In a sermon on our need of zeal for God, Iain Murray says:

The Holy Spirit revives zeal by shedding abroad in the hearts of men the love of God and that love is the first-fruit of the Spirit and it is always love that brings zeal into action.

and goes on:

If zeal is to be maintained or recovered, a primary means is always the duty of meditation.

Murray quotes the following from Thomas Manton, a great Puritan divine:

Meditation is not to store our head with notions but to better the heart. Study informs the mind, but practical meditation is the whetting, sharpening of a known truth upon the soul. Study is like a winter’s sun that shines but warms not. But meditation is like blowing up the fire, where we do not mind the blaze but the heat. In study we are like wine merchants taking wine to store for sale. In meditation we are like those who buy wine for their own use and comfort.

What is the reason men have such a barren, dry, sapless spirit in their prayers? It is for want of exercising themselves in holy thoughts.

And what should we meditate on?

Preeminently on the person and glory and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Meditate on the King. Set Christ before you. Give yourselves to looking to him.

This sermon is the second in a series called “The Pastor and His Study” that Iain Murray gave at the 1996 Desiring God Conference.