The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence

Week 6: Letters Thirteen through Fifteen — The Final Words

Read Letters Thirteen through Fifteen of The Practice of the Presence of God. Note that Brother Lawrence died peacefully within days of the last letter.

These final three letters were written by an old man very near death, and they carry the clarity and tenderness of someone who has practiced what he preached for over forty years. Read them slowly — they are among the last words Brother Lawrence ever wrote.

Discussion Questions

8 questions

1.In the Thirteenth Letter, Brother Lawrence tells his suffering friend to stop pursuing human remedies and 'resign yourself entirely to the providence of God,' believing that 'perhaps He waits only for that resignation and perfect faith in Him to cure you.' He also says not to ask God for deliverance from pain, but rather 'for the strength to resolutely bear all that He pleases.' This is demanding counsel. What does it assume about the character of God, and about the purpose of suffering, that makes this counsel not cruel but compassionate?

2.In the Thirteenth Letter, Brother Lawrence offers what may be the simplest and most profound statement about love in the entire book: 'Love sweetens pains. And when one loves God, one suffers for His sake with joy and courage.' Have you ever experienced something difficult becoming bearable — or even sweet — because of who you were enduring it with or for? What does that experience teach you about what Brother Lawrence is describing?

3.In the Fourteenth Letter, Brother Lawrence writes: 'How sweet it is to suffer with God! However great your sufferings may be, receive them with love. It is paradise to suffer and be with Him.' He then connects this to the practice of the presence: 'If, in this life, we might enjoy the peace of paradise, we must accustom ourselves to a familiar, humble, and affectionate conversation with God.' How does this connect the practice of God's presence in ordinary moments to the endurance of extraordinary suffering? Are they the same skill, developed in different circumstances?

4.In the Fourteenth Letter, Brother Lawrence writes: 'Knock. Persevere in knocking. And I answer for it, that, in His due time, He will open His graces to you. He will grant, all at once, what He has deferred during many years.' He is echoing Jesus's words in Matthew 7:7-8. What does it mean to 'persevere in knocking' in the context of this book — what does that persistence look like in the practice of God's presence?

5.The Fifteenth Letter opens with words of extraordinary confidence: 'God knows best what we need. All that He does is for our good. If we knew how much He loves us, we would always be ready to receive both the bitter and the sweet from His Hand. It would make no difference.' Brother Lawrence wrote this while himself approaching death. How does the nearness of death clarify or confirm this kind of trust? Is it easier or harder to believe when the stakes are highest?

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Closing Prayer

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Lord, we stand at the end of Brother Lawrence's letters as if at the door of his room — grateful for what he shared, sobered by the fact that he died so soon after. He has shown us that the last words of a life well-lived are not complicated: know Him, love Him, cast everything else away, and beg the favor of a heart wholly His. We want that. We confess how far we are from it — how full our hearts still are of other things, how lightly we have knocked at Your door. But we knock now. We believe You will open. Let the change we so greatly desire be worked in us — not because we deserve it, but because You are a God of infinite grace and love. We die but once. Let us live, until then, in Your presence. Amen.

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