Prayer and Meditation
Prayer is to the
spiritual man what breath is to the
physical. No one can survive without
breathing; and no Christian will long
continue as a Christian without
prayer. There are individuals who are
physically weak for no other reason
than lack of life-giving air. If they
would but open the windows and inhale
God’s free gift they might be
well. However, they continue to
breathe stale, vitiated, and
contaminated air and are slowly dying
without knowing the cause. Renewed
life might freely be theirs for the
taking.
In the same manner,
some Christians are dying for lack of
the life-giving breath of prayer. If
they would but open their windows to
heaven and draw deep breaths, their
whole being would be invigorated, and
new vitality and spiritual health
would come to them.
Some persons neglect
to pray because they have had an
unsatisfactory experience with
prayer. They have prayed, but God has
not seemed to take any interest in
them. With David they say, “My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken
me? Why art Thou so far from helping
me, and from the words of my roaring?
O my god, I cry in the daytime, but
Thou hearest not; and in the night
season, and am not silent.”
Psalm 22:1,2. They wonder if
God has forsaken them and if it were
better to cease praying. Their
experience with prayer, their whole
Christian experience, is
unsatisfying. What are they to do?
Let such souls read
and heed the following scripture:
“My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness; and my mouth
shall praise Thee with joyful lips:
when I remember Thee upon my bed, and
mediate on Thee in the night
watches.” Psalm 63:5,6.
Note the glorious
promise, “My soul shall be
satisfied.” This is exactly what
these dear souls desire and what they
are anxiously waiting for. They have
prayed, and again and again, they
have hoped that God in some way would
manifest Himself; but He seems to
have forgotten them. So, they pray
again and again for years, but still
no result. A few times, they have had
a taste of joy that might be theirs,
but it was only momentarily, and
again they were left to grope their
way. For them there is no balm in
Gilead.
Now comes the joyful
news that it is possible to find
satisfaction in prayer. “My soul
shall be satisfied.” But how?
Immediately follows the answer,
“When I remember Thee on my bed,
and meditate on Thee in the night
watches.”
Meditation is the
better part of prayer. In prayer, we
speak to God; in meditation, God
speaks to us. Not until we have
learned the secret of waiting upon
God will we enjoy the sweet communion
that God reserves for those who wait
upon Him. When we have learned it,
the promise that we shall be
satisfied will be fulfilled.
Note the reading
carefully: “My soul shall be
satisfied … when I remember Thee
upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in
the night watches.” To this let
us add two more statements: “My
soul, wait thou in silence for
God.” Psalm 62:5. A.R.V.
“Stand in awe, and sin not:
commune with your own heart upon your
bed, and be still.” Psalm 4:4.
Most Christians offer
a little prayer at the bedside before
retiring for the night. Having
“said” their prayer, they
are ready for sleep. It is this
little time between prayer and sleep
to which the psalmist refers. He
counsels us to remember God at this
time, and meditate. Meditate is
defined: “To think about; to
contemplate; to plan, intend,
purpose; to think deeply and
continuously, to reflect, ponder,
muse, solemn reflection on sacred
matters.” The psalmist calls
this to “commune with your own
heart upon your bed.” Verse 4.
Man’s Advantage
Man has this advantage
over brute creation: He has the power
of self-reflection and
self-criticism. He can stand himself
up in a corner, as it were, and
examine himself. “Let a man
examine himself.” 1 Corinthians
11:28. “Examine yourselves;
… prove your own selves.” 2
Corinthians 13:5. This the Christian
can do, and the unbeliever likewise.
The Christian can
judge himself. He can do what God
recommends, commune with his own
heart upon his bed and think things
through. Thus, when he has finished
his evening prayer, instead of going
to sleep immediately, let him spend a
little more time in self-examination
and meditation.
“Amen”
should not ordinarily be the end of
our interview with god. When we do
this, we are bidding God good night
when He not be ready to be dismissed.
Saying “Amen” is
“hanging up” on God,
telling Him we are done, and cutting
off communication. He may not think
it courteous of us to talk as long as
we please, and the moment we are
done, cut off all further
communication. We do not give Him
opportunity to get in a word.
Suddenly He finds Himself cut off.
This cannot please God.
To avoid this
embarrassment, God asks us to spend a
little time in meditation. He wants
us to be still and wait in silence.
We might even pray as did Samuel,
“Speak, Lord; for Thy servant
heareth.” 1 Samuel 3:9.
How do we communicate
with God? Have we not already prayed?
Yes, we have prayed; and this is
talking with God. However, communion
is more than talking. It is also
listening. Of this, we have done
little.
The first step in
communion is silence-silence in the
soul, waiting upon God. “Wait
thou in silence for God,” we are
told. You have prayed. Now you are
lying upon your bed, ready to commune
with your own heart. How is this
done?
Consider this
statement from Christ’s Object
Lessons, page 129: “If we keep
the Lord ever before us, allowing our
hearts to go out in thanksgiving and
praise to Him, we shall have a
continual freshness in our religious
life. Our prayers will take on the
form of a conversation with God, as
we would talk to a friend. He will
speak His mysteries to us personally.
Often there will come to us a sweet,
joyful sense of the presence of
Jesus. Often our hearts will burn
within us as He draws nigh to commune
with us as He did with Enoch.”
A Conversation With
God
This is not an
experience reserved for a few chosen
ones; but it is open to every
Christian. Note again these
soul-satisfying statements,
“Often there will come to us a
sweet, joyful sense of the presence
of Jesus… as He draws nigh to commune
with us as He did with
Enoch.” God draws near to
commune with us! What higher joy can
earth hold? If God has such in store
for us, should we not explore the
possibilities of communication?
