Introduction
Beginning the Practice: Opening the Heart to God’s Presence
You are on Holy Ground (Shoes Optional) – Exodus 3: 2-5
God is Already Here – Psalm 46:10
You Don’t Have to Get it Right, You Just Have to Start – Lamentations 3:22–23
Week 1: God is with you—God is for you
God is with me When I Feel Alone – Psalm 139:7–10
Why Now Matters – 2 Corinthians 6:2
God’s Kingdom in Me – Luke 17:20-21
Walking with God in the Ordinary – Genesis 5:23-24
God in the Small Things – Matthew 10:29–31
Practice Makes Presence – Philippians 4:9
The Habit of Holiness – 1 Timothy 4:7–8
Week 2: Union with God
Living in God’s Love – John 15:9–10
Remaining in the Vine – John 15:4–5
God Is My Life – Acts 17:28
Nothing Separates Us – Romans 8:38–39
The Indwelling Christ – Galatians 2:20
God Delights in Me – Zephaniah 3:17
Love Is the Bond – Colossians 3:14
Week 3: Work and Worship
Work as Worship – Colossians 3:23–24
Cooking with God – 1 Corinthians 10:31
Come Close to God – James 4:8
Pray Without Ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Hidden in God – Colossians 3:3
Listening Through the Noise – Isaiah 30:21
The Joy of Obedience – John 14:23
Week 4: Simplicity, Surrender, and Love
The Simple Life with God – Micah 6:8
Surrender in Love – Luke 22:42
Being, Not Doing – Psalm 131:1–2
Everything Belongs to God – Psalm 24:1
Let Go, Let God – Proverbs 3:5–6
Love Is God’s Language – 1 John 4:16
I Am God’s Friend – John 15:15
Continuing the Practice
Introduction
Welcome to the Sacred Practice of Everyday Presence
This devotional guide was born out of a question that quietly emerged after years of spiritual seeking.
Many decades ago, I read The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. At the time, I wasn’t ready to fully receive its message. But recently, when I returned to the book, a question stirred deep within me:
What would happen if I lived as if God were present in everything I do?
That question led to another:
What if all I needed to do was… notice?
Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century French monk, shared his spiritual journey through letters and conversations that became a timeless devotional classic. He described how he encountered God not only in formal prayer, but also while cooking meals, tending gardens, and walking through the monastery. For him, every moment was an opportunity to commune with God.
Though his writings remain available today, the sobering reality is that few people have read the book and fewer still allow its message to transform their lives. This devotional guide is a response to that gap.
Drawing from Brother Lawrence’s quiet wisdom, I invite you to join me on a 31-day journey. Step away—if only for a few minutes each day—from the noise and pressure of modern life. Let’s discover together what happens when we pause to notice God’s presence in everything we do.
These daily devotions are designed to help you cultivate a habit of attentiveness—to live with a growing awareness of God’s presence in all you do.
Come, and begin the sacred practice of everyday presence.
A New Kind of Devotional Rhythm
Each day’s devotion focuses on a central theme and a Scripture passage, paired with guided practices to help you attune your mind, body, relationships, and work to God’s presence. Throughout the journey, we will explore how to:
• Recognize every moment and place as holy ground
• Transform ordinary tasks into acts of worship
• Discover new dimensions of God’s love within yourself
• Respond to others with divine compassion
• Experience God’s nearness in stillness, work, and movement
You don’t need to go somewhere else to find God. He’s already here.
Take a breath. Set aside your busyness. This is not a race or a performance. This is a calm invitation to become more aware of the God who is already with you.
Just begin the practice of noticing.
Beginning the Practice
Opening the Heart to God’s Presence
For the first three days, we will ease into the rhythm and flow of each day’s devotion. These early reflections are designed to help you begin shifting your attention—gently and intentionally—away from the distractions of modern life and toward the ever-present reality of God.
Each day includes a number of parts that work together to give you a process of integrating the message of each devotion. These parts include:
• A Scripture passage that speaks to the key concept of the devotion
• A reflective meditation
• A practical exercise to help you incorporate the concept into your routine
• A journaling prompt. While journaling is optional, I encourage you to at least pause and consider your response. You don’t have to write a lot—just let your thoughts begin to take shape.
• Following the journaling prompt is a Blessing, offered as a pastoral affirmation for your day. These blessings are meant to carry God’s presence with you into whatever follows.
• Finally, each devotion ends with a “Pray as You Go” breath prayer—a brief, one-sentence prayer designed to engage your body and mind in the practice of ongoing awareness. You can repeat it throughout the day as a gentle reminder of God’s presence, especially when you feel distracted or distant.
You can read one devotion each day or pause and linger where the Spirit leads. Take your time. Don’t feel rushed. Allow God to work in and through you.
Let’s begin with Day 1.
Day 1: You are on Holy Ground (shoes optional)
The miracle isn’t the fire, but your ability to notice it
Scripture: Exodus 3:2-5
Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
We often think the miracle was the burning bush—but what if that wasn’t the miracle that changed Moses’ life?
