God's Presence is a Gift

For me, one of the hardest parts of practicing God's presence is remembering that God's presence is a gift, not something that can be earned or achieved. There is a bit of a paradox in practicing God's presence. On the one hand, it is a discipline. We must open our hearts and minds to God and we must constantly turn our thoughts to Him. We must pray and talk with God constantly. On the other hand, there is nothing we can do to force God's presence in our hearts. He is omnipresent, but we cannot follow a specific path or course of conduct that guarantees that God will touch us in a certain way. He is sovereign. His presence in our lives is unmerited, undeserved and the product of sheer grace. . . . and that is simply one more of the infinite number of reasons that our God is so wonderful.

When I find that I am not sensing God's presence, I often find that I have been trying to force things rather than simply asking God to be with me and trusting that He is.