God has various ways of drawing us to Him. But sometimes He hides from us. In those times, the sole support of our confidence must be our faith, which must be totally in God. Such faith will not fail.” And keep up your part of the inner dialogue with God - for Brother Lawrence ingenuously says His answers will always come, and provide you with the protection and comfort of spiritual foliage, and with the real and continual fruits of the Spirit. God does all of this so that he can be our God and we can be his people (Gen 17:7; Ex 6:7; 29:45, Rev 21:3, etc.). At the heart of the covenant, then, is a relationship—one that is decidedly on his terms. God enters into his creation to create a people and a place for his presence. And so the covenant is as the Lord declares at Sinai: “I will dwell among the people of Israel and be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them” (Ex 29:45-46). 7. The presence of God is the means and end of redemption. Never tire of doing even the smallest things for Him, because He isn’t impressed so much with the dimensions of our work as with the love in which it is done.”

Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of

If we are honest, many of us can think of God as our “magic genie” from time to time. We keep him on the shelf until troubles arise or there is something our neighbor has that we really want. The problem is, real relationships don’t work this way—especially with the triune God. The Lord over all will not be left on the shelf of anyone’s life. Brother Lawrence isn’t a famous man and he didn't do anything that should make us place him on a pedestal in the social-historical scheme of things. However, what this man brings to understanding God on a daily basis, in real-life which each of us can understand, is nothing short of miraculous. Brother Lawrence involves God in all his daily affairs, not in some odd or curious way, but in a very natural way: he treats the Lord as one sitting with him in the kitchen where he works.

As a humble cook, Brother Lawrence learned an important lesson through each daily chore: The time he spent in communion with the Lord should be the same, whether he was bustling around in the kitchen—with several people asking questions at the same time—or on his knees in prayer. He learned to cultivate the deep presence of God so thoroughly in his own heart that he was able to joyfully exclaim, “I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring Him, and loving Him with all my heart.” Brother Lawrence makes an example of the chore of doing dishes and serving in the kitchen to bolster his proposition that any activity can be completed inside the presence of God but I found that to be pretty hollow. I don't disagree that doing dishes (or any seemingly mundane task)can be done as an act of service and love but I thought it was weak to use that as an example of a trying or difficult circumstance which would really challenge our ability to be God-centered. I don't know; maybe he really hated doing dishes. However if that's the most difficult situation he faced in his life in the monastery, it makes me wonder how credible his teaching really is. And if we never afterwards STOP talking to Him - about whatever pops into our minds, however trivial... we’ll always find Him, in whatever we DO. Jesus came into the world as the incarnate Son of God to accomplish more than one thing and defeating the devil by tasting death was among them.

The Practice of the Presence of God - Wikipedia

Update: For those seeking more practical direction on HOW to implement these principles in the Christian life, I also recommend "We Would See Jesus" by Roy & Revel Hession, published 1958. Brother Lawrence saw his day-to-day work as service and praise to God. He set himself a discipline of awareness of the Divine Presence, until it became his habit and his life. For decades he toiled in the kitchen of the monastery, not ordained, but a lay brother, given that job because they found him too clumsy to do anything else! Perfect in that while it can be read in one hour; mastery of its central concept requires a lifetime. Well, at least for this soul ... and a very long lifetime at that. And I write that without the least trace of humility, remorse or even chagrin—as a simple statement of fact. Indeed, growth in virtue does require total commitment and extended preparation time. I'm on at least my seventh reading of this book and each has been a sincere attempt to take in the saint's simple way of constantly living in God's Holy Presence. I just pray I've made some progress!At the same time, I found myself troubled by at least three things: 1) On several occasions, Lawrence mentions the need to make satisfaction for his sins. Maybe he means something different than I realize, but if he means what I think he means, I have to wonder if the man even understands the gospel. 2) I don't think Lawrence refers to Scripture even one time in this whole book. 3) Lawrence seems to value a kind of mystical detachment from the present world, as if there is something super spiritual about ignoring the world around us.