Editor’s Note: Jerry Bridges, in his classic book True Community, explains what it means to practice the presence of God. In other words, he helps us understand how to have communion with God, in the section – An All-Day Affair. He quotes Matthew Henry, Brother Lawrence, and Dallas Willard as he explains communion with God to us. Jerry Bridges is one of my very favorite authors. He writes with clarity, simplicity, and practically. You will benefit from this short selection out of chapter three.
Communion with God – An All-Day Affair
In his book Directions for Daily Communion with God, famed Bible commentator Matthew Henry has written three sections: How to Begin the Day with God, How to Spend the Day with God, and How to Close the Day with God.[1] These three sections point out a very important point regarding communion with God: Our communion should be more than just having a quiet time in the morning; it should be an all-day affair. In fact, Isaiah and David take us one step further. They talk about having communion with the Lord even in the night. Isaiah said, “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you” (Isaiah 26:9). David said, “On my bed I remember you: I think of you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).
There is a classic little booklet in circulation written by Brother Lawrence, the cook of a medieval monastery, titled The Practice of the Presence of God. In it, Brother Lawrence described how he enjoyed the presence of God as much amid the clatter of his pots and pans in the kitchen as he did in the chapel service each morning.
This is undoubtedly the ideal we should aim for: living continually in the presence of God, whether we are in the classroom, at the office, in the shop, or driving down a busy freeway. Most of us have a problem with the ideal, however. How, we are inclined to ask, can I have communion with God when I’m sitting in a university classroom listening to a lecture on economics, or writing a computer program at my job, or checking out groceries in a supermarket? Where am I to find time to think about God and have communion with Him when I have to think about what I’m doing on my job or have to pay attention to what that economics professor is saying? It’s all very well for Brother Lawrence to think about God while he washes pots and pans, but I have to use my mind to think about what I’m doing. I can’t stop and have communion with God during the day.
These are very legitimate questions, ones for which I have no easy answers, although I will have some suggestions in a few pages. But he real issue is, what is the major thrust of my mind and heart? What do I think about when I do have discretionary thinking time? What do I do when I climb in the car each evening after a busy day? Do I turn on the radio, or do I use that time to have communion with God? I’m not suggesting we should never listen to the car radio. I’m just asking, how do we use our discretionary thinking time? I am personally challenged by the question Dallas Willard asked: “Does our mind spontaneously return to God when not intensely occupied, as the needle of the compass turns to the North Pole when removed from nearer magnetic sources?”[2] If we are serious about communion with God, we must honestly face that question.
About the Author: Jerry Bridges was a well-known Christian writer and speaker. His numerous books have sold over 3.5 million copies. He served on the staff of The Navigators for more than sixty years before his death in 2016. Jerry leaves behind his wife, Jane; two children; and seven grandchildren.
[1] Matthew Henry, Directions for Daily Communion with God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1978).
[2] Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2012), 199.
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KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together
Jerry Bridges is one of my favorites too. Thank you for sharing these thoughts from him. When i think back to one of my most physically required jobs, it was also the one with least needing my mind and how much i loved how i could let my thoughts linger for long on God and the things of God. In reality it was the low paying job but in another sense, it was the highest! Sometimes my mind wanders back to the joys of those simpler work days. :)