The God Drug
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7 ESV
Exults – You have probably heard rumors about “the God particle,” the scientists’ dream of finding that “something” that creates life. “Elusive” would be a modest assessment of the search results. Some things just might be beyond the reach of the rational cause-and-effect paradigm. But let me introduce you to another God-related “something” that isn’t beyond us.
“Prayer is spiritual ecstasy.”[1]
Heschel’s insight tells us that prayer is the God drug, the action that brings us in contact with the divine, in proximity to the unsearchable. The Hebrew word David uses is from the root ʿālaz meaning “to exult, rejoice.” “These words describe an emotion of joy which finds expression in singing and shouting. It is inappropriate for one in anguish (Jer 15:17) and for one who has sinned (Jer 11:15). By contrast it is a natural response of the faithful (Ps 149:5), even being ascribed to God himself (Ps 60:6 [H 8]=Ps 108:7 [H 8]).”[2] We might say that ʿālaz is as close to ecstasy as Hebrew gets, without the chemicals. It is the spiritual high of overwhelming God-consciousness. I wonder if you’ve ever experienced that.
Truth be told, most of our prayers are pedestrian. They’re about common human circumstances and common human problems. Once in a while we get carried to the heights of praise, conscious of our finitude and dependence, grateful for His magnitude and sovereignty. But even then, we tend to maintain that “close to me” context. Yes, God is wonderful. God is great. God is good. But too often those attributes are just the preamble for another plea, a kind of modeled repetition of the prayer of Manasseh,[3] which I have discussed in some detail in lectures on prayer. You can read it here (CLICK).[4] It follows the program of first lauding God and the patriarchs before even suggesting the possibility of forgiveness, ending in more praise for removing guilt. It isn’t spiritual ecstasy. I’m not sure that prayers of spiritual ecstasy could actually be written down. Wouldn’t the very effort of writing them remove the essential intimacy characterizing such a prayer? You would know better than I if you’ve ever felt as if your prayer transported you to a divine ecstatic experience. Maybe what’s missing from most of our prayers is addiction to God.
Topical Index: prayer, ecstasy, Manasseh, Psalm 28:7
[1] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 203.
[2] Schultz, C. (1999). 1625 עָלַז. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 670). Chicago: Moody Press.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Manasseh
[4] https://acollectionofprayers.com/2018/09/03/the-prayer-of-manasseh/
“Maybe what’s missing from most of our prayers is addiction to God.”
Indeed!… although the term “enslavement” holds a generally negative sense, with respect to those who give themselves over to the One True Master and Sovereign of all things because, “I love my Master,” voluntary “enslavement” to God as loving Master is the only proper and reasonable understanding of the meaning of the term “addiction” which Skip uses.
Indeed, there is an ecstasy inherent in the oneness and completeness of spiritual union with that Holy Spirit of Glory which is impossible to frame or describe in mere words of human thought and understanding… nevertheless, when one experiences such conjoining of spirit in Truth, there is also an enrichment of one’s thought and understanding that enlightens the human soul’s framing of that experience for the good of the church, Christ’s body, the corporal presence of God in-dwelling among his people.