Madame who? Part 2

Madame Guyon's study focuses first on Praying the Scripture. (part 1)

She summarizes it like this:

In "Praying the Scripture" you are seeking to find the Lord in what you are reading, the very words themselves. In this part, therefore, the content of the Scripture is the focal point of your attention. Your purpose is to take everything from the passage that unveils the Lord to you.

Throughout her writing she says things like, "Remember I am addressing you as if you were a new convert...I would like to address you as though you were beginners in Christ, one seeking to know Him..." And that is her whole writing style -- gentle and thoughtful, teaching her audience as if they were children.

I wish I had known her -- she does remind me of the pastor's wife in the church where I grew up. Her name was Alvina and she was a great prayer warrior. Our pastor's name was Harry Burch (we called him Bro Burch, or Rabbi, if the occasion permitted it). Often Bro. Burch would come to me at church and tell me he saw Alvina on her knees for several hours that day and he heard her mention my name. That thought has sustained me many times when I really needed prayer. She also had a gentle, thoughtful spirit and touch.

Well, anyway, Madame Guyon moves to her second way of coming to the Lord in prayer. She calls this method Beholding the Lord or Waiting in His Presence. And this how she describes this way of approaching prayer.

The second kind of prayer which I described as "Beholding the Lord" or
"Waiting in His presence" also makes use of Scripture, but it is actually not a time of reading...now you come to the Lord in a totally different way. Perhaps at this point I need to share with you the greatest difficulty you will have in waiting upon the Lord. It has to do with your mind. The mind has a very strong tendency to stray...Therefore as you come before the Lord to sit in His presence, beholding Him, make use of the Scripture to quiet your mind.

You begin by setting aside a time to be with Him. When you come, come quietly. Turn your heart to His presence. How is this done? You turn to Him by faith.
By faith you believe you have come into the presence of God.

Next, while you are before the Lord, begin to read some portion of Scripture. As you read, pause. This pause should be quite gentle. Remember, you are not reading to understand or learn, you are reading to turn your inward thoughts to Christ...to turn your mind from outward things to the deep inward parts of your being.

The Lord promised to come and make His home within you (John 14:23). He promises to meet those who worship Him and do His will. The Lord will meet you in your spirit. St. Augustine once said that he had lost much time in the beginning of his Christian experience by trying to find the Lord outwardly, rather than by turning inwardly.

Once your heart has been turned inwardly to the Lord, you will have an impression of His presence. You will notice His presence more acutely because your outer senses have become calm and quiet. Your mind is no longer on outward things; instead, sweetly and silently, your mind has become occupied with what you have read and by the touch of His presence.

It is not that you will think upon what you have read, but you will feed upon what you have read. You swallow what you have tasted.

This may seem difficult at first....have you not, at times, enjoyed the flavor of a very tasty food? But unless you were willing to swallow the food, you received no nourishment. It is the same with your soul. In this quiet, peaceful and simple state simply take in what is there as nourishment.

Be assured that as your soul becomes more accustomed to withdrawing to inward things, this process will become easier. There are two reasons that you will find it easier each time to bring your mind under the subjection of the Lord. One is that the mind, after much practice, will form a new habit of turning deep within. The second is that you have a gracious Lord!

The Lord's chief desire is to reveal Himself to you and, in order to do that He gives you abundant grace. The Lord gives you the experience of enjoying His presence. He touches you, and His touch is so delightful that, more than ever, you will be drawn inwardly to Him.