First: Preparation of the heart Saint Isaac said, “Before you prayerfully seek God, prepare yourself suitably.” To prepare or ready your heart for entering into the Lord’s presence is a very significant matter for the quiet time to achieve its goal; i.e., to sit with the Lord and share your life with him. How, then, is the heart to be prepared for entering the Lord’s presence? This may be achieved by means of the following: 1- Shutting the doors of the outer senses: This is what the Lord Jesus means by, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door.” (Matthew 6:6) Saint Augustine had something to say about this point, “These rooms are nothing else other than our hearts themselves; the spiritual rooms inside our inner man.” Saint John Cassian offers such a practical illustration of this meaning in his following discourse, “Let’s go into our room, shut our door, and pray. But do we do that practically? Isn’t it through removing the vain worldly thoughts and business, and going into a close fellowship with the Lord?” Preparing the heart for entering into the Lord’s presence involves the emptying of our minds of all concerns, preoccupations and obligations, and cast them all at the feet of the Lord. 2- Focusing the mind and opening the doors of the inner senses: One of the necessary prerequisites for the preparation of the heart is concentration; i.e., opening oneself to the reality of the Lord’s presence and existence in the prayer room. God exists no doubt; it’s the unawareness or lack of recognition on the part of the believer that makes him miss the chance and the blessing. Long ago Jacob the Patriarch, the father of the tribes, went through a similar experience. Walking all day in the wilderness till evenfall, he lay down on the sand to sleep. Later he awoke to an essential truth which he discovered only of late. He cried out, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” (Genesis 28:16) Many people enter the prayer room and are unaware that the Lord is in this place! There is a world of difference between our Patriarch Jacob and the prophet David, who was aware of the Lord’s engulfing him everywhere he went. This is how he felt, “You hem me in--behind and before … If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalms 139:5-8) Saint Nestarion expressed the importance of the believer’s awareness and faith in the Lord’ presence in this beautiful quotation, “Pray to God as though you see him, because he is indeed there.” Here is a lovely quotation from Bishop Yo’annas, “Be aware that you stand in God’s presence and that God sees and hears you. He is near to you and looks tenderly on you .” As explanation of the idea of guilt, he said, “Awareness of God’s presence is very much like that of a dear friend. In dealing with him in love, in speaking with and to him, we get a constant sense of the existence of that beloved person. O that we would approach God with the same effort we exert in our human relationships, although effort ceases whenever love is involved. So all there is to it (to our relationship with a friend and being aware of his presence) is that it involves sight, yet with God it involves faith.” So in order to make your heart ready to enter the Lord’s presence you must focus your thoughts and open the doors of your inner senses, that you may be aware of and sense the reality of the Lord’s presence in the place. Therefore you can say in faith while in the prayer room, “The Lord is there with me right now. He is listening to me, sees me, and loves me.” You can, in the boldness of faith and out of deep, heart-felt emotions welcome the Lord as your best friend. Say to him, “My God, you are welcome in my room, which is yours, and in my house, which is yours, and in my heart, which your dwelling-place.” 3- Purification of the heart: Another necessary factor of the preparation of the heart in view of entering the Lord’s presence is the purification of the heart. The Lord says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) You can’t sense God’s presence unless you cleanse and purify your heart first. David emphasizes this point in the Psalms, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.” (Psalms 24:3,4) Again he says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (Psalms 66:18) Unfolding the reason why the Lord hid himself from being seen spiritually, the prophet Isaiah pointed out the same secret: “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1,2) That’s why the prophet David was eager to cleanse and purify his heart that he may see the Lord. praying for that purpose, he said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalms 139:23,24) Test yourself to find out about your sins and offer repentance of them, confessing them before the Lord. The Bishop Yo’annas explained it this way, “When you feel your sins weighing you down, shut the door and reason with Jesus in the dark of night. In your prayer present to him everything you’ve done. The prophet David said, ‘Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.’ (Psalms 32:5)” You can find out about some of your sins, but the Holy Spirit can certainly reveal all that’s hidden in every nook and cranny of your soul. So let him do his work inside you. Give him a chance and watch how he moves deep down inside you. Make your inner man attentive to his conviction of everything that blocks your spiritual vision from seeing God. As you begin to make out your sins and feel guilty about them, don’t despair. Place them under the blood, trusting in the Lord’s forgiveness and purification of your heart from all uncleanness, holding onto the Biblical promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Make it your intention to confess them before the priest at the nearest chance. Can you make out your sins? Do you know which sin it is that has hidden his face from you? If you still don’t, you can refer to chapter fourteen of this book about “Self-examination.” The Spirit may point out one or more sins that blocks your vision and hinders you from sensing the