Quotes about Presence

We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences, but in our simple presence in life.

Failure to recognize the value of mere being with God, as the beloved, without doing anything, is to gouge the heart out of Christianity."10

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, Naught is all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought by day and by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word; I ever with thee, thou with me, Lord.

Jesus says simply, "Remain in me, as I in you" (John 15:4). Home is not a heavenly mansion in the afterlife but a safe place right in the midst of our anxious world. "Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him" (John 14:23).

A strange feeling comes over you, when you see the silent candle burning.

I know you will get disgruntled at times and start to act out, but the longer you spend time in the presence of Jesus, the more accustomed you grow to His face, the less adulation you will need because you will have discovered for yourself that He is Enough. And in the Presence, you will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace and not by performance.

The more time you spend in the presence of Jesus, the less praise you'll need from others because you will have discovered for yourself that he is enough. And in the Presence, you will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace and not by posing.

As we come to grips with our own selfishness and stupidity, we make friends with the impostor and accept that we are impoverished and broken and realize that, if we were not, we would be God. The art of gentleness toward ourselves leads to being gentle with others -- and is a natural prerequisite for our presence to God in prayer.

The thought that my dear Heavenly Father is always near, giving me abundantly of all those things, which truly enrich life and make it sweet and beautiful, makes every deprivation seem of little moment compared with the countless blessings I enjoy.

Solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and God alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that God is actively present in our lives-- healing, teaching and guiding-- we need to set aside a time and space to give God our undivided attention. (Matt 6:6)

Peace is first of all the art of being.

When two people have become present to each other, the waiting of one must be able to cross the narrow line between the living or dying of the other.