The Practice of the Presence of God (For Teens)

He was born Nicolas Herman around 1614 in Lorraine, in what is now eastern France. He was a soldier, was wounded in the leg and lamed for life, and worked as a footman before joining the Discalced Carmelites in Paris in 1640 as a lay brother. He spent about fifteen years as the community’s cook. He died in Paris on 12 February 1691.

It is a small book made of four conversations with Brother Lawrence, written down by a visitor, Joseph de Beaufort, and fifteen of Lawrence’s own letters. Together they describe one simple habit: remembering that God is with you and talking to him all through the day, in ordinary work as much as in set times of prayer.

No. Lawrence tried many methods from books and found they puzzled him. He said there was no need of “art nor science” for going to God, only a heart set on him. His advice was short prayers, often: a little lifting up of the heart, even in the middle of work or with friends.

Lawrence said that was nothing new. His own mind wandered for years. His advice was not to get upset with yourself, because worry only scatters the mind more, but to bring it gently back to God every time, and to practise thinking of God at other times of day too.

No. It is a retelling for teenagers in plain modern words, keeping Brother Lawrence’s own sentences where they say it best. The full Practice of the Presence of God is also available, and there is a children’s edition for younger readers.

In one letter he told a friend whose treatments were not working to trust God rather than the doctors of his day. Medicine in the 1600s often did more harm than good. Lawrence’s main point was to trust God and keep company with him in pain. That is not a reason to stop taking medicine or to avoid a doctor today.