Day 9 – Forming a Habit

Brother Lawrence said that “in the beginning we must work at forming the habit of continually conversing with God, attributing to him everything we do; but after a little effort we will feel ourselves awakened by love with no more difficulty.”

Developing a lifelong habit throughout the day of walking and talking with God (1 Thessalonians 5:17), abiding and remaining in Jesus (John 15:4), living by and keeping in step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25) seems daunting and difficult.

Yet like learning to tie your shoes or ride a bike, or developing a muscle, cultivating God’s near presence becomes easier and grows stronger through practice.

You make a decision to practice God’s presence for a lifetime. Then you take consistent steps in forming a habit.

You choose to think about God and his attributes. You aim to see God in all things. You nurture an awareness of God in the world around you.

You talk with God, even in short breath prayers, throughout the day. A breath prayer is a prayer you can pray in one breath, often using phrases from the Bible that have meant a lot to you.

You seek to do everything for God, before God, and in God. You acknowledge that Christ is with you, in you, living his life through you. You affirm the Holy Spirit is surrounding you, upon you.

A children’s story tells about an impulsive train that wanted to break loose from the railroad tracks and go its own direction. In a similar way, we might not want to discipline ourselves to stay on the tracks of cultivating God’s near presence.

Yet as we stay on these railroad tracks, we will move quickly down the rails of God’s loving presence with us.

Little steps, baby steps. Even faltering steps and missteps. And you find yourself in the loving presence of Jesus.

When you wake up in the morning, you draw near to God. Throughout the day, you look upward to God and breath a prayer heavenward. At any pause during the day, a quick glance, and God is there. When you go to bed at night, you reflect on his nearness throughout the day.

God is at work in you. He loves being with you. His desire is for you. “If you seek him, he will be found by you” (1 Chronicles 28:9).

As Francois Fénelon said, “The wind of God is always blowing, but you must hoist your sail.”

Question #1: Have you decided to practice God’s presence for a lifetime?

Question #2: What simple step can you take to enter into the awareness of God’s presence?

This is God’s Word for you today,
Pastor Dave