reality of the Lord now. 4- Putting on the legal clothes: Of course I don’t mean changing your outer clothes or dress. I’m talking about an essential factor of paramount importance to the preparation of your heart for entering the Lord’s presence. The believer often feels inferior and unworthy or undeserving to appear in God’s presence. This feeling is true. One should feel that way; a believer ought never forget that. The believer will never on any given day be deserving, as such, to have access to God or enter his presence. Moreover, any person who presumes to enter the Lord’s presence, thinking that the way is open to him unconditionally, with no restraints or barriers, will have to retreat in failure. No matter how a person deludes himself into believing that he is communicating with God, his conscience will object to it and belie him. Joshua the high priest stood one day to appear before the Lord without wearing the proper garment, the ephod, which qualified a person to enter the Lord’s presence. So the angel had him take off his filthy clothes and put rich, ornate garments on him (Zechariah 3:1-5). Do you remember what happened to the man who came into the wedding but was not wearing the wedding clothes? Wasn’t he cast out into the outer darkness? (Matthew 22:11-13) The issue of clothes is not a controversial one, and I don’t want to discuss it from the theological, doctrinal point of view. This garment is simply the garment of Christ, or the merit of Christ. No one merits to stand in the Divine Presence but the Man Jesus Christ, the One and Only sinless, righteous Being. Through him, or on the basis of his merits, we gain access to God “For through him we … have access to the Father ...” (Ephesians 2:18), “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” (Ephesians 3:12) The preparation of the heart for entering the Lord’s presence, then, implies an awareness of this reality: that you don’t deserve to be found in God’s presence (even though you are a believer) except through Christ’s merits. Remember this very well every time you want to be found in the Lord’s presence, to approach the Mediator of the new covenant, that he may bestow his merits upon you, clothe you with the garment of his own righteousness, and lead you to hide under the stabbed side, where your faults will be hidden, your weaknesses concealed, and you yourself will be qualified for admission into the Divine Presence. Only under the banner does the tryst take place. And only on this safe ground do we face the Lord. And only at the feet of the cross do we meet the master. Only in this garment are you admitted to have audience with the King of Kings, and without this holy attire you are not qualified to enter into the Lord’s presence. This was the point Christ wanted to make as he said, “The Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” (John 15:16) Therefore our teacher the Apostle Paul wrote, “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace.” (Romans 1:5) Don’t be content with the mental knowledge of this fact; rather turn it into a springboard for practical application to prepare yourself for entering the Lord’s presence under Christ’s protection. The Garden of The Monks book has such a beautiful statement about that: “Without this name there is, and there will surely be, no salvation at all, according to the words of the Apostle Peter, ‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the only means thereby people can have access to God and communicate with him.” 5- Remember the Lord’s kindness and love: It will help you sense the Lord’s presence to remember his love-based dealings with you as a Father who takes care of, looks after, and protects you. This will drive out fear “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” (1 John 4:18) David sang this aloud whenever he attempted to gain access into the Lord’s presence, “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalms 103:2-5) 6- Singing: Singing is one of the most important factors for preparing one’s heart for entering the Lord’s presence. The prophet David explicitly said, “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2) The crucial thing is to concentrate on the meanings of the songs, not just repeat them; otherwise you won’t gain any benefit. The spiritual song imparts to you the experience of a person whose heart overflowed with these words after coming into contact with God. As a result, a song will transport you, by its meanings, to have the same contact with God yourself. While in your room, select a comforting song, then identify the verses that suit your condition and sing them. Don’t let your voice keep you from singing. Nobody is listening. The important thing is that you yourself take comfort from the meanings of the song. 7- The faith : Don’t rely on your external senses and feelings, rather on the senses of the inner man. Trust in faith that God is not only there in your prayer room with you, but inside you also according to his promise, “I will live with them and walk among them.” (2 Corinthians 6:16) Jesus, the Lord of glory, said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) Again he said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) On this basis, our teacher the Apostle Paul asked, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) Whoever enters the Lord’s presence in faith will be able to experience this glorious reality. Saint John Saba (the spiritual elder) wrote: “Blessed are those who gaze at you inside themselves…Blessed are those who seek you within themselves…Don’t seek him outside of you, whose dwelling habitation is within you.” Therefore Bishop Yo’annas said, “Some people may say, ‘God is everywhere.’ But it’s no so for us. There is one place in the universe where we can communicate with God: at the depth of our heart. ‘You yourselves are God’s temple.’ There he awaits us; there he meets us; there he speaks with us. And in order to find him and meet him, we must go into ourselves. So if we want to sense God’s presence, we must look at him on the inside, not on the outside. We needn’t wander around looking for him outside us with our thoughts. Even if he is there, this is not where we communicate with him; only in our hearts.” Do you have this faith? Do you really trust that you are in the presence of God, who dwells in your heart? Second: Biblical Meditation (Listening to the Lord) After entering the Lord’s presence by means of preparing your heart to stand before him, the second part of quiet time starts; i.e., listening to the voice of the Lord speak to you through the Bible. Ask the Lord, “What do You want me to do?”(Acts 9:6) In order to discern the Lord’s voice clearly, let me offer you these helpful steps. 1- Lift up your heart in a short prayer and say to the Lord who is there with you, “Lord, let me hear your voice through the Bible, and tell me what you want me to live out today.” Say to him, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” (Psalms 119:18) 2- Begin by reading the Biblical chapter you set beforehand for meditation during your quiet times. It’s worthy of note here that Biblical meditation during daily quiet time aims at the edification and growth of the spirit; it does not replace daily Biblical study which aims at deepening your knowledge of the Bible, the sacred history, and getting to know Biblical characters and events. For this study I have worked out a plan to enable you to read the Bible entirely in one or two years according to the circumstances. You’ll find this plan in chapter fifteen of this book. Meditating on the Bible during personal quiet time has a different plan, which you should preferably set yourself according to your own needs. It may be: A. A section of a chapter to be taken in sequence daily from a daily Bible reading plan, as mentioned above. B. Verses from the Bible extracted from a Bible concordance (like Strong’s) or a topical reference (like Thomson Chain Reference Bible) on an area of spiritual need you have; such as anger, purity, or conscientiousness. You may meditate on one verse each day. C. Verses from a weekly Bible study (for those who are part of such groups) as material for daily quiet time. You may take one verse at each quiet time. 3- Read the verse through which you feel God is speaking to you several times (three times for example), then identify the main theme of it. 4- If possible, read the verse in other trustworthy Bible versions. This will help you understand the verse better to get to know God’s purpose. 5- Apply this verse to your life and experience the impact it has on your heart. Live by that impact through the day. You may make use of the following approaches in order to identify the impact of this verse on your life: A. Does the Lord speak to you through it about a specific sin that he wants you to confess and give up? B. Do you find in this verse a divine mandate to be fulfilled and acted upon? C. Does this verse provide you with a certain privilege in Jesus Christ, for which you ought to thank the Lord? D. Does the Lord give you through this verse any promise of a certain blessing, which you should pray for in order to receive it? E. Does this verse highlight an excellent attribute of the Lord’s, which you should glorify and magnify him for? F. Does this verse underscore a Bible character as ideal example, who deserves to be followed and emulated through the day just as he or she walked in faith with the Lord? These are only some approaches to meditation that help you identify the impact of the verse on your spirit. You’ll find that only one or more of these approaches apply to the verse. What matters is that you listen to the Lord as he speaks to you through the verse; don’t forget you are in the presence of the Lord of Hosts; “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5) There is no use in having quiet time without listening to the Lord’s voice or being willing to do his will in your life. Third: Prayers (Speaking to the Lord) After listening to the Lord through the meditation verse, now it’s your turn to speak to him. He longs to hear from you, as he expressed to the Bride of the Song, “My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” (Song of Songs 2:14) You may converse with the Lord about several subjects; such as: The theme of the meditation verse. Your private affairs. Requests for others. Requests for local ministry. Requests for world-wide ministry. 1- The theme of the meditation verse: Through the meditation verse the Lord may have spoken to you about any of the above-mentioned matters; such as sin, divine mandate, privilege, promise, one of his attributes, or an ideal example. Now it’s your turn to speak to him about what he told you. This may be: confession, request, thanksgiving, or glorification. A. Confession: If the Lord has told you about a specific sin, confess it and ask him for forgiveness in the blood of Jesus, because “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Saint Anthony said, “Don’t treasure your sin which you committed, for the best a man can possess is to confess one’s sins to God and blame oneself.” B. Request: If the Lord has told you through the verse to give up a specific sin, or to fulfill a commandment, ask him for help and strength to be able to do it. He said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Bishop Saint Isaiah made this beautiful comment, “If you pray to God, tell him, ‘My Lord Jesus, you are my help and hope. I am in your hands; you know what’s best for me. Help me and don’t let me offend you or follow my whim. Don’t reject me because I am weak. Don’t deliver me to my enemies; I take refuge with you, so save me with your lovingkindness.” C. Thanksgiving: If the Lord’s communication to you through the verse has provided you with a particular privilege or a special blessing, thank him for it just as the Bible tells us, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Saint Isaac said, “No gift lacks growth or increase but the one lacking in thanksgiving.” He also said, “A mouth that always gives thanks will always receive a