How To Meditate As A Christian And Why You Should

Often Christians will avoid the word meditation because of the connection with Eastern thought. In things such as yoga people are taught how to empty one's mind. Biblical meditation has been around a very long time but the difference is we are encouraged to fill our mind with Scripture. So Christian meditation is when we allow the Scriptures to take preeminence over other thoughts as we open ourselves to the teaching of Holy Spirit.

The psalmist of Psalm 119 meditated on the Scriptures and prayed throughout the Psalm "open my eyes, "teach me", "help me understand".  James tells us that we must approach the Scriptures with an openness, believing the Scriptures are "anything is possible" Scriptures, written by "anything is possible" Spirit. When we open ourselves to Scripture by meditating on it we enable the Spirit to teach us by revelation in relationship (always in intimate relationship), orientating us to the Kingdom instead of this world.

Meditation changes us. It is not Bible Study. It is sitting at the feet of the Spirit and receiving what he is teaching and being changed by it.

How do we meditate? Allow me to share with you what I have found to be best practice, understanding there needs to be a shift away from a Bible Study approach toward a learning on the knee of our Father:

1. Set aside a week or so to meditate on one passage.

2. A passage should be one complete thought, perhaps smaller thoughts that add up to one overall theme (I will give you some suggestions at the end). Avoid a single verse.

3. Meditation does not have to be memorization but you may find that memorizing helps you to focus. However, you can simply meditate on the though or the theme that comes from the passage.

4. On day 1 read through the complete passage several times during the day. Perhaps twice in the morning, once in the afternoon and twice in the evening.

5. Have a note pad to jot down any thoughts or ideas you hear as you are reading.

6. On day 2, and every day thereafter, choose which verses you are going to review throughout the day. Always keep a note pad handy or keep notes on your phone. At the end of every day you should review your notes.

7. Use spare moments of your day to turn over the verses, asking Spirit questions and listening for answers. Such times may be while you are driving, taking the bus, going for a walk, taking a bath, preparing supper. It is anytime when you are alone and not engaged with people around you. If need be create such moments throughout your day.

8. Do not search commentaries or people's opinions online. Ask your questions to Spirit and look up any other Scriptures he may direct you to look up. You are his student and he will teach you.

9. Something you may find helpful is to partner with a friend to meditate on the same Scripture together. You can meet for coffee or go for a walk together to compare notes.

The biggest benefit from such meditation, besides learning to hear the voice behind the Scriptures, is the growing awareness you will gain of the Lord's constant abiding presence. You will become more and more aware of his voice and you will learn to obey. You will also quickly discover that the Bible is the Living Word of Yahweh, applying itself to every circumstance of your life today.

Here are a view suggestions to begin with:

Psalm. 1

Psalm. 8

Psalm. 103:1-12

1 Thess. 5:5-24

Hebrews. 4:9-16

1 Cor. 13

Psalm. 119:1-16

Proverbs.3:1-12

Psalm. 27

John. 3:1-16

Philippians. 2:1-16

Feel free to contact me for further suggestions if you finish with these. If you are looking to partner with anyone for this purpose of meditation I meet with a group three times a week in an online meeting. Contact me and I will send you an invitation to join with us. 

How Do You Hear The Spirit Speaking?

Too many of us Christians don't know what we are talking about. We live by word of mouth, not bothering to go to the source directly. We may read the Scriptures and perhaps attend Bible study where we enjoy great discussion but how much time do we spend in meditating on the Word; allowing it to sink in deep, to shape our perspective, thinking and actions? In such a crowded society, with so much to "do", I don't we do it at all.

To love Jesus is to love his Word and to love his Word is to desire to be shaped by it. I like the progression of Psalm 19:

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;"

It is so profound that it changes our soul.

"The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;"

It impacts our thinking,making us wise.

"The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;"

It frees us from from the ugliness of self, bringing joy to out heart.

"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;"

It clears away the fog of the sin of this world and allows us to see.

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;"

In a world in constant flux, it never changes.

"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

In a world that continues to redefine right and wrong, good and bad, the Word of God remains the correct revelation of Yahweh's holiness.

How can we say that we love Jesus and then ignore our only source of revelation? The Word of God is a book unlike any other and is understood through the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. In other Words, when Jesus possesses you, he teaches you as you meditate on his Word. So as the psalmist indicates, it should be precious to us:

More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)

Let's not forget accountability. The Spirit uses the Word to guide us, speak to us and correct us. If we are not hiding the Word in our heart, what does the Spirit have with which to speak to us?

Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. (v. 11)

If you seriously want to follow and serve Jesus then learn to be in love with his Word. If you want to hear clearly from the Spirit, meditate on it, memorize it, allow it to be hidden in your heart so you can hear him speaking to you.

Why The Promise "Ask and Receive" Is Not Working For Us

It is amazing what the Spirit teaches us when we meditate on God's Word instead of just reading it. Most of us just read and, although we gain a lot of knowledge in our reading, mere facts, we miss the spiritual knowledge. Most of us do not take the time to plumb the depths of verses or passages. If we do anything at all we just read.

Meditating is not a difficult thing. You don't need to enroll in Bible College or have a ton of commentaries hanging around the house. You simply approach the verse or passage in prayer and take it apart. You can write what is on your heart in your own words concerning the verse. Write it out several times, giving the emphasis to a different key word each time. Read it out loud. Read various translations. Do a word search on the main topic words. Ask the Spirit to explain it to you. Make lots of notes.

