"Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray." —Psalm 5:1-2
In few areas of the believer's life, or the life of the local church, does Satan wage more successful warfare than in the prayer life. Prayer, more than anything else, links us to God in an active way. Sever that link, and divine influence is severely truncated. Sadly many believers never learn to pray, in private, to say nothing of in concert with the body of Christ. When asked about her prayer life, a certain church going woman responded, "We pay our pastors to do that!" Such thinking is sad enough when it relates to an individual, but reflect on the fact that when a church for whatever reason decides to scale back activities, one of the first causalities is often the prayer fellowship. And even in the "best" of churches, the prayer meeting will likely be the least attended service of the week.
Closely related to this concern is the matter of the content of prayer when we do pray. Having participated in hundreds of prayer meetings during years of active ministry, we have observed the shallowness that can effect us in prayer. Many believers pray, but only in times of crisis. And on average, prayer requests are more likely to be for matters of physical welfare than for spiritual concerns.
One of the things that can change the prayer life and charge it with vitality is suggested in the opening clause of our selection for today. The key word is "meditation." We are inclined to see this sentence as redundant, the second clause as merely a repetition of the first, in different words for emphasis. I think that is not the case. The "words" involved in prayer are one thing; "meditation" is another. Both are implicated in a full-orbed prayer life.
Meditation is defined, in part, as "contemplation on sacred or solemn subjects, especially as a devotional exercise." Central in meditation as a spiritual exercise is focus upon God Himself; His character, His attributes, His ways, His word. Meditation is the exercise that gives rise to such grand hymns as "How Great Thou Art." It is not first occupied with me, but with Him, and that, in principle, is where prayer should begin. "Praise is comely for the upright [Psalm 33:1}." Meditation is the preface to praise. It is reflection upon His greatness, goodness, grace and glory.
It is out of meditation—thoughtful contemplation—that the psalmist recognizes and refers to God as "My King, and my God." His meditation carries him to lofty spiritual heights and his feet are planted on holy ground before he begins to engage in "prayer requests." It is by reflection that God is seen as "high and lifted up," and man is reduced to his proper dimensions. Even believers can lose sight of that all important distinction.
To be sure, we are invited to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need [Heb. 4:16]," but that does not authorize us to come brazenly. When a subject is authorized to present his petition to a king, there is still a protocol to be followed; so ought it to be with our approach to our King. We have every reason to come with confidence, but we need to approach with some awareness of the awesome character of the One before Whom we come, and the enormous privilege that is ours to be welcomed there. In a day and age when "oh my God," is a flip phrase on the tongues of many, it behooves the Bible Christian to cultivate a proper sense of awe in communion with Him.
Some idea of what we are suggesting can be drawn from John's description of the heavenly scene in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. "And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold… [and] the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever… [Rev. 4:2-4,10]." (Cf also Rev. 5:8,14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:4) Let us meditate… and worship Him, our King and our GOD!
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
In few areas of the believer's life, or the life of the local church, does Satan wage more successful warfare than in the prayer life. Prayer, more than anything else, links us to God in an active way. Sever that link, and divine influence is severely truncated. Sadly many believers never learn to pray, in private, to say nothing of in concert with the body of Christ. When asked about her prayer life, a certain church going woman responded, "We pay our pastors to do that!" Such thinking is sad enough when it relates to an individual, but reflect on the fact that when a church for whatever reason decides to scale back activities, one of the first causalities is often the prayer fellowship. And even in the "best" of churches, the prayer meeting will likely be the least attended service of the week.
Closely related to this concern is the matter of the content of prayer when we do pray. Having participated in hundreds of prayer meetings during years of active ministry, we have observed the shallowness that can effect us in prayer. Many believers pray, but only in times of crisis. And on average, prayer requests are more likely to be for matters of physical welfare than for spiritual concerns.
One of the things that can change the prayer life and charge it with vitality is suggested in the opening clause of our selection for today. The key word is "meditation." We are inclined to see this sentence as redundant, the second clause as merely a repetition of the first, in different words for emphasis. I think that is not the case. The "words" involved in prayer are one thing; "meditation" is another. Both are implicated in a full-orbed prayer life.
Meditation is defined, in part, as "contemplation on sacred or solemn subjects, especially as a devotional exercise." Central in meditation as a spiritual exercise is focus upon God Himself; His character, His attributes, His ways, His word. Meditation is the exercise that gives rise to such grand hymns as "How Great Thou Art." It is not first occupied with me, but with Him, and that, in principle, is where prayer should begin. "Praise is comely for the upright [Psalm 33:1}." Meditation is the preface to praise. It is reflection upon His greatness, goodness, grace and glory.
It is out of meditation—thoughtful contemplation—that the psalmist recognizes and refers to God as "My King, and my God." His meditation carries him to lofty spiritual heights and his feet are planted on holy ground before he begins to engage in "prayer requests." It is by reflection that God is seen as "high and lifted up," and man is reduced to his proper dimensions. Even believers can lose sight of that all important distinction.
To be sure, we are invited to "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need [Heb. 4:16]," but that does not authorize us to come brazenly. When a subject is authorized to present his petition to a king, there is still a protocol to be followed; so ought it to be with our approach to our King. We have every reason to come with confidence, but we need to approach with some awareness of the awesome character of the One before Whom we come, and the enormous privilege that is ours to be welcomed there. In a day and age when "oh my God," is a flip phrase on the tongues of many, it behooves the Bible Christian to cultivate a proper sense of awe in communion with Him.
Some idea of what we are suggesting can be drawn from John's description of the heavenly scene in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. "And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold… [and] the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever… [Rev. 4:2-4,10]." (Cf also Rev. 5:8,14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:4) Let us meditate… and worship Him, our King and our GOD!
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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