What to read next
by Brother Lawrence
The Practice of the Presence of God is Brother Lawrence's simple but startling testimony that ordinary work, even scrubbing pots in a monastery kitchen, can become a place of unbroken conversation with God. It is short, plainspoken, and best read slowly, so groups that finish it often want either another quiet classic to sit with in the same way or a book that puts the same longing for God's nearness into a different shape, whether that is a daily devotional, a spiritual memoir, or an allegory of the soul's journey. The seven books below all share Brother Lawrence's core concern for real, felt communion with God, though they arrive at it through very different lengths and voices.
Our The Practice of the Presence of God guide runs 7 sessions with 56 discussion questions.
These are guides from our own catalog, ordered by how much each book shares with The Practice of the Presence of God: subject and themes first, then the kind of group it suits, then the same author. It is an editorial comparison of what the books are about — not a ranking of which is better, and not a claim about what other groups chose.
by Oswald Chambers
Like Brother Lawrence, Chambers is after a moment-by-moment surrender to God rather than a set of religious duties to check off. The pace is very different, though: 13 sessions built from 365 short daily readings make this a longer, slower companion that a group can dip into over months rather than finish in a single season.
by A.W. Tozer
Tozer shares Brother Lawrence's conviction that God wants to be known directly, not just believed in from a distance, and both books press readers past routine faith into real experience. Tozer's ten chapters and 13 sessions give a fuller, more argued case for this hunger, with a more urgent, sermon-like voice than Brother Lawrence's quiet letters.
by Saint Augustine
Augustine's restless search for God and his eventual rest in constant prayerful address to Him echoes the same hunger Brother Lawrence found in his kitchen. This is a much bigger undertaking, though, 12 sessions covering a full spiritual autobiography with philosophical depth, so it suits a group ready for a longer, more reflective journey.
by Thomas à Kempis
Thomas à Kempis and Brother Lawrence both write from monastic quiet and both insist that humility and inward union with Christ matter more than knowledge or achievement. The Imitation is longer, 15 sessions and 105 questions, and reads as a series of terse spiritual maxims rather than the warmer, story-based voice of Brother Lawrence's letters.
by Hannah Hurnard
This allegory shares Brother Lawrence's belief that God can be found in the hard, unglamorous stretches of life, though it tells that truth through Much-Afraid's journey rather than through direct teaching. At 12 sessions it is a more story-driven, emotionally gentle read, and its focus on fear and suffering gives it a different texture than Brother Lawrence's steady contentment.
by John Bunyan
Bunyan's Christian, like Brother Lawrence, is trying to walk faithfully with God through the ordinary trials of daily life, but the allegory dramatizes that walk as a physical journey full of characters and dangers. Its 12 sessions and narrative form make it a livelier, more plot-driven study than the quiet, reflective letters of Brother Lawrence.
by C.S. Lewis
Lewis's raw record of loss tests the same question Brother Lawrence answers so calmly: can we still sense God's presence when life is hardest. It is much shorter, just 6 sessions, and far less settled in tone, offering an honest, unresolved companion for groups who want to sit with doubt as well as devotion.
by Jerry Bridges
Bridges shares Brother Lawrence's concern for the quality of an ordinary Christian's inner life, though he turns that concern toward naming specific sins like pride and anxiety rather than cultivating constant awareness of God. At 21 sessions and 147 questions it is a much longer, more practical study, useful for a group ready to move from contemplation to self-examination.
Session and question counts checked .