Contemplation -
Beholding God in Stillness
Contemplating God is the one needful thing that Jesus commends. Few people take time to be still and enjoy God's presence. But consider the Lord's instruction, "Be still and know that I am God." In the discipline of contemplation, we learn to be still and quiet the mind so that we can more fully comprehend the presence of the Lord.
The original and correct sense of the Greek verb "to contemplate" is "to behold." We learn how to behold God through the practice of contemplation. In this spiritual discipline, we learn to be still in the body and quiet in the mind so that God can overwhelm us in the Spirit. Contemplation prepares the human person to encounter and experience the divine presence of God.
The practice of contemplation was common in the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament. We find Ezekiel in silent contemplation for seven days. Then Ezekiel writes, "At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me." (Ezekiel 3:16) We read in the book of Acts that the apostles Peter and Paul were caught up in a state of ecstasy during times of prayer.
Christian tradition maintains that the apostle John was in a state of contemplation when he received the Revelation. He writes, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet." John had entered into the Spirit in the same sense that Ezekiel did when he said, "The hand of the Lord was upon me." (Ezekiel 3:22) The apostle John and the prophet Ezekiel are telling us they were caught up in contemplation on God.
In the early church, the desire to know God was the most important criteria for Christian service. In fact, fourth century author, Augustine, wrote, "The person who asks for and seeks this one thing from the Lord makes his petition confidently and serenely. This is the one, true and only life of happiness that ... we should contemplate the Lord's graciousness forever." To him the one most needful thing is to be still and behold God. The prophets and the apostles, even Jesus himself, passed on this wisdom to the early Christians and to us.
The practice of contemplation as a spiritual discipline is very simple to do but very difficult to master. These days, it is a challenge to be physically quiet and still so it takes consistent discipline to silence even our thoughts. It's hard to hear the voice of God over the noise of our busy lives. We need to stop and be silent in order to hear him. Why would you do all the talking during your prayer time when God longs to whisper in your ear? Contemplate, behold God, and you will receive the one needful gift of enjoying his divine presence.
Copyright 2007, Calvin R. Wulf and Lisa Are Wulf
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