Prayer - meditating on the Word
Psalm 1:1-6
Travelling back from Heathrow airport after 3 weeks in Kenya – 2 things we noticed – how long the sun took to go down and how green the land was
Nothing mysterious about why our country looks greener than Kenya in the summer – rain!
V3 A tree by a stream will be a fruitful tree whose leaves don’t wither
Contrast with v4 which speaks of chaff – dry dusty stuff that gets blown around
Righteous and wicked – one fruitful and one unfruitful
What is the source of the difference?
V1-2 Counsel of the wicked or meditating on the law of the Lord
Counsel of the wicked vs. law of the Lord – fruitful tree vs. chaff
Last week looked at Acts 4 – using the Word of God in prayer
This week looking at how the Word of God equips the person praying
Remember prayer is not just words; it is our spirit connecting with God’s Spirit
Remember the prayer circle – God the Father sends inspiration through God the Holy Spirit which connects with our spirit and returns in the name of God the Son to God the Father
Prayer is meant to be a spiritual activity
When it is an intellectual activity success of prayer is measured by how well we have understood the situation and how eloquent our speaking is – can you give a good speech?
When it is a religious activity the success of prayer is measured by how well we use the right words or actions – can you speak good King James English?
Without the help of the Holy Spirit we cannot really pray
Unless you have been born again and the Holy Spirit lives in you prayer will never be what it should be
Of course people cry out to God before they are born again – cut someone’s brake pipes or push them in a river and they will often pray!
The Holy Spirit can come upon someone before they are born again – in fact he needs to in order for new birth to occur (this is why there are people who have prayed a sinner’s prayer who are not born again) but it will not be the same as having him live in you
When you are born again you become a spiritual person – the Holy Spirit is in you and you can now relate to God – your spirit in unity with his Spirit
This is great but we have a big obstacle to overcome – we live in an unspiritual world
The world we live in is largely shaped by what is called here “the counsel of the wicked”
1 Cor. 2:12-14 the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him…
The counsel of the wicked is based in the wisdom of the fallen human mind, the mind that is full of unbelief and shaped by fear, selfishness, the desire for self preservation, various lusts and rebellion against godly authority
You do not need to put in any effort to hear the counsel of the wicked – it is all around you in the people you meet, any newspaper you read or any TV programme you may watch
Unless you had Christian parents who actively taught you godly thinking based on the Word of God, then you were brought up in the counsel of the wicked
A lot of it will have seemed sensible and will have shaped you without you really realising it – you will have been soaked in the counsel of the wicked – your thinking will be by nature worldly not spiritual
The first step in changing this is new birth – this is essential for until it happens you will not be able to receive the things that come from the Spirit of God
After new birth you can now receive from the Spirit and you can begin to soak in the law of God instead of the counsel of the wicked
God’s Word needs to renew your thinking and renew your soul – the old worldly thinking needs to be replaced with godly thinking
John’s Gospel tells us that in Jesus the Word became flesh – if you are going to pray in the name of the One who is the Word then you really need the Word in you
Paul tells us that all Scripture is God breathed – before we speak out to God we need to receive what he has given to us – before you speak you must breathe in!
The Word of God, the Bible, here in Psalm 1 called the law of God, is what feeds your spirit and it’s your spirit that needs to be active in prayer
If you want to run a race then you need to build up your body – may start unable to run a mile but after a year’s training be thinking about marathons
If you want to engage in a spiritual activity like prayer then you need to build up your spirit
If you begin running and are unfit then it will be hard to run for a few minutes – once fit you will be able to run for hours and enjoy it
Prayer too can seem like a struggle at first but as you grow in spirit you will become like the well watered tree of Psalm 1 and your prayer life will become fruitful
V2 he meditates day and night
What do you understand by meditation?
Probably based on thinking about, pondering or possibly think of other religions such as Hinduism with its yoga and such like
The Hebrew word translated here is hagah
Look in a Hebrew lexicon and you will find in the definitions such words as to moan, to growl, to utter, to speak, to muse, to meditate, to devise, to plot
Probably an onomatopoeic word – sounds like a person sighing or speaking in a low voice
Josh. 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Psalm 35:28 My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long
Psalm 71:24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long,
Psalm 77:12 I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds .
Isa. 31:4 As a lion growls, a great lion over his prey
To hagah is an active thing – more than just passive consideration
Joshua was told not to let the Book of the Law depart from his mouth – he needed to be continually speaking it
Psalm 35:28 – my tongue will hagah (speak) of your righteousness and of your praise
What is a lion doing when growling over its prey? It is beginning the process of devouring it – the prey will soon be inside the lion!
The Word of God will become part of you as you think about it, speak it, mutter it to yourself, declare it etc
Those who do not know the Lord hagah continually – they hagah the counsel of the wicked – they hagah faithless words that will drag your spirit down
“The economy is in a mess”, “Things aren’t good”, “The government are useless”, “Things are likely to get a lot worse”, “Life seems pretty hopeless at times”, “I’m feeling quite depressed right now”, “Have you heard about Joe?”, “Yes, diagnosed with cancer”, “Shame really, I liked Joe”, “Hey, he’s not dead yet!”, “I know but once you’ve got cancer it’s not looking good is it”, “Actually I’m not feeling so well myself”, “What’s up?”, “Sore throat – might be just a cold coming but knowing my luck it will be flu”, “How are the children?”, “Hard work – you know what young people are like these days”, “Sure do – it’s the world we live in – can’t change it – just have to get used to it”
What do you hagah?
Is it the counsel of the wicked or the Word of God?
If you hagah the counsel of the wicked you will find prayer hard work
Bombard your spirit with negative and faithless thoughts and words and your spirit will find it hard to rise up with faith and connect with God
Feed your spirit with the Word of God and you will find prayer bubbling up within you
Last week I spoke about the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God as the weapon of prayer
When you learn to hagah the Word of God it is a weapon but it will also become fire in your spirit
Jer. 23:29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Instead of being oppressed by circumstances the Christian who learns to hagah the Word of God will know a fire in their spirit that will rise up and confront situations with powerful Holy Spirit inspired prayers
Acts 9:32-33 What does the counsel of the wicked ay to this situation? What is the hagah that has surrounded this man?
Bedridden for 8 years – this is permanent – nothing can be done now – get used to life as a beggar
V34 Jesus Christ heals you
Peter spoke a better word – his spirit rose and he spoke boldly into the situation
Do you find that situations cause you to dry up?
Do you find things too overwhelming to pray about?
When things are big your mind will not help you – you can’t think straight
Your soul will not help you – your emotions are all over the place
Your body is no help – it feels weak and sick
All that is left is what is in your spirit – the spirit that has meditated, that has learned to hagah will be like a tree by a stream – its leaf will not wither
The prayers of the spirit may not sound as good to the ear as the prayers of the mind and body – they may come out more like groans but they will connect with Father God and bear fruit
Psalm 92
Hagah these words – confess them – make them a part of you!