A Banner Proclaiming “Love”

I am currently taking a short, five-week class on contemplative prayer. In short, it is a way of listening to God, primarily through his Word, and being present with him. The other day I spent some time meditating on Song of Solomon 2:4 which reads: He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

I am not sure how those words strike you–perhaps read them again and take a few moments to mull them over–but in prayer, I was drawn to the seemingly discomforting feeling that the banner over me is love. That is not what I would write if I had the pen in hand. And therein lies the problem, two-fold.

I often will not give the Lord space to make his pronouncements over me but, because of insecurities or other weaknesses of my heart, I exclaim that they are too good to be true. And maybe they are too good, but why not also be true? (Indeed, they are both: too good, and wonderfully true.) This unwillingness to listen to the Lord's pronouncement opens the breach to the second problem: I rewrite what is scrawled on that banner. (Or, if I do not take up the pen myself, I willingly listen to the lies scribbled over the word love.)

What false truths do you write or allow to be written on that banner? Unlovable? Too weak? Forgotten? Such language is only intended to draw you away from the love of the Father. Indeed, that language is from the pits of hell. Rather than let such banners fly over your head, suffocating you in the process, consider Song 2:4. It is the Lord who writes and displays his banner over you and that banner's exclamation is singular: LOVE.

Grace & Peace