K E N N E T H B O A & J E N N Y A B E L A GUIDE TO Practicing God’s Presence A Companion Guide to Life in the Presence of God A GUIDE TO Practicing God’s Presence A Companion Guide to Life in the Presence of God KENNETH BOA & JENNY ABEL TRINITY HOUSE PUBLISHERS INC. TRINITY HOUSE PUBLISHERS INC.  One Piedmont Center Suite 130 Atlanta, Georgia 30305 (800) DRAW NEAR (372-9632) Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org Cover image: David-W- / photocase.com A Guide to Practicing God’s Presence Copyright © 2018 by Kenneth D. Boa and Jennifer M. Abel. All rights reserved. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8 Contents INTRODUCTION……………………..…...............…..............1 How to Use This Guide……..…..……............................…3 Authors’ Invitation……………………..........................…… 5 Category Descriptions…………….................................…6 THE 52-WEEK PLAN…………………............................…... 9 RESOURCES……………………..…...............…................ 115 Images of Living in His Presence……..……..................... 116 Renewal Verses…………............................................. 118 Who Does God Say I Am?…………...............................128 Music for Practicing His Presence……….….................... 135 Morning Affirmations……..……................................... 137 Personal Exercises Log.…......…….............…............… 143 EXERCISES BY CATEGORY…....…….……..…..............….. 149 Index......................................................................... 199 Acknowledgements……………....................................... 203 About the Authors ....................................................... 204 More Resources .......................................................... 205 INTRODUCTION How to Use This Guide • • • 3 How to Use This Guide This 52-week guide is not a devotional. But it is a guide to living in God’s presence. It could lead you to the most important, most fruitful, most enjoyable thing you do. Don’t let the excuse of time rob you. Though this guide contains exercises, it is designed to help you become more intentional in your awareness of God, not more involved in activities for God. These exercises are more about your mindset as you engage your already scheduled activities. Any “extra time” requirements are modest, designed to layer into your life, but without the strain of multitasking. These exercises help cultivate the life of the mind so that you will enjoy God in purposeful pursuit rather than become a default spectator to whatever life throws your way. Use this guide to customize your own personal tool kit: 1. At the end of each week, mark whether it worked for you: Yes No Neutral 2. Record your results in the log starting on page 143. (If viewing as a PDF, click the squares to record your results, and then re-save the file.) 3. By the time you finish this guide, you’ll know which exercises you want to make part of your regular, enjoyable, and life-changing practicing of God’s presence. 4. At the suggested pace of 2 exercises per week, you’ll be introduced to 104 exercises across 8 different categories in 4 • • • A Guide to Practicing God’s Presence a year, but you can alter this pace to your needs. Not every exercise will appeal to you. Feel free to adapt or try a different exercise within the same category. This guide is a practical companion to Life in the Presence of God: Practices for Living in Light of Eternity (InterVarsity Press, 2017). However, even if you haven’t read the book, you can still use this guide, which is for anyone, anywhere, no matter where you are in your spiritual walk. Authors' Invitation • • • 5 Authors’ Invitation The spiritual life is not a measurable product but a dynamic process. Walking in God’s presence, or “practicing his presence,” requires both trusting and training. This guide offers a few ways to nurture your relationship with God and heighten your awareness and enjoyment of his constant presence on a daily basis. These exercises aren’t magic pills you can swallow to be automatically ushered into God’s presence. They’re not intended as a checklist of to-do items that you complete mechanically. They’re more like the things you do when you want to deepen your intimacy or friendship with a spouse or best friend—things like going on a dinner date, writing a personal letter, or taking a walk together. The exercises in this guide are to be done in combination with a heart of faith (Hebrews 11:6), trusting God to work in you and change you through the power of his Spirit living in you. He is the only one who can do that: no program, no book, no training guide in the world can do that but God himself. When you draw near to God, he promises to draw near to you (James 4:8). We pray this for you, not just as something that happens occasionally, but throughout your days, every day, so that all of your life, even the most ordinary parts, becomes extraordinary because it’s infused with his presence. And it is there, in his presence, that you’ll find fullness of joy, no matter what is going on in your life (Psalm 16:11). —Ken Boa and Jenny Abel