Pray and Meditate in Your Heart

“But Mary kept all these sayings, meditating in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

The Bible states in a few places where Mary heard something about Jesus and kept what she heard in her heart. It’s like saying “hmmm” when someone tells you something. You wonder about it, but maybe save it to think about or to pray about it at another time. This was what Mary did. There are a few things Mary knew about Jesus. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit so He was no ordinary child. God sent wise men from afar to worship Him so His future would not be ordinary. Simeon who God allowed before his death to see the Messiah, prophesied over Him at His circumcision. Mary kept Simeon’s words in her heart. They must have been troubling. And Ana, the eighty-two year old widow who recognized Jesus as the Messiah, proclaimed Who He was to all. All these things were adding up in Mary’s mind. I’m sure she remembered all these things about Jesus each time she saw Him. Mary herself didn’t proclaim His supernatural birth, the angels’ visit to the shepherds declaring His birth, the visit of the wise men nor the prophecies of Simeon and Ana. Our Scripture tells us she meditated on these things in her heart, but she did nothing because she was an obedient servant of God and a person of prayer. She kept these things in her heart. She just went about raising Jesus and his brothers and sisters the best she could.

Mary was ordinary in that there was nothing spectacular about her life. She’d been betrothed to an ordinary man who made his living as a carpenter. The most remarkable thing about her was that she believed and trusted God. She trusted that if she did become pregnant with a child while not married that all would be okay with her life. In those days, it was commanded to stone a woman who had “played the harlot” or in other words was found to have been with a man when she was not married. (Deuteronomy 22:13-29) We do not read in the Bible that she was concerned about it at all. Instead she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist who confirms in the womb that Mary is carrying the Messiah. (Luke 1:39-41) Elizabeth prophesies. “And it happened as Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And from where is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believes, for there shall be a perfecting of those things which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45)

We know the rest of what happened. Joseph was going to put her away quietly probably so she wouldn’t be stoned and has a dream in which an angel tells him to marry her. “And as he thought upon these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take to you Mary as your wife. For that in her is fathered of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)

We find two lessons for us here. First is one of believing and trusting God. And the second is obeying God when everything is telling you to do the opposite. Mary and Joseph’s example are exemplary of both. Mary didn’t tell anyone about the angel’s visit or what had happened to her. The Bible doesn’t describe when the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in her womb, but don’t think that it wasn’t spectacular. When there is an anointing for healing or other spiritual gift, the anointing is felt. I’m sure Mary felt a strong presence of the Holy Spirit when He came on her. “And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) One cannot be in the power of God and not feel the anointing. But she told no one. She didn’t have to tell Elizabeth because the baby in her womb who came to be John the Baptist reacted in such a way that Elizabeth knew that Mary was carrying the Lord. (Luke 1:41-45) Mary was in a very precarious position and would soon show that she was with child. A person who would be afraid would try to avoid the inevitable and would have either hid or would have announced the news of a virgin birth. I don’t think it would have been believed and she would have been stoned. But Mary just trusted that it was God’s Will. She didn’t have to explain to anyone. We also have no record of Mary and Joseph discussing the situation. It’s Joseph who decides to marry her in obedience to the angel’s word in his dream.

I can imagine Joseph’s dilemma. The woman that he is to marry and is supposedly a virgin is with child. How did he know? She was not showing yet. She had to have told him. But evidently she didn’t try to explain the circumstances to him because he didn’t know the pregnancy was from God until his dream. Mary left it in God’s hands. The Lord let him know in a dream. He obeyed even though all things told him not to marry her. If she was found out, she’d be stoned. They both might have been  stoned. But he marries her.