Causing a bush to burn without being consumed wasn’t difficult for God. What if the true miracle was that Moses noticed?
Moses was doing something ordinary—watching sheep in the wilderness. For someone who had once lived in the palaces of Egypt, this must have seemed like a mundane and forgotten existence. Yet right there, in the quiet and the dust, Moses paid enough attention to his surroundings to notice something strange—a bush burning but not consumed.
God didn’t speak until Moses made the decision to look. Revelation followed attention. When Moses moved in God’s direction, God met him there.
“Take off your sandals… this is holy ground.”
What made that desolate patch of wilderness holy?
God was already there.
Moses simply stopped long enough to notice—and to respond.
That’s the miracle that invites your participation today:
To see this moment—and every moment—whether busy, boring, distracted, or focused, as sacred, and holy ground.
Why?
Because God is already here.
Holiness isn’t tied to a location like a church or a mountaintop.
Holiness is now.
You don’t find holiness—you recognize it. You are immersed in it when you become aware of God’s presence.
When you realize this, a quiet miracle unfolds. You begin to sense God’s nearness in the smell of your morning coffee, in a sigh of sadness, in the rhythm of your breath, and especially in the moment your thoughts return to God.
Every moment is holy because God is here.
Practice: The Pause That Welcomes God
Choose one routine task today—starting your car, opening your laptop, walking through a doorway—and pause before doing it. Whisper to yourself:
“This is holy ground, because God is here.”
Feel the realness of that moment.
Let it become meaningful.
Let it become sacred.
Let it open your eyes.
Journaling Prompt
What’s one ordinary moment in my life that might become holy if I simply noticed God in it?
Let your writing slow your pace and make space for inspiration.
Closing Blessing
Take off your sandals—
Whatever distracts you from the present moment.
Open your eyes to the bush that has been burning near you all along.
Notice God’s sacred movement in your daily routine.
And remember:
You are standing on holy ground
Because God is here.
Right now. Always.
Pray as You Go
Inhale: This moment is holy…
Exhale: … because You are here
Day 2: God Is Already Here
You don’t have to search for God—
but simply notice Him
Scripture: Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
Before we speak a word, before we lift a prayer, God is already present.
He is not far off, waiting to be invited. His presence fills every space—still, steady, unchanging—whether we feel it or not.
When we rush through life, we often overlook the sacred reality that surrounds us. We may miss a blessing—or the chance to be a blessing. But when we quiet our minds and gently turn our attention toward God, we discover that He was there all along waiting in the silence, ready to be known.
“Be still” literally means, stop striving. It is an invitation to release our grip on busyness, performance, and distraction. It reminds us that we don’t need to manufacture God’s presence—we need only to become aware of it.
Practicing God’s presence doesn’t begin with effort—it begins with awareness.
We don’t have to create holy moments. They’re already happening all around us. Every breath, every step, every glance can become a sacred meeting place with God… if we are willing to notice.
Practice: Quieting Your Spirit
Set a reminder on your phone or watch to go off three times today. Each time it does:
Take a few deep, slow breaths.
Let your thoughts settle.
Gently return your focus to this moment.
In your heart, say: “I know You are here.”
Let that stillness become your sanctuary.
Journaling Prompt:
When I take time to be still and let go of life’s distractions, I sense God saying to me…
Write for 5–10 minutes without stopping. Let your thoughts surprise you.
Closing Blessing:
Be still,
and let God’s presence astound you.
Notice how God’s presence reshapes your view of the world.
Take time to rest in that presence,
and know that God is here.
God is with you. Always.
Pray as You Go:
Inhale: Be still and know...
Exhale: ... that You are God
Day 3: You Don’t Have to Get it Right First—
You Just Have to Start
God’s greatest delight isn’t in your perfection,
but in your courage to begin again
Scripture: Lamentations 3:22–23
It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Some mornings, it doesn’t feel like mercy is showing up.
You wake up burdened by yesterday’s failures and disappointments. You might feel anxious about what the day will bring or wonder how you’ll summon the strength to begin again.
But Lamentations reminds us: God’s mercies are new every morning.
Every day is a fresh start with God—not because you earned it, but because He is faithful.
What do you do when your phone or laptop isn’t working right? You restart it.
In the same way, every day begins with a divine restart. You may wake up with fears or regrets, but God’s grace never wakes up tired or worn out. His mercy doesn’t have a quota. He doesn’t grow weary of offering it again.
If God isn’t tired of offering grace, maybe you don’t need to be tired of receiving it.
You don’t have to wait until you feel ready or have figured it all out.
Just start.
Take a step toward the God that is already with you.
You are not cut off from grace.
You are its constant recipient.
God is pleased when you show up.
Not because you’ve solved your problems or succeeded in every area, but because Love delights in your willingness to begin again.
Practice: The Restart Ritual
Create a simple way to reset your day, any time you need it. Here’s one to try:
Pause. Close your eyes.
Place your hand over your heart.
Breathe in slowly and say: “God meets me here.”
Breathe out slowly and say: “I begin again.”
