Meditation and Prayer

In this part of the sermon: Martin reviews previous points on how to read Scripture, emphasizing meditation as a conscious, volitional mental activity focused on the Word, aiming for godliness. He recaps…

The magnifying glass analogy illustrates how meditation focuses the diffused light of truth from general reading, bending it to burn into specific areas of the heart and mind.

Upon the life, and we use the illustration of the magnifying glass, the light of the truth that is diffused generally by reading, by meditation, is bent to burn in upon the heart and the mind and the life in specific areas. And then someone suggested that meditation immunizes us in our spirits. The truth of God takes residence in meditation, and we are laying up the Word in our hearts that we might not sin against God. And then I suggested that meditation enables us to see the truth in its interrelatedness.

2:30 - 3:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Consider the problem of bringing unwarranted desires to God in prayer.

Martin shares an anecdote about Spurgeon being bothered if a blind man's eye wasn't on him while preaching, to illustrate his own idiosyncrasy of being distracted by distracted listeners.

But I have good company in it, or I'm in good company. Spurgeon said, if the eye of a blind man was not on him when he preached, it bothered him. So...

11:37 - 11:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: What we take in by the word, we digest by meditation, and we let out by prayer.

The meat offering, kneaded and fried, is a metaphor for prayer, implying that we must not come to God with 'raw dough-baked offerings' but with thoughts prepared by 'mature deliberation' through meditation.

Then it follows, I will speak of the things which I have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. The heart yieldeth matter to the tongue. The word signifieth, boileth, and fryeth.

29:32 - 29:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The congregation discusses how meditation relates to the command to 'pray without ceasing,' concluding that they are intimately related. A heart meditating on the Word will…

An example of reading about Christ's compassion for multitudes, meditating on it, and then being moved to pray for similar compassion when encountering people in daily life.

For instance, let's take an example. Suppose you read in your morning reading, maybe in the Gospels, and you had in that particular portion an example of our Lord. When you saw the multitudes, you were moved with compassion. And as you meditated upon that, the compassion of Christ for lost sinners, your heart was moved to praise that He was moved, beholding you in your need.

32:03 - 32:29 Read in full sermon

The point: If a particular passage deeply impacts you during systematic Bible reading, pause to meditate on it rather than rushing to finish your chapter. Prioritize meeting God over adhering strictly to a schedule.

The metaphor of a sheep lying down in a pasture to 'chew its cud' illustrates the need to pause and ruminate on a particular truth from Scripture when it deeply impacts one, rather than rushing through a reading plan.

And if God says in a given part of the pasture, you lie down here and chew your cud a while, then He's the shepherd. We're not. And I think we just need to lie down and chew. All right.

35:39 - 35:51 Read in full sermon

The point: If struggling with a particular sin, give yourself to prayer for a brother or sister struggling with the same sin, as this can have wonderful side effects in your own wrestling.

The metaphor of a man flopping a burden from his back at another's feet illustrates the act of 'rolling thy way upon the Lord' in prayer, and the difficulty when a burden seems to stick with 'spiritual epoxy'.

And we've been able to do what Psalm 37 says, roll thy way upon the Lord. And there are times when you're trying to, but the thing just won't seem to go. It's a beautiful picture of a man with a thing on his back and he bends over and flops it at the feet of another. Well, there are times when the thing just won't flop.

41:16 - 41:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not fall into the trap of merely 'saying your prayers' or going through a list; ensure you are truly engaging God in your praying.

The analogy of an 'evangelical rosary' compares mindlessly going through a prayer list to the Catholic practice of using beads, warning against prayer becoming a ritual without engaging God.

Then, as Paul says, if you plan a particular season then of intercession, your own heart has been made warm. Refreshed in its relationship to God so that you're not just going through some kind of an evangelical rosary. You know, none of us would think of bringing a little string of beads into our place of prayer. And, you know, Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed be the fruit of thy womb, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

50:53 - 51:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not fall into the trap of merely 'saying your prayers' or going through a list; ensure you are truly engaging God in your praying.

George Miller's quote, 'I pray till I've prayed,' is used to emphasize the principle of engaging God in prayer until true communion is achieved, rather than merely completing a set time or list.

The issue is, have you engaged God in your praying? Someone asked George Miller, how long do you pray? He says, I pray till I've prayed. I pray till I've prayed.

51:39 - 51:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Realize that there will be dry days and dull days in your walk with God, alongside glory days, and do not allow yourself to come under a spirit of guilt and bondage during those times.

John Newton's hymn line, 'Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings,' is quoted to acknowledge the unexpected 'glory days' and spiritual surprises in walking with God, contrasting with dry periods.

There are those dry days. There are those dull days. And thank God there are those glory days. And Newton knew about that when he wrote, Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.

53:37 - 53:47 Read in full sermon