Meeting God in the Mundane
In this extended teaching, Chrystal Hurst invites listeners to cultivate an ongoing awareness of God’s presence in everyday life. She argues that God’s presence is always available but must be invited through intentional space‑making, intentional routines, and a heart of honesty. Hurst shares personal anecdotes from each decade of her life—car devotions in her 20s, night‑time nursing prayers in her 30s, early‑morning runs in her 40s, and all‑day micro‑prayers in her 50s—to illustrate how different seasons demand different practices. Practical tips include walking without distractions, breath prayers, placing Scripture on cupboard doors, using worship music, candles, and diffusers to create a worship atmosphere, and integrating short prayers into chores, driving, and work. She emphasizes the spiritual cost of clutter—both physical and mental—and promotes the Inner Circle Declutter Challenge as a concrete step toward making room for God. Hurst also outlines the rewards of a practiced presence (clarity, confidence, answered prayer, peace) and frames the practice within biblical theology, citing James 4:8, Proverbs 3:6, Psalm 119:105, and the teachings of Brother Lawrence. The talk concludes with calls to join upcoming live events and the Inner Circle community for deeper growth.
Chapters
When was the last time you felt like God was near? When was the last time you felt like you were able to get rid of distractions and the demands of your life to have an experience with God where you just felt like he was in the room with you and you knew it and you wanted to stay there and you were able to engage in his presence? When was the last time? I hope it was not too long ago, but I wanted to give you some tips and some information today about what it looks like and what it can look like for you to practice the presence of God ongoingly. Having the presence of God at work and on time in your life ongoingly is one of the best gifts you will ever give yourself. And it is a gift you have to give yourself, because while God is always there and always available, he is always in the atmosphere, his presence is always accessible, he is not going to force himself on you. He is a gentleman. He's not going to knock down the door. He wants to know that he's invited. That means you have to create the space in order to engage with God in a way where you feel his presence. And it is actionable, it's not automatic. It is beautiful, but it is something that you have to be consistent about— putting bounds on your time in other areas so that you have the room for the blessing of his presence sometimes. Now, while I do believe and I understand that God's presence can be with us always, there are times where we focus on him. We focus on a relationship, and that's where we experience him the most. So the equivalent of this is dating, or maybe, um, you're dating somebody you're not married to, or maybe you're dating your spouse. Y'all can live together in the same house and be together all the time, but having his attention and him having your attention is a different kind of thing. How many of us have known what it's like to be in a location with other people but actually not being present, not being engaged, and not feeling the person's attention or their withness. Presence is simply withness. And there is nothing more amazing than experiencing the presence of God with you in the room, palpable, beautiful, full. But he's going to wait on you. Most often we have demands or distractions that get in the way. And I'm curious what demands or distractions get in the way of you making time to practice the presence of God. Because if you value the presence of God in your life, um, and you make space for the presence of God in your life, there is something in it for you. Like, it's not like it's a trade-off where you get rid of certain things and then you're just left with less. Oh no. The presence of God has so much to offer: peace and patience and purpose and clarity, confidence. The presence of God is a gift for you to live your life with the ability to navigate your days with surety, assurance, focus. So I wanted to talk to you about how you do it. How do you practice the presence of God in a way that makes a difference? Back in April, um, I felt impressed upon my heart to go walking 5 times a week for an hour, no music. Walking is no big deal, but when I walk, when I exercise, y'all, I'm a productive person, meaning I like to do two things at once, meaning I want to listen to music and work out, or I want to talk on the phone and go walking, or I want to hold a meeting, or I want to catch up with a friend, or I want to listen to a podcast or keep up with an audiobook. Like, I'm gonna walk, but if I can walk and do something else, that's what I'm trying to do. And God impressed upon my heart, quiet. Every time I went for the walk, it took about 15 or 20 minutes for me to enter the space of clarity and presence, sometimes 30 minutes. But quiet and no interruptions and no distractions gave me time to talk to God and to hear from God. And then I knew why he invited me to do that. He said, Chrystal, there are some things, some aspects of my presence with you that do not happen unless you create space to get there, for lack of a better word. It has been said that intimacy in a marriage begins for a woman in the kitchen. It has been said that it is not an instantaneous thing that a man should woo his wife, starting with helping her with the dishes. In the same way, there is a level