I have recently began praying every morning with Jeff, a good friend of mine, who the Lord has given much insight and revelation in the area of infused contemplative prayer. It is simply changing my life, friend. I am realizing that this is, as Jeff believes, the single most powerful thing any believer can do. This, in fact, does not describe it well at all, because in infused contemplation, there is really nothing one should "do" in the sense of self-effort or action. On the contrary, it is the absence of self-effort or self-will that makes this form of prayer so powerful because in contemplative prayer, as one postures his heart to receive, one's own will is surrendered to God, and we begin to experience a new burning love inside, the soft "brushes" of His Spirit, and the flaming passionate glory of the indwelling nature of the Divine.
Those who meet God in this profound way realize that these experiences are ineffable. The deep extacy felt in this contact with the Divine is unspeakable. Sometimes, it is best not to try to express or describe it so as to avoid giving the impression that it is no more than inexpressible. There is no way to catch in words the sublime things of God which happen in the soul. The appropriate language for the person receiving these favors is that he understand them, experience them within himself, enjoy them, and be silent.
In contemplative prayer, the believer will experience infusions of a burning love, but sometimes with little increase of "particular knowledge" that is, a person finds himself loving much, even without new understanding of who or what. Or the experience could be the reverse. There can be a wonderful inebriation that lasts for differing lengths of time, even as long as a day or two with varying degrees of intensity. The exhilaration can be so intense that it could even cause death. Nature would be torn apart were God not to impart strength or restrain Himself from fully pouring out His love upon us. So God is forced to manifest His love in divine "touches" of His Spirit.
A divine touch is a deep, intimate contact-union experience of God in one of His attributes such as power, light, goodness, beauty, or joy. It is not only a contact but also a union, and not only a union but also an experience. Touches are wholly divine and sovereign. The substance of God is a union-contact with the "substance of the soul." Although this touch is not the beatific life of Heaven, it is a "tasting" of eternal life. The soul tastes all the things of God: wisdom, love, beauty, grace, goodness, peace, joy, etc. Because God is all these things, a person enjoys them in only one touch of God. This contact brings incomparable peace and joy, for in the touch God is sublimely perceived in one of His attributes. As often as this experience occurs, it remains fixed in the soul. Since this communion is pure contemplation, the soul clearly understands that it is ineffable. These inner brushes or touches are contacts with the very Divinity, and they effect a union with God. There is no other experience similar or comparable to them. The inner peace, love, and transformation they engender more than compensate for all the trials suffered in life, even though innumerable, and at times God produces them when the person is not in the least thinking about such matters. These divine touches are worth more to the soul than numberless other thoughts, teachings or ideas about God and His works. It goes without saying that these sovereign contacts with Divinity immeasurably surpass the sublimest of earthly experiences. They are so deeply impressed, they can't not be forgotten. They will produce transforming love.
In the beginnings of infused prayer, more commonly one experiences a burning of love within the will rather than a light of understanding in the intellect. This common trait of touches makes it clear that they are not derived from our reasonings and meditations. Touches purify, strengthen and quiet a person, and they make the inner life more stable. They perpare the recipient to receive the permanently the divine union of espousal and eventually the transforming union itself. Everyone is called to this summit.
There is a close relationship between what we have just considered and what mystics call "wounds of love." Love touches deeply pierce one's inner center like fiery darts. They thus bring an immense torment and yearning to see God face to face in final vision. They cause a dying with love. What are these wounds? They are "flames of tender touches" and "tender flares of delicate love." There are many ways and varying degrees in which God cauterizes, sears the soul with love. While a person is inflamed with love for God it will feel that a seraphim is assailing it by means of an arrow or dart is all afire with love... In this cauterization, when the soul is transpierced with that dart, the flame gushes forth, vehemently and with a sudden ascent... The soul feels the wound with unsurpassable delight.
Corey Johnson - Music, Sound & Video Production
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If all of a sudden our past was erased and our future was irrelevant, what would be the defining reality of our life? In that present moment of time, what would matter the most to us? At the root of our soul, at the core of our being, what would be the driving force behind our own existence? What does it all come down to?
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