Prayers for the People #2

That I would live my life from an eternal perspective.

This topic was hard to nail down with Brother Lawrence, mostly because that is basically the theme of his ENTIRE book. The idea of practicing the presence of God boils down to living the here and now not thinking so much about the here and now, but focusing on God and what he wants to accomplish through us here and forever. Paul also speaks from an eternal perspective in Philippians 1:18-26. While in prison he was writing the people of Philippi asking for prayer as well as telling them about the hope he has in the future.

So here are some of the highlights on the idea of an eternal perspective from Brother Lawrence:

• He (Brother Lawrence) showed ups how, at any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find Him, and practice the presence of God.
• That he expected hereafter some great pain of body or mind; that the worst that could happen to him was to lose that sense of God which he had enjoyed so long. But that the goodness of God assured him he would not forsake Him utterly . . . and therefore he feared nothing.
• And it was observed that in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen, he still preserved his recollection and heavenly-mindedness.
• "Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God, and that all besides is but folly and vanity."
• ". . . offer to God a sacrifice of perfect worship in this life, as we hope to do through eternity."

While reading on this I did a quick Google search (they are everywhere) of Eternal Perspective. I found this link: http://bradbeaman.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/how-to-keep-an-eternal-perspective/ . It was a good article about the Philippians verse, going in great detail about it's message, as well as a look at a few quotes from Jim Elliott.