Today I would like to discuss a quote by Dallas Willard. In his book, The Great Omission, he states:

“The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds….This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him.”

There are many tools and practices available for our apprenticeship with Jesus and learning from him how to be like him. But according to Willard’s expertise, the first and most basic practice is keeping God before our minds.

The entire point of things like spiritual disciplines and the process of spiritual formation is to remain in a moment-by-moment, interactive relationship with God. Without this foundational relationship, all of the tools of spiritual formation will devolve into what Jesus calls the “righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” and thereby completely miss the point of apprenticeship to Jesus.

So what does keeping God before our minds look like? Do we have to add more activities to our already full lives?

Not at all. In fact, this practice is a habit we can form through our normal daily routines. Think about all the ordinary parts of your day. Getting out of bed. Brushing your teeth. Eating breakfast. Standing in line for your coffee. Taking a shower. Driving kids to school. Answering email. Attending a meeting. Vacuuming the living room. Changing diapers. Exercising at the gym. Waiting for your car at the mechanic.

In all of these moments, your mind is already active with no effort. Perhaps it’s thinking of a recent conversation. Or thinking about last night’s cliff-hanger TV episode. Or ruminating over something you said or did. Or worrying about paying this month’s bills. Or planning your next vacation. Or simply daydreaming. The point is that your mind is continuously and effortlessly active during all of your daily activities.

Keeping God before your mind is gently nudging your thoughts towards God. It doesn’t require a lot of effort. Start with those small transitional moments between activities such as waiting at a stop light, hitting the send button on your email, putting your child down for a nap, sitting in the car waiting for the kids to be released from school, taking your 15-minute break at work, or waiting for your food to heat up in the microwave.

In those small moments, gently turn your mind to God with a simple phrase. I love you, Father. Teach me you ways, Jesus. Come, Holy Spirit. Lord, have mercy on me. I yield to you, God. Thank you, Father.

Now expand that into a small conversation expressing worship, devotion, gratitude, confession, petition, submission, frustration, confusion, or anything else you’re experiencing. Then ask God to help you be aware of his presence and quietly wait a few moments. All of this might take 10-20 seconds.

Willard’s quote continues with:

“In the early time of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God. But these are habits—not the law of gravity—and can be broken.”

It may be a struggle at first. But over time, this practice will become almost second nature and begin spilling into other activities. You’ll find yourself talking with God during more active times like attending a staff meeting, watching the news, entering data in a spreadsheet, talking with people, or preparing for bed.

Willard goes on:

“A new, grace-filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us. Soon our minds will return to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north, no matter how the compass is moved. If God is the great longing of our souls, He will become the polestar of our inward beings.”

Over time, let your mind begin to be filled with greater awareness of God’s grandeur, guiding your conversations with him:

• Awareness that God is directly available and supreme over everything
• Awareness that every thing and every event is filled with God’s glorious presence
• Awareness that his boundless goodness will always prevail, redeeming every and any circumstance in our lives so that this world is a perfectly safe place to be
• Awareness that God’s world is inconceivably beautiful because God is constantly and joyfully active within it
• Awareness that your life is a result of God’s goodness and it is good for you to be and good for you to be who you are
• Awareness that God’s unrestrained love is constantly directed toward you and that he relishes every moment he gets to spend with you

You may want to supplement this with memorizing a few Scripture passages such as Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer, Colossians 3:1-17, and Psalm 16:8-11. Intentionally pause throughout the day and let one of these passages guide your prayer and contemplation on God.

The point is to think increasingly well of God as we keep God before our minds. Then our longing for God grows and the immense gravity of his presence, goodness, and love will draw us further into himself.

Our daily life will become a joyful whole-life expression of what David experienced:

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:8-11