Prayer is not only something we do in set moments; it is a way of living with God.
In Abiding Prayer, we learn to sit with God in loving attention. We set apart time to be still before Him, turn our hearts toward His presence, and commune with Him by faith.
But prayer is not meant to stay only in those set times.
Practicing God’s presence is how we take what we gain in Abiding Prayer into the rest of life. It is how we learn to walk with God at home, at work, in conversation, in difficulty, in ordinary tasks, and in the hidden movements of the heart.
Practicing God’s presence is simple. So simple, in fact, that we often miss it.
It is the daily practice of turning our heart to God again and again, talking with Him about everything, doing all things out of love for Him, asking for His grace, giving thanks, and guarding the soul from what pulls us away from Him.
This is one way we learn to walk in the Spirit and live free from the flesh.
What Is Practicing God’s Presence?
Practicing God’s presence is the simple habit of living before God throughout the day.
It means keeping the heart turned toward Him while we do the ordinary things of life.
You can practice God’s presence while you are praying, working, driving, cleaning, writing, serving your family, talking with someone, or facing a difficult moment. It does not require you to withdraw from life. It teaches you to live your life with God.
This is the difference between prayer as an activity and prayer as communion.
In Abiding Prayer, we sit with God.
In Practicing God’s Presence, we walk with God.
The two belong together. Abiding Prayer trains the heart to become still and attentive before the Lord. Practicing God’s presence carries that same inward attention into the rest of the day.
Why Practicing God’s Presence Matters
Practicing God’s presence is not merely a helpful spiritual habit. It is deeply connected to walking in the Spirit.
Paul writes:
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
— Galatians 5:16
The flesh wants to live apart from God. It wants control. It wants its own way. It reacts in anger, fear, pride, resentment, impatience, and self-protection.
The Spirit leads us into another kind of life.
He teaches us to live from God’s love, patience, peace, and grace.
Practicing God’s presence helps us remain open to the Spirit’s influence. It teaches us to stop living merely from our own thoughts, emotions, and reactions. Instead, we learn to turn inwardly toward God and respond from communion with Him.
This is how God’s love begins to flow through us to the people in our lives.
This is how we begin to rest in His patience in the tasks we face.
This is how ordinary moments become places of fellowship with God.
Why Something So Simple Can Be So Hard
Practicing God’s presence is very simple.
Think of God.
Talk to God.
Love God.
Trust God.
Return to God.
Yet many of us struggle to actually live this way.
One reason is that we are not always ready to give up what we want to do. Something in us wants to stay in control. We want to think our own thoughts, manage our own lives, defend our own rights, solve our own problems, and react according to our own feelings.
This is where Abiding Prayer helps.
When we sit with God daily, we learn surrender. We learn to let go of our own striving. We learn to become still before Him. We learn that God is present even when we are not in control.
Then, throughout the day, we begin practicing the same surrender in ordinary life.
1. Think Often of God
The first step in practicing God’s presence is to turn your thoughts toward God often.
This does not mean you must stop working or stop fulfilling your responsibilities. It means that in the middle of what you are doing, your heart remembers Him.
Think of God in your devotions.
Think of God at work.
Think of God at home.
Think of God while driving.
Think of God while doing simple daily tasks.
Paul writes:
“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
— Colossians 3:2–3
Practicing God’s presence is one way we live out being hidden with Christ in God.
We are not merely trying to think better thoughts. We are learning to live from a deeper reality: our life is in Him.
2. Talk to God All Day About Everything
One of the simplest and most powerful ways to practice God’s presence is to talk to God throughout the day.
Talk to Him about what you are doing.
Talk to Him about what you are feeling.
Talk to Him about the people in front of you.
Talk to Him about the work you need to do.
Talk to Him about your weaknesses, frustrations, joys, needs, and decisions.
For some people, this may seem too simple. It can seem so simple that they do not do it.
Yet something powerful happens when you begin talking with God all day. The simple act of telling Him everything keeps you aware of His presence. Over time, that awareness grows. His presence begins to have greater influence over your thoughts, emotions, choices, and responses.
