George Herbert on Prayer (23)

May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. Psalm 40.2

Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,
   God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
   The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,
   Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
   The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
   Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
   Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
   Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
   The land of spices; something understood.
                                                 - George Herbert

In George Herbert’s day, in the first half of the 17^th century, people in England were still just beginning to become acquainted with all the wondrous spices that were being introduced from the east. Those-taste enhancers that we take for granted they regarded as rare treasures. Whole corporations were formed, wars were fought, and nations were subjugated in order to feed the growing English hunger for spices.

Spice makes everything better. A little salt on that egg. “Fresh pepper?” for your salad. Cinnamon on your breakfast bun. Basil and oregano in your sauce. Nutmeg atop your egg nog. Spices make food sparkle, turn it from ordinary to extraordinary, enliven our taste buds, and make us want more.

Other spices – myrrh and frankincense especially – were known to people in 17^th century England, but only because of their uses in worship. Censers routinely brought the mesmerizing aromas of exotic spices like these into the nostrils of worshipers, filling them with a foretaste of the glories of heaven.

Prayer is not just spice. Prayer, Herbert insisted, is the “land of spices.” In prayer you can get all the spice you need for your life, to enliven, enhance, and enrich your daily experience – every aspect of it. In prayer you are the owner of a veritable spice plantation, and enhancement and glory are yours without diminishment.

Prayer makes our lives sweet, glorious, and full of delight. It is truly the “spice of life,” for in prayer we find deliverance from worry and fear, relief from guilt, and grace to strengthen us in all our times of need. Whatever “fare” life may serve up to us, if we partake of it with the spice of prayer, we will find our lives to be more than merely bearable; we will find them to be full of joy and delight.

And prayer is like incense to the Lord as well. As much as prayer can enrich and delight us, it delights the Lord as well. Can you envision the Father receiving your prayers, wafting them up toward His nostrils with the right hand of Christ, to savor with great joy the fragrance and aroma of the spice you bring into His experience?

If you want to bring enhancement to the drudgery of daily life and delight to the Lord, it’s simple enough to do. Sprinkle your day with prayer, and you will spice-up both your experience and the Lord’s pleasure in you.

Next step: See how many ways you can “spice-up” your life with prayer today. At the end of the day, share this experience with a close Christian friend, then thank the Lord for what He has shown you in this.

T. M.’s books on prayer include God’s Prayer Program, a guide to learning how to pray the psalms; The Psalms for Prayer, in which all the psalms are set up to guide you in how to pray them; and If Men Will Pray, a serious attempt to call men of faith to greater diligence in prayer. Follow the links provided here to purchase these from our online store.