Day 4: Breath Prayer Part 4, Meditation

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

God desires that our thoughts become like His thoughts. We learn to align our wills with His will as we meditate on Scripture. Moving onto God’s agenda instead of our own is pleasing to God. Let’s keep using the Jesus Prayer as our prayer teaching tool.

Start by praying the Jesus Prayer out loud:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Now, let’s roll each word around in our minds thinking deeply about what each word means.

Take your first word, in the prayer, “Lord.”

Lord: Jesus is really my Master, but He’s not just my Master, He is the Lord of everything and everyone.

“For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

Now, think deeply about the name, “Jesus.”

Jesus: If you transliterate from Hebrew to English Jesus would be pronounced Yeshua. Joseph was told to name his son, born to Mary, Jesus (Matthew 1:21); and the name means, “Yahweh saves.”

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Prayerwork: Now, you do it. Say the prayer in your mind and think about what each word means. If you need to, do a quick search on the Internet on what each word means and write it out, so you have something to think about. Remember, this is a book to help you pray. Part of honoring God with your prayers is to know what you’re praying, and why you’re praying.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Christ: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Son of God: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have mercy on me (what is God’s mercy?): ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A sinner (what does being a sinner mean?): ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now say the prayer again.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

If you thought deeply about each word, you just prayed and meditated. So, on the fourth day of your 40 Days of Prayer, you’ve already prayed some impromptu prayers, you’ve prayed multiple times during the day at set hours, and today you’ve completed some biblical meditation--and it all started with just a simple breath prayer.

Note: You’ll need about ten minutes tomorrow for your prayerwork. Go on and set your alarm just ten minutes earlier. And tonight, go to bed ten minutes earlier to make up for your earlier morning.

Blessed is the person…whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2