Have you ever caught yourself thinking about something that happened, mulling over what a friend said, or turning the story line of a book or movie over and over in your mind? Believe it or not, you were meditating on those things. Just as God created us to worship, He also created us to meditate.
“It is a distinctively human trait to stop and consider, to chew on something with the teeth of our minds and hearts, to roll some reality around in our thoughts and press it deeply into our feelings, to look from different angles and seek to get a better sense of its significance.”
David Mathis, Habits of Grace
As the Bible Study Academy ladies have been sitting in Psalm 119 during the month of May, the topic of meditation has come up in the reading over and over again. The author of the longest chapter in the Bible understood the importance of meditation and the joy and fulfillment it brought to his life even during times of anxiety, affliction, and sorrow. And the discipline of meditation caused him to fall deeper in love with the Creator.
What Is Biblical Meditation?
God created us to meditate, so of course, the enemy presents us with counterfeit meditation. While this world would have us believe meditation is about emptying our minds and finding answers within ourselves, biblical meditation teaches us to fill our minds with God’s Word and find answers in Him.
When the Bible speaks of meditation, it is describing a discipline we must practice. Yes, it is called a discipline because it is hard, and we have to practice it in order to work those muscles and get better at it. But the effort is worth it! And it isn’t hard because meditation itself is difficult. Rather, it is hard because it takes time, intention, and space, things we don’t like to invest.
With so many distractions at our disposal, it is much simpler to never give ourselves space to simply think. We don’t like to be alone with our thoughts, and this world has made it easy to avoid silence.
Meditation can be compared to savoring a meal. We are presented with the food, we observe it, smell it, chew it slowly, and enjoy the juices, spices, and flavors. The things of this world dull our spiritual taste buds, but the more we practice meditating on God’s Word, the more our tastebuds wake up and savor it—it becomes sweeter than honey, as the Psalmist says.
How Do We Practice It?
In my experience, I cannot meditate on a passage I have only read once. This is one of the reasons we, in the Bible Study Academy, spend an entire month in a book (or passage) of Scripture. We read it and reread it, allowing its words to sink into our minds and give us something to think on.
This doesn’t mean you must spend an entire month in a passage, but you need to take the time to read it more than once, maybe read it in different translations, listen to it in an audio Bible, or read it aloud. Give your brain time to ingest the Word so it has something to chew on. In his book, Habits of Grace, David Mathis says, “Christian meditation begins with our eyes in the Book, or ears open to the word, or a mind stocked with memorized Scripture” (59).
Of course, all of this requires time, so the first step is to schedule it. If you are working through a reading plan on a schedule, you may want to schedule separate time for meditating on God’s Word so you don’t feel rushed. You can choose a passage you read that morning, the passage for your pastor’s upcoming sermon, a portion of the Psalms, or any other passage between the front and back cover of your Bible.
Open your meditation time with prayer. Scripture tells us in Hebrews 4:12 that the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” It has the power to change us and shape us, but the Bible also says that the things of the Spirit of God are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14), which means we can’t understand them on our own; we need the help of the Holy Spirit.
Then simply think about what you read. You can journal as you mull it over, you can simply process it mentally, you can jot notes in your Bible. However you find it easiest to process your thoughts, do it. Take the time to wrestle through the hard things, those passages that don’t quite make sense or maybe don’t seem quite right.
Don’t rush it, but also don’t think that when your time is up, you have to be done. Take it with you during your day. Allow you mind to drift to it as you go about your daily tasks. Instead of creating noise in your home with your favorite television show or podcast, delight in the silence and use it to meditate.
As you end you allotted time, close in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring the passage to your mind throughout your day and week. Pray for opportunities to see the teaching in action. Ask that He would make you sensitive to how you can implement or witness the wonder of His Word lived out. You might be surprised how He answers!
A note of caution: the purpose of meditating on Scripture is not to prepare a lesson or find the perfect content for your social media account. This is a separate time from your Bible study time in which you might do word studies or consult outside research. The purpose is your personal growth. It will help you develop a thirst for God’s Word and allow you to fall deeper in love with Him, which in turn will make you want to meditate more. After all, a lover finds it easy to think about, meditate upon, the one he loves.
“He meditated on God’s Word because he loved it, and then loved it the more because he meditated on it.”
Charles Spurgeon
What Are the Results of Biblical Meditation?
While you may not always walk away with all of the right answers, meditating on Scripture will have long-term benefits for your spiritual growth.
Meditating on Scripture:
- Results in being able to recall it and speak it in situations when it is needed.
- Feeds your prayers, fasting, worship, and other spiritual disciplines.
- Clarifies God’s will for your life today and in the future.
- Helps you stand on truth when the world is spitting lies.
- Makes evident your saturation in Scripture to those around you.
“What we take in by the Word we digest by meditation and let out by prayer.”
Thomas Manson
If you would like to learn more about how to study the Bible, I invite you to download my FREE Bible study workbook, 6 Steps to Study the Bible on Your Own at the button below.
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