Practicing His Presence: Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach

by Gene Edwards (Editor)

Paperback

About the author

Gene Edwards is one of America's most beloved Christian authors. He has published over 25 best-selling books, and his signature work, "The Divine Romance," has been called a masterpiece of Christian literature. He has written biblical fiction covering nearly the entire Bible, with titles that include the following: "The Beginning," "The Escape," "The Birth," "The Divine Romance," "The Triumph," "Revolution," "The Silas Diary," "The Titus Diary," "The Timothy Diary," "The Priscilla Diary," "The Gaius Diary," and "The Return."

Gene grew up in the East Texas oil fields and entered college at the age of 15. He graduated from East Texas State University at 18 with a bachelor's degree in English history and received his M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gene is part of the house-church movement, and he travels extensively to aid Christians as they begin meeting in homes rather than in church buildings. He also conducts conferences on living the deeper Christian life.

Gene and his wife, Helen, reside in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two grown children.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A WONDERFUL MODERN TRANSLATION OF A TRUE SPIRITUAL "CLASSIC”

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1614-1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. This book was compiled after his death from letters he had written.

He states that at age eighteen, he discovered that "we can establish ourselves in a sense of the presence of God by continually talking with Him. It is simply a shameful thing to quit conversing with Him to think of trifles and foolish things..." (Pg. 42) He adds, "Our useless thoughts spoil everything. They are where mischief begins." (Pg. 48)

He explains his method thusly: "You need to accustom yourself to continual conversation with Him---a conversation which is always free and simple. We need to recognize that God is always intimately present with us and address Him every moment." (Pg. 55) He summarizes, "My prayers are nothing other than the sense of the presence of God." (Pg. 56)

The combining in this book of the 17th century Brother Lawrence with the 1930s meditations of missionary Frank Laubach is... well, a little weird, to me; or at least distracting. (However, the undated meditations of Brother Lawrence are in the second half of the book, so they are easily separable from Laubach's less "classic" musings.)

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found Mr. Laubach’s writings quite inspiring and much more relatable than Brother Lawrence. The time and seating surely had a lot to do with that. But definitely worth the read.

[Yelena · Rating 5 out of 5]

So inspiring, must read!