I listened to a sermon series by Tim Keller (NYC reformed Presbyterian pastor with a huge ministry) on deep prayer and meditation 6 weeks ago that has completely transformed my life, personality, desires, everything. Mindblowing. And have now personally witnessed exactly how powerful the holy spirit can be in our minds (my own mind)... It's not that I wasn't a Christian before, but I just did not feel the holy spirit present in my life. After the first or second sermon in the series I can only describe what happened to me by quoting this passage from the bible:
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah." ESV
Except it wasn't David that the spirit of the LORD rushed upon, it was me. It's impossible to describe to anyone who hasn't experienced it, so I won't even bother. Only know that it is glorious, and I recommend EVERYONE listen to this sermon series. I consider myself extremely blessed because I can tell that many many Christians have never experienced it. I've been a Christian for about 13 years (hard to remember exactly when, I'm a missionary kid so it wasn't like there was an overnight transformation from drunken directionless soul to one living for God), but after this experience it was like the bible was all new again. I became completely (and continue to be completely) obsessed with the word, with meditating on it, with reading passages I've read hundreds of times. Even John 3:16 took on a whole new meaning, whereas before it felt almost tired, redudant, old, because I'd heard it so many times. There is a deep HUNGER there that is unquenchable. And I grow more and more satisfied yet there is always more and more and more!
To quote Taylor Hudson (famous 19th century missionary):
"I have gotten to the edge only, but of a sea which is boundless. To have sipped only, but of that which fully satisfies."
Anyways the series focuses on the fact that almost all (or maybe ALL) of the great Christian theologians, teachers, preachers, mystics, etc. throughout history have agreed that meditation is one of the most powerful ways to "engage" the holy spirit within you, to turn it into high gear so to speak. And almost all of them, from Luther, to Jonathan Edwards to Teresa of Avila to Moody to Blaise Pascal (in other words, people of totally different cultures, times, and Christian traditions) agreed on the basic methods to go about this and all of them had at least ONE experience of God's love that was incredibly powerful... example:
(and I'm paraphrasing here as I don't remember the exact quote): "I felt such a tremendous overwhelming outpouring of God's love within my soul that I had to ask him to stop" - Moody
And keep in mind that Tim Keller is no pentecostal! And Jonathan Edwards certainly wasn't either (the man known for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", but he reports similar supernatural experiences in his writings when he would go off to meditate on the Word for hours. Now this wasn't something that you could just "do" as Tim Keller says in his sermons, it's a gift from God, but it comes from meditating on his word day and night. It's purely from the holy spirit.
Ok now to get to the actual question!!!
When I meditate I have an extremely hard time picturing God. For example, the verse "I love you, O LORD, my strength." One of the simplest verses in the psalms (18:1 NIV) yet INCREDIBLY deep if you meditate on it. I meditated on it for around 40 minutes 2 nights ago and though I was able to use the mental image of the Swan/Omega nebula (google it, the most beautiful of God's creations IMO, or at least the ones we know of) to picture the "O LORD" part and focus on that...... but lately it's been harder for me. It just doesn't feel like ENOUGH. God is so incomprehensible that it's extremely difficult for me to meditate on a verse where he is mentioned! And of course I WANT to meditate on verses where he is mentioned (there's quite a few in the bible if you haven't noticed )
So I ask you... what mental image do you use when you meditate on the beauty of God? I asked my parents (missionaries for 25 years and very wise), and all they could offer me was "light" and a "lion" . Even Isaiah's descriptions just aren't enough because what he saw cannot be put into words. Anyways, some help here would be nice.
If you're interested in hearing the sermon series it's here:
http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=18312
I've only actually listened to the first four so far as I want to master the first two "levels" before I move on (you'll see what I mean when you listen to it)..... The first two sermons are basically introductions, the rest are "how do I do this?"
I pray that all of you are pierced in the way that I have been. When Jesus said "the truth shall set you free" he wasn't just talking about the chains of sin and escape from hell and acceptance by God through Jesus and getting into heaven. He was talking about the here and now. On earth. What else do you think allowed Paul to be dragged from prison to prison in chains all the while rejoicing and constantly writing letters to Churches trying to help them? He wasn't even thinking about himself! BECAUSE HE WAS FREE.
EDIT: Oh and for clarity's sake, no I have not had a supernatural experience of God's outpouring of love in my soul....... yet. I pray that it happen soon but his timing is the best timing. But even without that....... my personality has turned a complete 180 in 6 weeks from doing this form of prayer. And I praise him for that. I'm not gonna give my life story on here but if you knew me personally you'd know it was a total miracle.