of intimacy that it takes time in your relationship with God to get there. What that means is that you can't rush it. You can't speed dial it. You can't cram it in. It takes space. It takes space. In my 20s, that space looked like me driving in my car to get to work, uh, every day. And I had to get to work early, and I would be in my car for 30 to 45 minutes. And I used to listen to a radio program by a man named Tom Dooley. Every morning he would share a devotional, and he mixed the devotional with music and scripture and prayers. And it felt like in my car, I had created this holy space to hear from God and talk to God. And he would invite me to pray prayers and repeat after him. It was amazing. Tom Dooley has since passed away, but he taught me the concept of breath prayers, just little short prayers that you exhale as you move throughout a space. In my 30s, I was nursing babies in the middle of the night. And my prayers, my time with God, looked like middle of the night nursing sessions where I was doing nothing but sitting there in a couch or in a chair nursing a baby and talking to God. In my 40s, it looked like getting up early. And, um, because I had learned after getting up early to run a marathon and get my weekly runs in, um, what it meant to get up early in the morning and leave space for God. In my 50s, it looks like creating spaces throughout my day to practice the presence of God, just all, all day long. It also looked like that walk, to do something that feels slightly unproductive. Because y'all, what am I doing walking for an hour? I mean, walking is great, but if I'm gonna spend an hour, I need some intermittent, like, training. I need a spin class. I need to get on an elliptical machine. I need to burn some rubber. And God said, no, just Walk with me and give me space. At my kitchen table right now, it's a disaster. We've been traveling, and of course everything goes to the kitchen table. The mail goes to the kitchen table. The papers that I brought in from work go on the kitchen table. The things that my boys need me to look at, they're on the kitchen table. It's a disaster. And when it's time to eat dinner tonight, if I want us to enjoy fellowship at the table, I'm gonna have to clean up that clutter. Practicing the presence of God looks like making room for his presence. James 4:8 says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. You have to create the space.
Hey y'all, it's really hard to practice the presence of God when your presence is cluttered by the stuff that's in your house, by all the things that are in your head, or by the appointments on your calendar. A part of making room for God in your life is literally that— making room and getting rid of the clutter. We are starting our next and final summer challenge in the Inner Circle. It's the Declutter Challenge, and I'd love for you to join me. You can go to thesistercircle.com/innercircle for more information. But bottom line, we're going to spend 21 days decluttering our space, our calendars, and our minds.
Why?
So we can make room for what's really important, including practicing the presence of that. So if you'd like to join me, go to thesistercircle.com/innercircle for more info and to join the girls as we go through this challenge.
When I was working, um, in my 20s, sometimes I would get to work early and I'd crack my Bible open sitting at my desk. Make the space. Practicing his presence starts with making intentional space for him. Now there are seasons, you know, where, uh, space looks like getting it in where you can fit it in because small children, you know, and college and working while you finish school. And it looks like caregiving and being sandwiched in between two generations. And so it looks like putting scriptures taped to the inside of your cupboard so every time you open your cupboard to get, or your cabinet to get a glass, that you see a scripture and you say the scripture and you remind yourself of what God is teaching you. It looks creative, but what it looks like always is intentionality. I believe God meets us in intentionality. I know, and my husband knows, for, for each other, like, we would love to just linger, right? Go on vacation or take a long drive. Life is not always like that, but I know when he's being intentional. He knows when I'm being intentional, and we give each other grace for those seasons that are full because we see the effort that we're making to show up. God knows what season you're you're in. But what he wants to know is, are you intentionally making room? If something is important to you, you make room. So quit lying to yourself. If you are not making room for God in your life, he's not important. I think you need to make peace with saying that. If I keep saying I can't get up early in the morning, if that's what you feel like you need to do, or if I'm meant to finish this Bible study and I haven't yet, or I wanted to read this book, or, you know, I started this and I didn't finish, or I was going to engage in this Bible study, or I was going to make space for God to pray and I haven't done it. I think you need to be honest with yourself and say it's not important. Because the things that are important to us, we make room for, even if it's our own pleasure. You might not say that social media or TV is important to you. But what you're saying is your pleasure, your comfort, your enjoyment is important. I'm just saying, whatever you're saying by virtue of your actions, own it. Own it. Because a part of the problem in practicing the