Someone will again
ask, “Just what must I do to
commune with God? How do I start? Be
a little more specific.” It is
not for one to tell another how to
pray, but here is what one did.
“Lord, I
have had a hard day today.”
“Yes.”
“I am tried,
Lord, so tired.”
“Yes, I know,
dear one.”
“I am afraid I
lost my temper today, Lord. I was so
nervous and tired out.”
“Yes, I know all
about it. I would gladly have helped
you, had you asked Me.”
“Lord, will You
help me tomorrow? I will have another
hard day.”
“I will be happy
to do so. But now you must go to
sleep.”
“Yes, Lord, I am
tried. But before I go to sleep, I
want to tell You that I love You. You
have been so wonderfully good and
patient.”
“Yes, dear one, I
love you, too. Now go to sleep.”
“Good night,
Lord.”
“Good
night.”
Isn’t this merely
talking to yourself? Says one. It is,
but it may also be much more. Note
again the promise quoted above, that
on such occasions there may
“come to us a sweet, joyful
sense of the presence of Jesus…
as He draws night to commune with us
as He did with Enoch.” There is
such a possibility; can we afford to
pass it by?
God has good reasons
for asking us to meditate and commune
with Him in silence. As we pray, we
often talk aloud. Not only does God
hear what we say, but we may also
believe that Satan is an interested
listener. He learns much of our plans
from what we tell God, and uses this
information to his advantage.
In meditation, it is
different. As we wait upon God in
silence, Satan is completely at a
loss to know what is going on. He
cannot read out thoughts, and though
he is expert at surmising, he can
never be sure. What would not Satan
give to learn what God is confiding
to us?
Paul was once taken to
the third heaven, and there he heard
unspeakable words “which it is
not lawful for a man to utter.”
2 Corinthians 12:2-4. The original
word for “lawful” is better
translated “permitted” or
“with permission.” In Acts
2:29 Peter says, “Let us freely
speak,” literally “it being
permitted me to freely speak.”
–Englishman’s Greek
Concordance, 7th ed.,
p.268. It is the same expression as
when we say, “With your
permission I will speak freely.”
In Acts 8:37 Philip’s answer in
reply to the eunuch’s question
if he might be baptized was,
“Thou mayest.”
In Acts 21:37 Paul
asks, “May I speak unto
thee?” In each case it is the
same word that is translated
“lawful” in 2 Corinthians
12:4.
Paul was taken to the
third heaven, and there certain
instruction was given him that he was
to keep to himself and not tell
anyone. God has secrets that He
reveals only to those whom He can
trust and who will not talk. This is
accordance with the principle
enunciated in Amos 3:7, “Surely
the Lord God will do nothing, but He
revealeth His secret unto His
servants the prophets.”
One of the first
requirements of a prophet is that he
will not talk without permission,
that he will be able to keep a
secret. God must have someone on
earth to whom He can trust His
secrets and who will be guided by
them, but not reveal them to the
enemy.
Does this mean that we
are never to pray aloud? By no means,
it is well that Satan listens when we
affirm our faith in God and express
our determination to go forward in
faith whatever hindrance may come in
the way. However, there are some
things we ought to talk over with God
alone. This we can do in meditation.
If we should ask the
reader if he has ever told God that
he loves Him, he would doubtless
answer, “Yes, many times. I have
repeatedly testified to my love for
God in social meetings and on other
occasions.” We doubt not that
this is true. However, it is not to
this we have reference.
Have you ever, as you
are lying quietly upon your bed,
looked up into the face of Jesus, as
it were, and told Him, “I love
You.” That is real
communion. And you may even have had
blessed assurance of the words,
“I love you, too.” Such is
the kind of fellowship for which God
longs as much as we.
Boldness in Prayer
It is astonishing how
formal we are with God. It is well
that in public worship we approach
God in reverence and godly fear.
However, there are times when we as
His children may come boldly to the
throne of grace and there find help
in time of need? Are there not times
when we speak freely with Him as with
a friend, informally and
confidentially? Is not this what John
means when he says, “That which
we have seen and heard declare we
unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us: and truly our
fellowship is with the Father, and
with His Son Jesus Christ.” 1
John 1:3.
There is a boldness
that is obnoxious and out of place,
and which should be condemned and
avoided. However, there is also a
boldness which is commendable and
which God encourages. It is the
boldness of a child who unafraid
approaches his father, though he is a
king before whom all men bow. To the
child the father is not so much a
king who is to be feared, as a father
who is to be loved. The child does
not speak to him as a servant does
with fear and trembling, but as a
child who has certain rights.
Christians are invited
to enter with boldness the holiest of
all, the throne room of God, where
only the high priest formerly entered
(Hebrews 10:19); we are even to have
boldness in the Day of Judgment (1
John 4:17). It seems almost
unbelievable that such can be the
case. And yet boldness is necessary
for sonship according to Hebrews 3:6,
where “confidence” is the
word, otherwise translated
“boldness.”
As children of God, we
are to come confidently to God. We
are to serve Him with “reverence
and godly fear,” and “hold
fast the confidence [boldness] and
the rejoicing of the hope firm unto
the end.” Hebrews 3:6. As we do
this, we may at last be counted among
those who not only are permitted to
enter the pearly gates, but who
“have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates
into the city.” Revelation
22:14.
Memory Verse:
“But Christ as
a son over his own house; whose house
we are, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the
hope firm unto the end. Hebrews 3:6
Questions:
1. Are you
learning to gain confidence as
you come before the throne of grace?
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2. Explain
just how important it is to meditate
with the Lord after prayer.
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