You might pray quietly:
“Lord, I am here with You.”
“Father, help me respond in love.”
“Jesus, I give You this task.”
“Holy Spirit, give me grace right now.”
“Lord, I trust You with this situation.”
This is not complicated. It is continual fellowship.
3. Guard Your Mind and Soul
Practicing God’s presence also means learning to guard what enters your mind and what shapes your inner life.
Paul writes:
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
— Philippians 4:8
What we continually dwell on affects the atmosphere of the soul.
If we constantly feed on negative news, worldly entertainment, anxious thoughts, criticism, gossip, anger, or conversations that tear people down, those things begin to shape us. They make it harder to remain aware of God’s presence.
Practicing God’s presence gives us a double blessing.
First, we begin turning away from negative input.
Second, we begin filling our hearts with God.
Instead of dwelling on what darkens the soul, we return to what is true, pure, lovely, honorable, and worthy of praise. But this is not merely positive thinking. It is communion with God.
We are not just changing our thoughts.
We are turning our hearts toward Him.
4. Set Your Mind on the Spirit
Paul writes:
“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”
— Romans 8:5–6
The mind set on the flesh produces death.
The mind set on the Spirit produces life and peace.
Practicing God’s presence is one practical way to set the mind on the things of the Spirit. We turn from self-focused, flesh-driven thoughts and return to God’s presence.
This does not mean we never have difficult thoughts or emotions. It means we learn not to live from them.
When anger rises, we return to God.
When anxiety rises, we return to God.
When resentment rises, we return to God.
When self-pity rises, we return to God.
When the mind begins rehearsing negativity, we return to God.
This returning is one of the central movements of the spiritual life.
5. Do Everything Out of Love for God
Practicing God’s presence works best when the motive is love.
We are not doing this merely to get something from God. We are not trying to use His presence to make life easier, become more productive, or feel more spiritual.
We are turning to Him because we love Him.
This motive is important.
Nobody does this perfectly. Our motives often become mixed. But a helpful gauge is this:
When practicing God’s presence becomes heavy, check whether your motive has shifted from love to self.
Have you begun trying to get a feeling?
Are you trying to control an outcome?
Are you measuring your spiritual progress?
Are you becoming frustrated because God is not giving you what you wanted?
When the motive shifts from love to self, the practice becomes strained.
So return to simplicity.
“Lord, I love You.”
“Father, I give this to You.”
“Jesus, I want to do this with You and for You.”
Love keeps the practice gentle and true.
6. Ask God for Grace in All You Do
Another simple way to practice God’s presence is to ask God for grace in every task.
This keeps us in surrender instead of striving.
So much of life is lived in our own strength. We push through. We react. We try to manage everything. We carry burdens God never asked us to carry alone.
But practicing God’s presence teaches us to depend on Him.
Before a task, ask for grace.
Before a conversation, ask for grace.
Before making a decision, ask for grace.
Before responding to someone difficult, ask for grace.
Before work, family responsibilities, ministry, writing, driving, or serving, ask for grace.
A simple prayer is enough:
“Lord, give me grace for this.”
“Holy Spirit, help me do this with You.”
“Father, I cannot do this rightly without You.”
This is how ordinary tasks become places of communion.
7. Thank God in Everything
Thanksgiving is one of the most important parts of practicing God’s presence because thanksgiving is active surrender.
This does not mean that every bad thing is good. It does not mean that God directly caused every difficult circumstance. It means that God is bigger than every circumstance, and we choose to trust Him in the middle of it.
For example, imagine you are running late and someone pulls in front of you in traffic, then drives below the speed limit. Anger rises.
At that moment, you can feed the anger.
You can rehearse how inconsiderate the person is.
You can let the situation take control of your inner life.
Or you can return to God.
You might pray:
“Lord, thank You that You are with me right now. I surrender this frustration to You. Bless that person. Help me trust You.”
You are not thanking God because the person drove poorly. You are thanking Him because He is present, He is greater than the situation, and He can care for you even when your plans are interrupted.
Thanksgiving helps surrender your feelings, your timing, your rights, and your desire to control the moment.
