreat but as a continuous way of being -- the soul constantly drawing life from Christ as the branch from the vine.
Author and Context
Nicholas Herman (c. 1614-1691), known as Brother Lawrence, was born in Lorraine, France, to a poor family. He served as a soldier and as a lackey (personal servant) before entering the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris around 1640, where he served as a lay brother in the kitchen for approximately forty years, and later as sandal-maker when his health declined. He was never ordained.
Brother Lawrence is remarkable as an example of mystical experience accessible entirely outside the clergy-scholar class. He had no formal education in theology or spirituality; his reading was devotional rather than philosophical. His spiritual insight came from sustained attention to the practice of work and prayer in an institutional setting that offered few external stimulations. His experience was not mystical in the sense of visions or ecstasies but in the sense of a continuous, unbroken awareness of divine presence that he described as his "ordinary" state after approximately ten years of deliberate practice.
The conversations recorded by de Beaufort have the freshness and directness of a man who had no investment in impressing his visitor and nothing to prove theologically. Lawrence repeatedly expressed surprise that anyone wanted to talk to him about spiritual matters; he was simply trying to do his work and keep his attention on God.
Critical Reception
The Practice of the Presence of God has been praised by Catholics, Protestants, and even by those without religious commitments, as one of the most accessible and practically useful works of Christian spirituality ever written. John Wesley included it in his "Christian Library" of works suitable for Methodist reading. Frank Laubach, the twentieth-century missionary and literacy pioneer, developed a modern version of Brother Lawrence's practice in his Letters by a Modern Mystic (1937). A.W. Tozer cited it as one of the most important works for the deepening of spiritual life.
The work's appeal crosses denominational and theological boundaries precisely because it bypasses doctrinal complexity in favor of a single, practical insight: whatever you are doing, do it in awareness of God's presence.
Theological Significance
Brother Lawrence stands in the tradition of affective and practical mysticism that runs through Bernard of Clairvaux, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the Flemish devotio moderna (represented by Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ). His distinctive contribution is to democratize mystical practice: to show that the contemplative life is not reserved for those with leisure for extended meditation but is available to those whose hands are busy with the most mundane tasks. This democratization of contemplation has been one of the most influential ideas in modern Christian spirituality.
Legacy
The Practice of the Presence of God has been continuously in print since 1692 -- one of the longest print runs in devotional literature. It has been a formative text for the Quaker tradition (which shares its emphasis on continuous awareness of the Inner Light), for the Keswick holiness tradition, and for the charismatic tradition's emphasis on continuous communion with the Holy Spirit. Its influence on figures as diverse as A.W. Tozer, Frank Laubach, Thomas Merton, and Henri Nouwen demonstrates its capacity to transcend theological boundaries.
Reading Alongside Scripture
Readers should study John 15:1-11 (abiding in Christ), Colossians 3:17-24 (doing everything in the name of the Lord), 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22 (pray without ceasing), Psalm 16:7-11 (the Lord always before me), Psalm 63:1-8 (thirsting for God), and Revelation 3:20 (Christ standing at the door and knocking).
Further Reading
- A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (1948) -- a twentieth-century Protestant complement to Brother Lawrence's teaching. - Frank Laubach, Letters by a Modern Mystic (1937) -- a contemporary Protestant practice of Brother Lawrence's method, applied to missionary life. - Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island (1955) -- a Catholic monastic complement, exploring many of the same themes from a more theological perspective.