What does it mean to be “in the presence of God”?
This past Sunday at White Fields we studied Isaiah 6 as part of our series,Remember the Prophets.
You can listen to the audio of the message here: A Vision of God
In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah gives an account of his call to ministry, which took place through a vision he had of God. In our community groups, one of the discussion questions had to do with what it means to be in the “presence” of God.
Coram Deo is a Latin phrase which literally means “before God”. For Christians, throughout history, the phrase has been used to describe a life that is livedbefore God,i.e. in constant awareness of His presence, and seeking to experience communion with Him – not just at church or in dedicated times of prayer (although those are not to be neglected!), but as you go throughout your day.
This past week I had two conversations which illustrated the importance of this:
The first was with a lady in community group who drives Uber several hours a day. She described how, sitting in her car, she is able to commune with God; she listens to sermons and even as she’s driving, sheconverseswith God in her soul.
The second was a stay-at-home mom who called in to Calvary Live, the weekly call-in radio show I host on Mondays on GraceFM. She described how she struggles to find time to pray because she is so busy with her toddler, so she has developed a system where she will set timers throughout the day, and when they go off she will pray for 3 minutes uninterrupted. I suggested that perhaps it would be helpful for her to learn instead the practice of “Coram Deo”: living your whole life before the face of God, and conversing with Him throughout the day, not only in dedicated stints.
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Thessalonians that they ought topray without ceasing(1 Thessalonians 5:17). It was in heeding this call that some throughout history were drawn to monastic movements: they became monks and nuns, went away to Bible colleges and the like, so they could truly pray without ceasing.But how can you do that if you have a job or a toddler? For most of the population, retreating from the duties and responsibilities of life in order topray without ceasingis not feasible, and we must ask the question: even if it were feasible, would it actually be the right thing to do? I would say, No! God has given us a mission in this world, and in order to fulfill that mission, we are not called to retreat from the world, otherwise we cannot be salt and light; a city on a hill is not meant to be hidden (cf. Matthew 5:13-16)
A famous book written in the 17th Century by a monk who called himselfBrother Lawrence,is:The Practice of the Presence of God.In it, Brother Lawrence describes his practice of ongoing conversation with God as he went about the duties of his day, which included dishwashing and other chores. Throughout his day, he was livingCoram Deo:before the face of God.
The principle ofCoram Deois important, because it reminds us that our lives as the people of God are to be integrated, not compartmentalized. In other words: it isn’t that our lives are compartmentalized into different areas: work, family, faith, etc… – but that our faith is integrated into every aspect of our lives: we do our workbefore the face of God,and unto God’s glory! Our family life is livedbefore the face of God,and unto His glory!
In other words, to liveCoram Deo means to seek to be constantly aware of God’s presence (which is there whether you realize it or not), seeking to live in constant communion with God, and integrating your relationship with God into every aspect of your life.
This means that you don’t have to be a monk or a nun in order topray without ceasing.It means that you don’t have to be in vocational ministry (working for a church or Christian organization) in order to serve God through your work!
For more on this, read: Vocation and Calling According to the Reformers
I invite you to join me in seeking to live Coram Deotoday and everyday moving forward!
For more on Isaiah’s vision of God, check out this video discussion I had with Worship Pastor Mike Payne:
