In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said He will denounce some who worked miracles for Him, saying, “I never knew you.” Since God knows all things, Jesus is not speaking of factual knowledge - He is speaking of intimate knowledge. The Bible equates knowledge and intimacy: “Adam knew Eve and she conceived” (Genesis 4:1). We practice and pursue intimacy with God by engaging in constant communion with Him. This is the greatest endeavor upon which the human heart can embark. What an unbelievable privilege He invites us into communion with the God of the universe! Who are we? Flesh and blood, wicked and selfish and many other things - and yet the Maker of all creation extends His very heart to us.

Most of us are task-oriented, looking to the result as the prize, while the process of getting there is something we chafe under and endure. But God is journey-oriented. He gives us tasks not only for the result, but so we can co-labor in them and grow. I recently bought my two boys plastic models of ships. I didn’t buy them because I wanted them to have plastic ships. I bought them so that we could do something together. So it is with God.

To rush past the journey toward the goal is to miss the best part! If we raised children only to turn them into adults, we’d miss the whole point of sharing lives together, growing together, loving together. As one of my friends says, “The journey is the reward.”

Work and communion ought not to be separate activities. David discovered intimacy with God while working as a shepherd. All of life is to be a continuum of worship and communion.

I used to be baffled by 1 Thes. 5:17 where we are told to “pray continually.” I thought prayer meant a prayer meeting. But I learned that we can pray continually by engaging in a running conversation with God. When I worked as an engineer, I could not engage in continual conversation because my job required the full use of my thoughts. But throughout the day during “thought breaks” I would turn my thoughts to God and converse with Him.

Colossians 3:2 instructs us to “set our minds on things above.” This is as easy as extending our thoughts toward God, inviting Him into our everyday stream of inner conversation. The Bible promises,

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.   James 4:8 (NASB)

It is that simple to walk in the presence of God. If He is with us, we will have peace and joy; and we can endure anything. The Westminster Catechism of 1647 states profoundly: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” Psalm 37:4 commands us to “delight ourselves in the Lord!” In Psalm 40:8, David says, “I delight to do your will.” It is our purpose to enjoy God, every day, all day long!

Brother Lawrence was a seventeenth-century French monk who spent his entire life practicing the presence of God in his mundane chores. Though he never wrote a book, he was a marvel in his time. People traveled from all over the world to learn from him. For Lawrence, life was entirely about communing with God:

My set times of prayer are not different from other times of the day. Although I do pray (because it is the direction of my superior) I do not need such retirement nor do I ask for it because my greatest business does not divert me from God. ... I have found that we can establish ourselves in a sense of the presence of God by continually talking with Him. It is simply a shameful thing to quit conversing with Him to think of trifles and foolish things. We should feed and nourish our souls with high notions of God which will yield great joy. ... You need to accustom yourself to continual conversation with Him - a conversation which is free and simple. We need to recognize that God is always intimately present with us and address Him every moment.” - Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Communion with God brings great joy, as the Bible says,

In your presence is fullness of joy.  Psalm 16:11 (NASB)

In my business, there was often a supernatural joy accompanying the presence of God. Many of my heroes walked in a continuous joy. They served with a smile in their hearts toward God. Their primary mission was to enjoy God every day. That joy, flowing from constant communion with God, became a powerful testimony to others.

• More from His Church at Work