It brings the soul back into God’s presence.
8. Renounce What Is Not Pleasing to God
Practicing God’s presence also includes renouncing what does not please Him.
This means guarding the soul according to God’s desires.
There are thoughts, attitudes, habits, words, conversations, and forms of entertainment that pull the heart away from God. When you recognize them, turn from them.
You might pray:
“Lord, I turn away from this thought.”
“I do not want to feed this attitude.”
“I renounce this resentment.”
“I choose Your presence instead.”
“Guard my soul according to Your desires.”
This is part of walking in the Spirit.
It is not harsh self-condemnation. It is loving surrender.
You are choosing not to give your inner life to what darkens it.
You are choosing God.
Practicing God’s Presence and God’s Word
The Old Testament often speaks of keeping God’s Word before our eyes and meditating on it day and night. But biblical meditation is never meant to be a mental exercise only. It is meant to lead us into communion with God.
Psalm 1 says:
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”
— Psalm 1:1–3
These verses give us a beautiful picture of practicing God’s presence.
Do not allow ungodly counsel to shape your mind.
Do not live as a scoffer or mocker.
Guard your soul.
Delight in God’s Word.
Keep His truth before you day and night.
And what happens?
You become like a tree planted by streams of water. Your life becomes fruitful. Your soul is nourished. You begin to live from a source deeper than your circumstances.
This is not merely about reading Scripture as information. It is about keeping God before the heart.
His Word leads us into His presence.
Practicing God’s Presence and the Fruit of the Spirit
Practicing God’s presence is also how the fruit of the Spirit begins to grow in daily life.
Paul says:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
— Galatians 5:22–23
The fruit of the Spirit is not produced by self-effort. Fruit grows by abiding.
As we remain turned toward God, His life works within us. His love begins to flow through us. His patience begins to steady us. His peace begins to guard us. His self-control begins to govern us.
This is why practicing God’s presence matters in ordinary life.
It is not just for private devotion.
It changes how we respond to people.
It changes how we handle pressure.
It changes how we work.
It changes how we speak.
It changes what we allow into our minds.
It changes how we carry difficulty.
The presence of God becomes the place from which we live.
What to Do When You Forget
You will forget God’s presence many times.
You may begin the day with prayer and then become distracted. You may get caught up in work, irritation, worry, entertainment, or busyness. You may realize hours have passed without inwardly turning to God.
Do not condemn yourself.
Simply return.
That is the practice.
Return with a word of love.
Return with thanksgiving.
Return by asking for grace.
Return by surrendering the thought.
Return by remembering that God is with you.
Every return is an act of love.
The goal is not perfection. The goal is growing communion.
A Simple Daily Practice
Here is a simple way to practice God’s presence throughout the day:
- Begin the day with God.
Offer yourself to Him in love and surrender. - Think often of Him.
Gently turn your heart toward Him in ordinary moments. - Talk to Him about everything.
Keep an inward conversation with God throughout the day. - Ask for grace in each task.
Depend on Him instead of striving in your own strength. - Give thanks in every circumstance.
Use thanksgiving as active surrender. - Renounce what pulls you away from Him.
Guard your soul according to His desires. - Keep His Word before your heart.
Let Scripture lead you into communion with God. - Return whenever you forget.
Come back gently, without condemnation.
This is simple, but powerful.
Over time, awareness of God’s presence grows. His influence increases. The heart becomes more accustomed to living with Him.
Final Encouragement
Practicing God’s presence is how we learn to walk with God throughout the day.
It takes what begins in Abiding Prayer and brings it into all of life.
You sit with God in prayer.
Then you walk with God in the ordinary moments of the day.
You talk with Him.
You ask for grace.
You give thanks.
You guard your soul.
You return when you forget.
You do all things out of love for Him.
Little by little, your awareness of His presence grows. Little by little, His love begins to flow more freely through you. Little by little, you learn to walk in the Spirit instead of being ruled by the flesh.
This is the simple path of practicing God’s presence.
It is not complicated.
It is a life of returning to God, again and again, in love.