blessing from God Almighty, and a heart that keeps on giving thanks and praise will be visited by grace.” D. Glorification and magnification: If the verse has highlighted an excellent attribute of God’s; such as his love and mercy, glorify him and magnify him, just as David did, “Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalms 106:1) This is the subject-matter of prayer which can be derived from the meditation verse. Saint Basil and the scholar Origen summarized this in the following four elements: First of all, we must glorify God with all our strength and as much as we can. You can get an impression of that from Psalms 103, 104. Then we should thank him for his lovingkindnesses for mankind in general, and for us in particular (See David’s thanksgiving in 2 Sa 22). This is followed by confession of one’s sins and violations of God’s commands and a request of his forgiveness for past sins, and that he may heal him of all spiritual maladies oppressing him. Finally, the pray-er should enumerate both spiritual and physical needs- his own as well as others’. At the end, the prayer should be concluded with a doxology. 2- Your own requests: This is another area we can use when conversing with God, who is present in your prayer room. Conversation in this respect may revolve around any such important topic as: A. Crucial decisions: If you are faced with a situation that demands a crucial decision, or a difficult problem that needs a decisive solution, place the whole matter before the Lord. Tell him about it so that he may guide you by means of Biblical verses to a decision that is in line with his will. He gave us this promises, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” (Psalms 32:8) B. Determining the goals of your life: Discuss with the Lord the goals that you want to live for, whether they are in line with his will. Are they dedicated to the Lord and in keeping with his divine plan for your life? The Apostle Paul said, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:7-9) C. Sharing your daily agenda with the Lord: Place before the Lord all you chores, activities, and visits for the day. Since your time belongs to the Lord, will every single minute of it be spent according to his mind and in line with his plan? Bring your daily agenda before him that he may cancel from it all he doesn’t want and add whatever he finds necessary “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) Will the works you’ll be doing today the same as those good works he prepared in advance for you to do? 3- Requests for others: While in the Lord’s presence, it’s worthwhile to tell him about your brethren who are under suffering like you, as the Apostle James commanded, “Pray for each other...” (James 5:16) The Apostle Paul used to do that, for he says, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” (Philippians 1:3,4) Saint Barsonophius was once asked, “If a person asks me to pray for him, should I pray for him or not?” He answered, “It’s good to pray for everyone who asks you to, because the Apostle says, ‘Pray for one another, that you may be healed.’ People have prayed for the Apostles themselves. Yet, you must do that as someone who is unworthy and with reserve.” Tell the Lord about your family members, your relatives, friends, neighbors, and more so about your brethren in the body of Christ. Your conversation with God about them may focus on: A. Particular matters that concern them; such as their circumstances, problems, sicknesses, sorrows, financial needs….etc. B. Ask on their behalf what you would ask for yourself. C. Ask the Lord to visit with his salvation those who haven’t come to know him yet. D. Ask for spiritual growth in grace and the knowledge of God on behalf of those who know the Lord and are walking in his way. These are only some subject to help you engage in conversation with the Lord about others. Use a prayer list with the names of those you would like to pray for, the specific prayer point, and the verse this prayer point rests upon (whenever you find any), then the date you started praying about it and the date of answer. This way you can thank the Lord for answering. (In the quiet time journal you’ll find a prayer list plan to help you pray for others). 4- Requests for local ministry One of the subjects you can talk to the Lord about is the local ministries in the city and the country where you live. The Church has taught us to lift up our petitions in Holy Mass as follows: “Remember, Lord, this holy place which is yours…” Then the deacon would call out, “Pray for …. Our city and all other cities, countries, isles ….” Thus you may make petitions for: A. The ministries of the church where you pray and other churches in the same city and homeland. Preferably pray for each city separately. B. Priestly Fathers, ministers, and preachers. C. Sunday schools, youth meetings, and public meetings. D. All different types of people who attend church, and those who don’t. E. The spread of the Gospel message to every household and every heart. F. Rulers, governors, and those in public office. These, and many others, are subjects you can talk to the Lord about because this pleases the Lord’s heart. 5- Requests for world-wide ministry God loves the world no doubt (John 3:16). He sent his disciples into all the world to preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15). It is in order then to converse with the Lord concerning his purposes for the world. Your conversation with him may focus on: A- The salvation of the whole world. B- The spread of the good news everywhere. Preferably mention each continent separately (Africa-the Americas-Asia-Australia-Europe). C- The Lord’s sending laborers into his harvest. D- Disasters, volcanoes, wars, famines, and pestilences that afflict the world. These are also some subjects you can talk to the Lord about concerning the world. (You’ll find in the quiet time journal a weekly prayer plan.)
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 22:23:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015