Have you ever heard the expression “Practise God’s presence”? You can understand and interpret it however you like. Recently I tried one of the methods of this “practice”. When I went to arrange an internet connection, I said: “Jesus, we’re going to negotiate together.” The result? They sent me packing, because the building wasn’t connected. I was upset… Next time I said to my wife: “You come with me to negotiate this time, you’re better at talking to people.” We went to see the director, and she didn’t get a word in. It was mostly me who talked to the director. The result: a week later they ran a cable from the building next door. Glory to God! And what does all this mean? Absolutely nothing. It’s just an interesting story. Our faith is not built on my personal experience, on a sister’s vision or on a brother’s personal insight. Our faith is founded on His Word, written and living.

The word “practice” comes from the Greek word praxis, which means constant deeds, labour and work, and in the Bible this word is mostly connected with the deeds of the flesh and of the old man. The only time Paul writes about the deeds, or the practice, of a believer is when it comes to his ministry. Try to find where Paul wrote: “Practise God’s presence”. The essence of the Christian life is not in works but in faith, and faith is not of works. By the way, faith too is very often turned into some kind of practice or method. But our faith is not a practice; it is a foundation [hypostasis;Heb.11:1], and our foundation is Jesus Christ [1 Cor.3:11] “So what are we supposed to do now? Water doesn’t flow under a stone that lies still. Right?” “Wrong!” Water flows out from under a stone that lies still.

Any theories and practices are actually very easy to test, whether they are from God or not. Paul writes that our life is hidden with Christ in God. [Col.3:3] So if we look there and ask ourselves: “Does Jesus practise the presence of the Father?”, our whole attitude to this practice changes at once. “Well, Jesus is in heaven, and we are on earth. God has called us to great works.” Let’s read Colossians 3:3 once more: where is our life? The Christian life is not in the flesh and not in works, but in the Spirit and in faith, or in Christ, which is one and the same, for He is our Spirit and our faith. And in the Spirit there are no works but fruit, and fruit is not works. The fruit of the Spirit produces works.

Love and faith are the fruit of the Spirit [Gal.5:22]. And our works are not our works but works of faith and love. [1 Ths.1:3] Faith and love produce the necessary works in us by themselves, and we don’t even notice or realise it. Has it ever happened to you that someone tells you: “You told me something back then, something very important and helpful. Now I know it was from God.” And you answer: “I don’t remember that. Did I really say that to you?” Our focus is not all kinds of practices but Jesus. And walking in the Spirit is not mental [brain] work, but a life of faith and rest. There is no point in telling a person who is able to walk: “Walk.” When he wants to, he will get up and go where he needs to. It is a different matter when a person is unable to walk [lives in the law and works]; to such people Jesus said: “Take up your bed and walk.”