Greetings in the name of the “Bright and Morning Star” – Jesus Christ, THE Risen Saviour! Wow! What a beautiful winter’s morning…and God made it for us! Have you said “Thank You” for it yet? Well…it was great to be able to do a blog yesterday and “Thank You” for all the positive feedback.
Over the last days I have had to follow directions that I have often given to others…I have had to make “praise & worship” a definitive part of my days. There are many times that I want to feel sorry for myself…and I have some strong memories and crazy dreams that threaten my equilibrium. I am learning afresh what God’s word means when it says to put put on…”a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.” – Isaiah 61:3c. and I add the words from the chorus … “Put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness – lift up your voice to God – Praise in the spirit and with understanding – O magnify the Lord!” ‘Praise in the spirit and with understanding’ – with your emotions, your heart – with understanding, your head. Praise is not some disregard for what is happening but with a clear understanding. Praise turns the matters over to God and as such ‘magnifies’ God as the One who is able to do more than we can think or imagine. I can only surmise that that is what Paul meant when he said in Ephesians 6…”put on the whole armour of God”…including the garment of praise!
I believe that another aspect of this process…and Paul mentions it in the armour of God section…is putting on the garment of “prayer”. My understanding of tradition is that people wore a “talit” – a prayer shawl, that they pulled over their heads to create a prayer space. They put on a garment of prayer! So if I can take a little liberty…”put on the garment of prayer for a spirit of despair” – “pray in the spirit (heart) and with understanding (head), and magnify the Lord…make God bigger than what you are facing. There is a beautiful illustration of this in the Book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was in exile and wondering about his homeland, his people, and living conditions. On a particular day family came from home and Nehemiah did two things: first, he ‘questioned them’..he got an understanding of what was happening, he used his head; second, he says – ‘I sat down and wept’, he took the information in his head to his heart. After this Nehemiah mourned, fasted, and prayed (in the spirit and with understanding). [Nehemiah 1:1-4]
Someone has said that prayer must involve on the heart and head working together. We need to understand what is happening and what is needed. After that our hearts need to be broken by what breaks God’s heart. This says the writer is what separates – “prayer babblers” from “prayer warriors”.
Something to think about…be blessed!