Use this practice whenever the day feels like it’s slipping—whether it’s 9:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m.
Journaling Prompt
If I believed God was proud of me for simply beginning again, what would change in how I live today?
Write gently. Don’t analyze—just listen and let grace speak.
Closing Blessing
Receive God’s mercy each day as the new beginning it is.
Start again—not in struggle, but in grace.
Then, shame will have no seat at your table,
and regret no grip on your soul.
Trust the God who never gets tired of loving you.
Hear Him say, today and every day:
“I am with you.”
You’ve already begun again.
That’s enough.
Pray as You Go
Inhale: New mercies…
Exhale: … every morning
Let this be your lifeline when regrets or disappointments get you down.
Part 1: God is with you—God is for you
Days 4–10
For the next seven days, we will explore an often-overlooked truth: God’s presence is not only real—it’s constant.
God shows His amazing presence with us in subtle and surprising ways. We tend to believe that God’s is present in specific moments and circumstances: when we attend church, when we pray, or in times of crisis.
But the reality is deeper—God is present in and between those times.
The challenge is becoming increasingly aware of His presence in everything we do—in all our moments, circumstances, relationships, and thoughts.
In the first three days we built a foundation of experiencing God in all we do. Begin practicing the daily exercises more often and more intentionally. Repeat them slowly. Revisit the ones that resonate the most with you. Go slowly so you can recognize the reality of God’s presence with you.
Let the devotions this week open your eyes to the reality that God is with you—He is for you—in every breath, ever challenge, and, especially in every wonderful moment.
Day 4: God Is with Me When I Feel Alone
Your loneliness isn’t a sign of God’s absence—
but an invitation to recognize His presence
Scripture: Psalm 139:7–10
Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
God is never late. Never distracted. Never far away.
He is present now.
There is no place that is too dark, no pain too deep, or distance too far for His spirit to reach you. Wherever you go—whether into silence or sorrow, celebration, or struggle—God is already there.
You don’t have to call out for His presence.
You don’t have to get back to where God is.
Because He never left.
You only have to notice Him.
When we feel disconnected, we often assume God has moved. But in truth, it’s our awareness that has drifted—not His presence. God isn’t waiting for you to get back to where He is… because He never left.
In celebrations or sorrows, victory, or defeat, focus or distraction—even there, God’s hand is ready to lead you.
His right hand is holding you even when you can’t feel it.
You can rest in this truth today:
God is not only near.
He is here.
Practice: Finding God in the Ordinary
Pause at three points during your day—once in the morning, once midday, and once in the evening. At each point, stop and pray:
“God, show me where You are right now.”
Look around. Notice. Feel your breath. Feel the support of your chair. Notice the quiet stirrings around you.
God is not waiting in the next moment.
He is here. Now.
Journaling Prompt
When have I recently felt far from God?
How could I have opened my heart to His presence in those instances?
Let your writing become a doorway to deeper awareness.
Closing Blessing
Wake up to the holiness around you.
Recognize God’s presence,
not just in the wind,
but in your breath.
Let his hand gently guide you today:
in the traffic, in the silence,
in the busyness, in the daydreaming.
And remember:
You are never alone.
You are always held.
God is here now.
Pray as You Go
Inhale: You are here now...
Exhale: ... You are with me
Day 5: Why Now Matters
Your most sacred moments aren’t behind you
or ahead of you—but right here, right now
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:2
Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
We often imagine that our deepest and richest spiritual moments are behind us—when life was simpler, when we first encountered God’s nearness.
We may imagine that the best moments with God are ahead of us—when life slows down, when we figure things out, or when we learn to be more spiritual.
But Paul draws a hard line:
“Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Not someday.
Not eventually.
Now.
The enemy of your soul doesn’t need to destroy you—he only needs to delay you. If you stay stuck in the regrets of yesterday or consumed by the uncertainties of tomorrow, you’ll miss the sacred invitation of now.
God’s grace isn’t awarded based on who you used to be.
His grace is not a prize for becoming who you want to be.
Grace is already abounding in who you are right now.
God is not waiting in your future, and He isn’t trapped in your past.
He is with you—here, in this breath.
Practice: The One-Minute Now Check
3 times today, pause and ask:
What am I feeling right now? (Name one emotion without judging it.)
Where am I holding tension? (Do a quick body scan.)
What do I need to remember? (God forgives me right now.)
Set a timer or place notes where you will see them during the day—reminding you to return to the present moment.
Journaling Prompt
If I genuinely believed I am already surrounded by God’s grace right now, I would…
Let it be a letter from your future self—the one who already knows God’s grace is enough.
Closing Blessing
Stop trying to earn grace—you can’t.
Stop regretting who you were
or striving for who you want to be.
You’re enough right now.
Let go of what you believe you must change first.
Trust that this messy but sacred,
distracting but holy, eternal now
is the time of God’s favor, love, and grace.
God is not waiting for you to catch up.
He is with you—now.
Pray as You Go
Inhale: God’s grace is now...
Exhale: ... God’s time is now
Let this prayer interrupt your regret and your worry.