presence of God is we will not tell ourselves the truth. Actually, God, as much as I want to love you, my actions say that I don't. As much as I want to spend time with you, my actions say I don't care that much.? Because if you're lying to yourself, then you can lull yourself into a position of untruth. So you're telling yourself on the one hand, I really love God and I want to spend time with him. And on the other hand, you're saying, well, but this, this, this, and that and the other. And you're living in the middle. Either tell yourself the truth and do what you're going to do or decide to make room. Many of us know the scripture of Luke chapter 10, where Mary sat at Jesus's feet. There were things to do, but she made room. A.W. Tozer said, "The presence of God is the finest of rewards." If we truly believed that there is a reward to be had by practicing his presence, we would make time for that. Let me tell you about the rewards that you have when you practice the presence of God. Clarity, confidence, Answered prayer. Less fear, more peace. When you are able to make room for the practice of the presence of God, you get the download of information that you need to have heaven involved in the decisions that you make every day. There have been many times in my life where I needed an answer, and I had done the pros and the cons, and I had thought about it, and I had got wise counsel. But it wasn't until I spent elongated time with God over days that he pulled back the curtains and said, yeah, you collected all the information, sweetheart, but this is the answer. This is the answer, and I'm just giving it to you. God delights delights in giving you answers, but he's not going to force the answers down your throat. He wants to know that you have made room to hear from him. So make room for practicing. That's the first thing. Second thing is you got to invite God into the ordinary. Proverbs 3:6 says, in all of your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. You do not need a perfect setting or a perfect Sunday in a church pew to practice God's presence. He delights in being with you all day, every day, as you fold laundry, write emails, drive to work or wash dishes. The mundane actually is where God loves to show up. The idea of talking to God is that you can talk to God all day. Practicing his presence, yes, I'm all for setting aside deep dive time, but the beauty of practicing God's presence is it's a presence that you practice all day long. You can talk to him out loud like you would talk to a friend. It's literally like the vision of the good angel and the bad angel sitting on your shoulder. God is always with you. My grandmother used to talk out loud and we used to think, oh my goodness, does she not know we can hear her? She didn't care because she was talking to God all day long. It looks like asking for God's help when you really want to blow somebody's head off. It looks like saying, I'm so tired, just help me to finish this, Jesus. It looks like I have no idea what to do with this kid. Can you please enlighten me? It looks like, oh, thank you for this beautiful sunset. It looks like, oh my goodness, keep my eyes and ears open to what you're doing in my life today. It looks like, oh God, thank you for this safe travel to work. It looks like quoting scripture, memorizing scripture. It looks like being with him all day long. Do you know how in love God is with you? And you know what happens when somebody's in love, right? They just want to be on the phone with you all day long. Do you remember that when you were dating that guy? And y'all were just talking all day, just holding the phone. Nowadays kids do that with FaceTime. They're just on FaceTime, you know what I'm saying? Like, they're just— my sons do that when they're playing their video games. They're also on FaceTime with their friends. Or my daughter just calls me, my sister calls me while we're walking around the kitchen. We're just on FaceTime. Remember when you were dating that guy and y'all were just holding the phone? Just holding the phone. Because when somebody loves you, that's what they do. They just Hold the phone. God wants to be a part of every single minute of your day, and he is there, but you only see him when you acknowledge him. Sometimes the biggest and most important things that God is saying to me, he says when I'm washing dishes, he says when I'm cleaning up the kitchen. In fact, I have learned that some— yeah, even though my boys do that now because I'm just like, y'all, I worked all day, what did y'all do? Clean up this kitchen, make dinner and clean up this kitchen. That sometimes I will volunteer myself to clean up the kitchen because I know that in the quiet of the kitchen with my worship music playing and with the diffuser going, that God will talk to me there. Mundane, boring, basic, repetitive— God will talk to you there. This is from Brother Lawrence: The time of busyness does not differ with me from the time of prayer. It's all the same thing. Colossians 3:23 says, "Do your work as unto the Lord, whether you eat or drink." Well, no matter what you're doing, you are always engaged with God. So invite God into the ordinary things. In fact, the ordinary things become holy when you realize that it's space for you to commune with him. The walk becomes holy, mowing the lawn becomes holy, planting the flowers become holy, nursing the baby becomes holy, doing the boring thing at work becomes holy. Your drive becomes holy. It's all holy ground if you make room for God