By Asst Ps Gift Daniel
Every year, the season of Lent serves as a refreshing reminder for me to delve into spiritual practices that can rejuvenate our spiritual lives. One discipline that I am particularly drawn to this year is the practice of the presence of God. I feel this is a discipline I need to cultivate over the long haul. As our life becomes increasingly busier, there is a greater need for us to be more conscious of God’s presence in our everyday life. I believe any spiritual habit, when cultivated over the 40-day period, can become ingrained in us, guiding us even amidst life's busyness.
For me, practising the presence of God means consciously living with the understanding that my life is lived out before Him. He knows all my actions, words, thoughts and motives. This is easier said than done. Usually when we start our day, we do acknowledge the presence of God by saying a prayer or thanksgiving to Him. Many may begin the day by doing their devotion. All these things help us to be conscious of God’s presence as we begin our day’s tasks. Once we get into the day, we often become too busy (someone said, BUSY may sometimes mean Being Under Satan’s Yoke) with our routine work, attending to meetings, appointments and to-do lists. By noon time many of us won’t have the time to think about God and His active involvement in our day-to-day tasks. One habit that can help us to be conscious of God’s presence with us is to take a short 10-minute break around midday to pause and reflect, and acknowledge the presence of God with us. This practice is known as “daily office” (also known as the fixed hour of prayer).
In fact, this is an ancient practice that our early church fathers practised regularly. They take a break of 30 to 45 minutes every 3 to 4 hours during the day to practise the presence of God. This break is spent not so much on getting something from God but to simply dwell in His presence. This practice is also known as the liturgy of the hours. I remember doing this up till my secondary school days (without knowing the meaning behind it). I studied in a school founded by Protestant missionaries and the secondary school was attached to a cathedral with a tall tower and a bronze bell erected on top of the structure. At 12 noon every day, we would hear the bronze bell ring. All the students would then stop their work and stand for a few minutes in silence and prayer.
Below are a few practices that I would like to suggest for us to do regularly.
Practise a midday break
Take a 5 to 10 minutes’ break (perhaps during your lunch hour) to pause and reflect and acknowledge the presence of God with us.
What do we do during these short midday breaks? We can follow a simple, yet profound framework outlined by Peter Scazzero in his book "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality". This framework includes:
Stopping: Cease our activities and acknowledge God's sovereignty, affirming that He is in control.
Centering: Recognize God's presence and find solace in His being. (Be still and know that I am God, Ps 46:10.)
Silence: Quiet our inner and outer voices to better attend to God.
Scripture: Conclude our time with reading or meditating on a scripture passage, drawing closer to God's word.
Practise end-of-the-day reflection
Another thing that helps me to acknowledge and be more sensitive to the presence of God is the practice of daily reflection before I go to sleep (some may call this Examen). Before you go to bed, take 10 to 15 minutes to review the day’s events. This is basically an end-of-the-day reflection that begins with a spirit of gratitude, acknowledging that everything is a gift from God.
Here are some tips for you to do this:
Review your day. Guided by the Holy Spirit, look back on your day. Pay attention to your experiences. Look for God in everything you did. I think about the people with whom I have spent time, the conversations I have had, the places I have been. I try to recall my thoughts and feelings as well.
Give thanks. Be thankful to God for His presence. Where and how did you experience God’s presence today in your life? Where did you not experience God’s presence? What am I most grateful for today?
Ask God for His mercy. Face up to failures, shortcomings and weaknesses. Ask for forgiveness for your faults. Ask God to show you how to improve. Ask God for His grace and mercy.
In embracing these practices, may we cultivate a heightened awareness of God's presence in our lives. As Psalm 16:11 reminds us, in His presence, there is fullness of joy. May the Lord enable us to find joy and fulfilment in living continually in His presence.
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