Last Sunday evening, our Church began what I hope will be a long series of 1st Sunday Prayer meetings. We had a nice turnout of a little over 20 people, all gathered to lift up holy hands in prayer.

Our first work of prayer together was to simply give thanks to God for who God is. To help facilitate our prayer, I asked for those in attendance to list some of the attributes of God for which we are especially thankful. I nearly ran out of room on my dry-erase board. Here are a few of the attributes listed:

That God is:

• Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable
• Divine and Sovereign
• Righteous and Just
• Merciful, Patience, and Forgiving
• All-powerful and all-wise
• Good, Loving, and Accessible

This was a wonderful exercise, and really helped us to begin our time of prayer together on the right foot.

In a similar vein, I thought I’d share some points from á Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service on ways to reflect upon the attributes of God. May this be as rich and informative for you as it was for me.

In order to be properly engaged in the contemplation of God, and thereby to increase in the knowledge and love of God, the following directions are to be observed:

First, maintain a lively impression that you are but an insignificant creature, and seek to persevere in such a spiritual frame. Realize that your soul’s ability for comprehension is very limited and that a matter may readily exceed your understanding.

Secondly, be more passive in your contemplation of God and allow yourself to be more illuminated with divine light. Quietly follow that light with your thoughts and permit yourself to be influenced by it rather than wearying your soul with rational deductions, so the soul may move beyond the illumination granted at that moment.

Thirdly, in doing so it is essential that the soul in all simplicity approves of God’s revelation of Himself and refrains from hankering to comprehend this revelation. If one seeks to penetrate the manner of God’s existence intellectually—that is, His eternity, infinity, omniscience, omnipotence, and internal motions—it will of necessity bring the soul in darkness and various temptations will emerge as a result, for the mind then contemplates things which are beyond its reach. Therefore, one should quickly resist any inclination to ponder about the “why” and the “how” of God’s existence, nipping any temptations in the bud.

Fourthly, in order for the soul to contemplate upon God in a manner which is becoming of Him, he must seek to be in a godly frame of mind and be emptied of sinful desires and world conformity, for “the secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him” (Psa. 25:14).

Fifthly, in doing so historical faith must be very active. This means that as we come to the Word, we will read what God says about Himself, without contradiction accept it as the truth, and conclude and confess that God is such as He reveals Himself to be.

Sixthly, it is essential that one considers God to be His God in Christ. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is to be found in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Outside of Christ God is a terror, and can only be viewed as a consuming fire. In Christ, however, one may have liberty; and God reveals Himself to such who approach unto Him in that way.

à Brakel, Wilhelmus. The Christian’s Reasonable Service. Edited by Joel R. Beeke. Translated by Bartel Elshout. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1992.