there. So what do you do? You make room, you invite God in there. What do you do? You stay anchored in God's word and in worship. There is no way to enjoy God's presence without his word. There is no way to enjoy God's presence fully without worship. God is higher than us. He is different than us. Holy simply means that God is set apart, that, that we cannot come close to the essence of who he is. So we should walk around with this sense of awe and wonder that a God who knows no beginning or knows no end, that, that knows no bounds, that, that has all information, that while he is just and righteous, also holds a big space in his heart for forgiveness, that he loves us even though we don't first love him, that he moved throughout the beginning of time when the first Adam fell to make sure that the story of history aligned itself with the coming of Jesus Christ so that you so that you would be able to know Jesus as your Savior, so that you would be able to become more like Jesus every day, that the Holy Spirit came when Jesus left to live on the inside of you so that you could be connected to heaven and that you would not have to live on this earth by yourself. This God who the angels all day long in heaven are around and flying around saying, "Holy, holy, holy," that that's all there is to do because he is high and lifted up, the same God that Moses went up on the mountain and when he came down, he was glowing because of the presence of God. This same God says, I want to be known by you. I want you to know the fullness of my glory. I want you to know the fullness of my holiness. I want you to know the fullness of my power. I want you to know the fullness of my presence. I want you to know me. This God is saying, know me, and you can know him through his word. And by worship. You cannot separate your practice in the presence of God from God's word. This is why it's so important to read the Bible. I'm— and I'm, I'm saying, like, do your Bible studies. BSF, I've talked about it a million times, Bible Study Fellowship. D-Groups, uh, Tara-Leigh Cobble's The Bible Recap. Like, there are supports for your Bible study, but I'm like, pick it up and read it. Like, just Pick it up and read it. And if you want to practice the presence of God and combine the word and worship, you can pick up the Bible, crack it open to the Psalms, and just read. Because these are— this is God's word, and it's also worship and prayer and praise. Let me show you what this looks like. It's this simple. Okay, it's this simple. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord. The humble will hear and be glad. Proclaim the Lord's greatness with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and rescued me from all of my fears. Those who look to him are radiant with joy. Their faces will never be ashamed. Let me show you what this is like to personalize this for yourself. I sought the Lord. Lord, I am seeking you right now. And the psalmist says that you answered him. Can you please answer me? Would you please come quickly with an answer? The psalmist said, you rescued me from all of my fears. Let me tell you what I'm afraid of. Can you rescue me from my fears? This Bible says those who look to him are radiant with joy. I do not feel very joyful right now in my life. I actually feel mostly afraid. I feel mostly triggered. I feel mostly overwhelmed. But this says that if I look to you, I can be filled with radiant joy. Can you fill me with radiant joy? I believe that is mine to have. Their faces will never be ashamed. If I'm dealing with shame and guilt in my life right now, I know that I can seek the Lord, that you will answer me, that you will deliver me from my fears, that I will have joy. Shame has no place in my life. It says the poor man cried and the Lord heard him. So Lord, I lift up my voice right now in tears, in shame, in sorrow, in overwhelm, because it says that you are hearing me and saving me from all of my troubles. Do you see what you do with God's word by just reading it? Just read it. Just read it. And then know if one man or one person who wrote some of these scriptures, if they, if, if they wrote it, if this— because that's all the Psalms are, are prayers to God. You can use God's word in prayer. Psalm 119:105 says, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. You cannot know God without his word. Make time for the word. God's presence is not always felt emotionally. While emotions is a part of it, don't just— don't differentiate or unhealthily separate your emotions from God. He wants to know you from head to toe. From front to back and all the way around. You can anchor yourself in truth because God's word and worship of God are gateways to intimacy. When you feel connected, he wants to know you all the way around, but you can't know him without holding him in right regard—worship—because he is not like you. And his word—what, what is he saying he wants you to know about him? That he is righteous, that he wants you to be perfect as he is perfect. He wants you to know that he doesn't like sin. He wants you to know that he has a plan for you. He wants you to know that he can supply all of your needs. He wants you to choose joy, rejoice in the Lord always. He wants you to pray without ceasing. These are the things he wants you to know. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so you can learn something about him in every chapter of the Bible, including Leviticus. There's something to know about God in every book because he's telling you about who he is.
