Practicing The Presence of Jesus {Book Review}

Practicing the Presence of Jesus: Experience the Gift of His Friendship by Wally Armstrong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What would change in your life if you saw Jesus across the golf green, just standing there, talking with the crowd? 

In 2004, at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Willy Armstrong had a moment of revelation when he saw a man being surrounded by a crowd and asked his friend who the man was. "Oh, that's Jesus." was the answer. Although, in honesty, it was really the actor who played Jesus in the Passion of the Christ, it started Willy on a road to a new realization as a Christian. 

What if Jesus was right here, right now beside us? What if we could walk, talk, and be with him every day, building a friendship relationship that is real and tangible? What would that look like? 

And so, Willy wrote this book, as a way to challenge Christians into a simple idea that, while not new, is a revival of Christianity at its roots - a basic, intimate relationship between Jesus and his disciples. A friendship. Meeting together and getting to know each other. 

I was excited to be able to review this book, as I was able to relate with Willy's struggle between wanting to be a good Christian and wanting to know Christ. Today's Christianity seems to be based far more on religious duties than on relationship - the list of to-do's to feel qualified to be part of God's family: have I done my morning devotions, have I given my proper amount of tithes, have I fasted enough days.... all kinds of performance based Christianity - and the easiest way to feel that I'm failing as a believer, instead of moving forward in my faith. 

This kind of attempted, self-focused, performance-based Christianity is the biggest lie that Satan has on God's people today. It weighs you down and discourages you - makes you feel like you are failing God, when in reality - all He wants is to be with you. 


This book has been eye-opening for me. I will highly recommend it to my friends, because I think it can revolutionize faith as we know it. 

There's a story in this book that Willy shares from another book that started his path to relational faith with Jesus, a story about a minister visiting an old Scottish man nearing death. That man lay in his bed, with an empty chair beside him. The old man reveals to the minister that long ago he was challenged to picture Jesus in that chair and talk to Him as a friend. 

And now that challenge is passed on to us. 

As I've finished this book and been trying to envision how to take the steps towards this practice of making Jesus a real part of my every day, I've been intrigued by the idea of using my God-given imagination to bring him to vision.

"Could it be that our imagination - guided by the Holy Spirit - is the natural starting point for our faith? [...] Untarnished by the jaded and cynical perspective  of adults, children can easily grasp the gift of his friendship and sense his presence beside them." (pg. 38-39). 

Faith like a child. 

My children are the best examples of this. I've caught Middle just "telling God about that" throughout his days. Why can't I just chat with Jesus, too? Why am I obligated to avoid imagination and innocent faith just because I'm a grown up. 

So, it's time to pull out a chair, pour Jesus a glass of water, grab my notebook and pen and start chatting. 

I've received the challenge. Make Jesus real. Build a friendship and learn from Him  - just as his disciples did when he actually was walking the earth. Relationship, not performance, is the key to faith. 

"Imagine sitting with Jesus every day, getting to share with him everything on your heart and experiencing his full attention on you! It still is so hard for me to believe sometimes that he likes me that much and enjoys being with me that much. He wants you to receive the same gift of his enjoyment of you too."(pg 85)

Willy does a terrific job of just sharing his heart, his experiences, and his enlightenment on his journey to Jesus. Thank you for putting out the call to faith, Mr. Armstrong. 


To read some other reviews of this book, visit  http://litfusegroup.com/author/WArmstrong 


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Practicing the Presence of Jesus by Willy Armstrong is now available to purchase. You can also visit his website at www.oldprobooks.com to find out more about his books, but also to listen in on his Chair Experiment blog - Willy's insights into this experience on a more personal and real level, as well as more information on some of the ideas presented in this book. 

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 



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