In both cases they had to trust God. And in both cases they  obeyed without question. The Lord may ask us to do something that we know our family, friends and mentors even might disapprove. They may say that what we feel is God isn’t really God because what we’re asked to do is dangerous, silly, makes no sense, is a waste of time or unachievable. And we can deceive ourselves easily. But if we believe without a doubt God is asking us to do something that is dangerous, is silly, makes no sense, seems like a waste of time or seems unachievable we need to obey because He will work to protect us if it’s dangerous. We can see the accounts of Daniel, the Israelites’ journey crossing the Red Sea when pursued by the Egyptians, the miraculous deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace and countless others who were protected because God had a divine plan for them. God uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. “ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and God has chosen the base things of the world, and things which are despised, and things which are not, in order to bring to nothing things that are; so that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1Corinthians 1:27-29) If what you feel God is asking you to do a foolish thing, take courage. He works divinely which is contrary to the wisdom of this world. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.” (Galatians 5:17) And what seems to make no sense or impossible, in God all things are possible and achievable. “Ah, Lord Jehovah! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and stretched out arm. Nothing is too great for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17-other Scriptures: Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; Ephesians 3:20)  All we have to do is say, Yes!” God takes care of the rest. He will take care of the foolish things. He will take care of what seems silly to be the wisest thing ever.  He will make the weak things strong. And He will accomplish was seemed like a waste of time or unachievable.

The matter comes to this. Are we trusting in God or are we trusting in ourselves? In ourselves it will come to nothing. We cannot accomplish God’s Will on our own resources, knowledge, wisdom or strength. But if we say, “Yes Lord,” and just obey, that’s all he’s asking us to do, He will use His resources, His knowledge, His wisdom and His strength to have His Will done on earth. That’s what Mary did. I can just imagine her thinking and wondering how God was going to do it.

Mary kept it all in her heart. “But Mary kept all these sayings, meditating in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) And that is something else we can learn. Don’t let the world know God’s plan. If He wants it announced, He will announce it. Another example of this is the cryptic prophesies of the sacrifice and death of Jesus. His sacrifice and death were symbolic all through the Old Testament. Yet it was only revealed to those who had ears to hear. It was a total surprise to the devil who thought he’d conquered God by killing the Son of God, when in reality it was his demise. Make God’s plans a thing of prayer with a trusted prayer partner who will take it to prayer and not let the enemy know God’s plans. We have the example of King Hezekiah. He showed the enemy every secret treasure of God to the Babylonian envoys who later came and ransacked Jerusalem. “At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah. For he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion which Hezekiah did not show them. And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say? And from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, They have come from a far country, from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures which I have not shown to them. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the Word of Jehovah . Behold, the days come when all that is in your house, and which your fathers have laid up in store until today, shall be carried into Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says Jehovah. And of your sons which shall issue from you, which you shall father, they shall take away. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (2Kings 20:12-18) Isaiah prophesied the Babylonian captivity. This is a stern warning to us.  Just keep God’s secrets in your heart and let God work like Mary and Joseph did.

To close and in review when the Lord shows us an incredible impossible thing, go to Him in prayer and keep it in your heart like Mary and like Joseph. Don’t let the devil know God’s plans. If it’s God’s plan, He will do it. If it’s not, it will come to nothing. Don’t make a move. God will tell you each step of faith to take. Just say yes and obey.

Let us pray:

Father God, You are great. Your plans are beyond what I can imagine.  Help me to trust in You and to let You work in all Your plans. Help me to remove my worldly thoughts and schemes to do what only You can do. My Lord, You have shown how the enemy prowls around seeking who and what to destroy. I place all my confidence in You my God. I will converse in my meditations only with You. If something feels foolish, I will let You take care of it. If something feels dangerous, I will let You protect me. If something looks like a waste of time, I will obey knowing that You work miracles. And if something looks impossible, help me to take my hands off because this is a work that only You can do. I thank You my Lord for Your wisdom which is limitless which all creation cannot reach nor obtain. Thank You for Your lessons which are treasures hid in Your Word. Your Word is wisdom and light to our life here on this earth. I love You Lord. I yield my limited knowledge, wisdom and understanding to Your knowledge, wisdom and understanding. In the Name of Jesus I pray, amen.