There is nothing better than enjoying the presence of God by yourself, just like you and the Holy Spirit doing your thing. But next best to that is enjoying the presence of God with other people. And I would love to have you join me in October this year, October 17th and 18th in Carrollton, Texas, to enjoy the presence of God together., but also to learn, to grow. I'll be talking about mindset and just expanding your mindset to see what God is doing in your life. Doing great interviews for the podcast, great worship, great workshops. I really believe there's nothing like this under the sun. So I want you to come. You can go to thesisterscircle.com/5, and I want you to get your tickets soon because the prices go up after Labor Day weekend. So there's no need for you to pay more. Get your ticket now. Okay. Thesisterscircle.com/5. Live. Let's grow, let's expand, and let's practice the presence of God together.
Years ago, I was working with my dad, um, at the church, and I was coming— I came home and I was sharing with my mom something. I was like, I can't believe Dad did this, this, and the other. I was so surprised. And she said, Chrystal, you know your dad at home, now you're getting to know your dad at work. When you get engaged with God in every level of your life, you get to know his different facets every day. In my house, most days I turn on worship music. I have a little app on my phone, it talks to my soundbar, and I have a Bose soundbar and it's connected to my Pandora and my Spotify. So I have my Abby Gamboa and my Maverick City, and I have my Travis Greene, and I have instrumental worship. I have all these different things to set the tone. I burn a candle or I turn on my diffuser because I want my home to be filled with worship. My kids roll their eyes. I don't care. I have found that literally having a place where I meet with God in for a season, when I was going through, uh, one of the books that I shared with you earlier, this particular one with Christ in the School of Prayer, 30 days, I went into my closet, literally sat on a little chair, little stool, and I spent time with God in the closet 30 days straight. It's the sweetest time. If you are in a dry season, be intentional about carving out the space to meet with the God who is waiting to meet with you. Y'all, we are back in the days, everybody has cell phones and I've seen people on social media talking about plugging up landlines or they plug up a cell phone so that there is a house cell phone so everybody will be off their phones. We know that, you know, a landline wouldn't work if it was not plugged into the wall. We also know that our cell phones stop working if they don't stay charged. Every night right now, we actually have our boys plugging in their cell phones in a little spot in the room. They check them in every evening and they stay charged all night long. We understand this for our devices, but do you understand this for yourself? That you can't go very far without word and worship. You can, but you'll be going alone. You'll be going on your own. And that is not the way you want to live. You don't want to live in your own strength. Your Bible engagement, your engagement with the word is one of the top predictors of your spiritual growth and your emotional well-being. You cannot function well if you're not plugged in. You've got to have your mind stayed on God. You know, some of us are churchy. You woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus. Isaiah 26:3, it says, you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed always on you. How do you do that? Word and worship. So here is what I would suggest. I would suggest that you have a simple routine. I don't care where you put it. It can be in the morning or it can be in the evening. I like to have my Bible devotions in the morning. I get up in the morning, before I get out of the bed, I stretch my hands towards heaven and I pray a prayer just to ask God to let me see in my day what he sees so that I can be aware and a conduit of his power, his mercy, his grace, and his love. Help me to see what I did not plan for, for today. Because I want to be connected. So before I ever step out of my bed, that is the thing that I do. I don't do it perfectly, but I do try to do it. I want you to yield your day to God before you get started. I want you to, in the morning, in the evening, or in the middle of the day, it doesn't matter, or in the middle of the night, have something that you read. If you read a Proverbs a day, you get through the whole Proverbs. If you read 5 Psalms a day, you'll get through the book