The With God Life - some quotes from Brother Lawrence 

(click on picture to go to an article about Brother Lawrence)

One of the most widely read books about living the With God Life is "The Practice of the Presence of God".  Here are some quotes that might inspire you to read the book:

He resolved to make the love of God the goal of all his actions. He had become satisfied that this method was the best path. He was pleased when he could pick up a straw from the ground for the love of God, seeking only Him and nothing else, not even His gifts.


In order to form a habit of communing with God continually and committing everything we do to Him, we must at first make a special effort. After a while we find that His love inwardly inspires us to do all things for Him effortlessly.


Sometimes when he realized that he had not thought of God for a while, he did not worry himself about it. After acknowledging his wretchedness to God, he returned to Him with even greater trust in Him, prompted by the fact that he felt so wretched to have forgotten Him.


When outward busyness diverted him a little from the awareness of God, a fresh remembrance would come from God and consume his soul. This presence of God so inflamed and transported him that it was difficult for him to contain himself.



He said that we ought to relate to God in the greatest simplicity, speaking to Him frankly and plainly, and imploring His assistance in our affairs as they happen. In his experience, God never failed to grant help.

Recently he had been sent into Burgundy to buy a quantity of wine for the monastery. This was a very unwelcome task for him, because he had no head for business. Furthermore he was lame, and he could not move around the boat except by rolling himself over the casks. However he did not bother himself about it, nor about the purchase of the wine. He said to God that it was His business he was on, and then he found that he did the job very well. He had been sent into Auvergne last year on the same business, and it also seemed to work out well.

The same was true of his work in the kitchen (to which he had a natural aversion). He proceeded to do everything there for the love of God, praying continually for God’s grace to do his work well. In this manner he had found everything easy during the fifteen years that he had been employed there.