of Psalms in a month. You can read a devotional, you can journal in prayer, you can play worship while you're getting ready, you can pray while you're in the car, you can talk to God while you go on your walk in the evening or in the morning. But all I'm saying is decide intentionally when is your time, when is your date, when is the space going to be created for you to meet with God? Because what I can guarantee you is if you want to practice the presence of God, You've got to make room for his presence. You've got to invite him into the ordinary, and then you've got to stay anchored in, in the word. Brother Lawrence gave some additional suggestions. Choose a phrase or a verse to bring your attention back to God. A breath prayer like Psalm 27:8, your face, Lord, will I seek, or Psalm 143:8, Holy One, show me the way. Instead of multitasking while you're listening to a podcast, with a podcast while you walk. Pray, give thanks, meditate on scripture, or listen to the audio Bible. Stop midday, set an alarm at regular intervals to pray, maybe to give a praise. Intentionally talk to God during specific daily activities like doing the dishes or traveling on the road. Write verses on your hand, or maybe put them on a 3x5 card and tape them in your car or to your mirror. Sticky notes if you need to. Imagine yourself in the presence of God. Imagine that and talk to him. Set a verse to pop up on your screen several times a day. You can set a reminder on your phone with a scripture in there. Associate a routine activity like brushing your teeth or making your bed or cooking and talking to God. Whenever you start a new task, say, God, can you help me? Help me. It is not hard, y'all, but it does require your focus. It does require your focus. Brother Lawrence has a whole book talking about practicing the presence of God. He was a Carmelite monastery— in a Carmelite monastery in Paris in the mid-1600s, and he introduced the principles and the spiritual discipline of practicing the presence of God. And he'd say, whether I'm in the kitchen or if I'm working in a repair shop, I can practice the presence of God while I'm doing chores. He said, "It's the beauty to have the gift of praying and talking to God incessantly throughout the day, regardless of what I'm doing." You do not have to have, y'all, a whole prayer closet with a whole war room and all that. It's amazing. You can practice the presence of God anywhere. So I want to take a deep breath right now and breathe out a breath prayer. Lord, be with me. It's that simple. You can take a deep breath and breathe out a breath prayer. Lord, help me to get through the next hour. You can take a deep breath and breathe out a prayer of gratitude. Lord, thank you for waking me up this morning. Thank you for giving me another opportunity to get it right. Lord, help me in my marriage. Help me with my children. Show me what you want me to do at work today, to be a minister of the gospel. It's that simple. It's that simple if you will choose to practice the presence of God. Reading his word, engaging in worship, talking to him in and out of your day. If you will choose to date God and show him that you actually care about your relationship, if you will listen, practicing silence and solitude so that you can hear him when he speaks, if you will make space to read his word There is nothing better than enjoying the input of heaven as you live out your life here on earth. There's nothing better, but you cannot have that if you're not practicing his presence. So clean your kitchen table, do the dishes, go on your walk, take the long drive, but be intentional about making room and inviting God's presence into your life. All right, I hope that's helpful. And I'd love to know, based on our talk today, where will you practice God's presence going forward? What is one small practice that you can begin this week to bring God's presence to bear in your everyday? Because God is not distant. He is not waiting for you to get it together. He is already with you right where you are. You don't have to perform for his presence. You just have to pause for it. Let me pray for you. Okay. Lord, help us to slow down and sense you in our every moment. Make us more aware of your presence, your nearness, and teach us to abide in your presence, not just on Sunday, but in the quiet, in the chaos, and in the ordinary moments of our lives. Amen. Sometimes you just need somebody in your corner. If you're looking for coaching, accountability, and community with women who love God too, the Inner Circle is the place you want to be. Come on in the room.