A verse I was meditating on yesterday is found in John 15:

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (v. 7)

The first thing to note is that there is a promise here. The promise is that we can ask for what we wish and it will be given to us. That is a fantastic promise and one that many Christians lean on but few see fulfilled. But this is a promise. Does that make Jesus a liar? Well, I know he is not a liar so what else does this verse say that we may have missed and caused us to misunderstand the promise? Are there any conditions to it? Reading the entire verse I can see there are two conditions related to each other.

If you abide in me.

Abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with, but it is also an attitude or relationship. It strikes me that to rest in Jesus, to live in him requires that we are loyal to him, obedient. steadfast. It means not being distracted by shiny things, not allowing anything to disturb us like fear or worry. It is a position of trust and dependency. It means not giving ourselves to anyone or anything else. We belong exclusively to Jesus if we are living in him, or abiding. It means no longer living for ourselves because we have become one with him. We want what he wants, our will is submitted to his.

It conveys a oneness with Jesus. If I let my spirit express itself concerning this relationship I hear and feel such words as, dying to my flesh, pleasures, passions, lusts, appetites. My heart felt cry is "I need a new heart." "Transform me Lord!" "Change me!" Then I read:

And my words abide in you.

Again, abide means to remain, to dwell, to continue with. So his Word takes up residence in us, becoming part of us, taking over, shaping, molding, transforming. We begin to live by this Word. It only makes sense as Jesus rebuked the devil with a common Scripture:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Luke 4:4)

Jesus had also just taught his disciples:

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)

We are to be controlled and directed by the Word, governed and set right by it. It is not something we carry around with us in a book. It is not a set of laws. It is a living thing within us that brings life. Yahweh promised to write it on our hearts and we are to bury it there like a seed. The Holy Spirit uses it to encourage, comfort, correct and empower us.

My spirit fills we with words that again describe this oneness with Jesus: owned, possessed, governed, controlled, desiring, seeking, longing, hoping, pursuing, surrendering, casting out, giving, dying. The realization that the direction I am moving in is wrong. I pray, "Your ways O Lord. Your paths. Your truth. I run to you!"

The promise that we would receive what we ask for is obviously based on an incredibly intimate relationship, one of dependence and submission. In such a relationship we would never find ourselves as James described those who lacked from not asking, asking with wrong motivations and asking with doubt. Such a loyal and intimate relationship with Jesus would never allow us to be found in such condition.

From our own selfish perspective we consider this promise of asking and receiving to be about us, for our own gain. However, these two conditions describe such a selfless and intimate relationship with Jesus that asking anything outside of his will seems impossible. Some would say that Father loves to pour blessings out on his children but that comes from a selfish perspective. We have to stop and consider Father's perspective, motivation and the purpose of Jesus.

Jesus did not come showering gifts upon everyone. He came with some really great news and a demonstration of Yahweh's power. He was bent on one purpose, to save the lost. He trained disciples to carry on this mission while he returned to the Father to send us the Spirit. After he opened the doors of forgiveness and eternity via the cross and empty tomb, he gave us the commission to continue on with the great mission of making disciples. For two thousand years men and women who have taken this mission seriously have sacrificed everything for it, including their lives. Yet here we are, two thousand years in, thinking that this promise of ask and receive has to do with mansions and cars. Are we kidding?

The conditions of this promise is an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, where we have his commands, his words and are walking in obedience to them. Whatever we need, wish, ask for will be given to us, but keep it in the context of these conditions. If we have such an intimate relationship with Jesus then his priorities will be ours, as will his will and his will is the Father's and the Father's will is that everyone would be saved. Ask whatever you need or wish to fulfill the will of Father and it is yours. It has never been about us, it is about the lost and Jesus' mission to save them. Is this what we are living for?

That is where meditating on the Word gets you, a whole lot deeper than just reading.

Hey Dry Bones, What Is The Lack In Your Life?

I think more of us are in love with the idea of loving Jesus then with actually loving him. Love is an easy thing to say. It comes with no commitment because to us it only expresses a vague notion of some idea that we have not quite grasped. We like the thought of it but have never measured the cost of it. To say we love Jesus just means that we recognize some value there but we don't really want to think about it much; we have other things to do.

When I fell in love with my wife I wanted to know everything about her (I still do). I grilled her with a thousand questions about her past, her experiences, her likes and dislikes, her hopes, dreams, aspirations. I wanted to hear her opinion on everything. I wanted to know everything because I loved what made her her. Yet, this is a weak and faulty love coming from a weak and faulty heart. How much more should I be consumed with the One who gave up everything to give me his everything?

The truth is, most of us just pay lip service to our love for Jesus. How do I know? Our actions and our priorities reveal our heart. How much time did you spend in prayer yesterday? No excuses, just an honest answer. Write it down on something so you can see the reality of the figure. Now, how much time did you spend, hearing, reading, studying and meditating on the Scripture yesterday? No excuses; write it down. A number of years ago a survey was taken from Christians attending a conference on prayer. Keep in mind that most of the attendees were pastors and their wives. This survey revealed that these Christians, attending a seminar on prayer, spent less than an average of five minutes a day in prayer.

Everything we know and experience comes from Scripture and prayer. Everything about us as Christians come from the Word and prayer. A lack of time in Scripture and prayer reveals a lack of love for Jesus because if we were actually in love we would be consumed with being with him and knowing him. It means that most of us Christians are nothing but dry bones because we aren't even giving the Spirit the tools to work in and through us. Yahweh spoke to his people and told them why they were in trouble:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

Let the Spirit convict where he must today. This is in direct contrast to what was said as the people were coming into the Promised Land, before they possessed it:

Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do what is written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8)

Are we brave enough to admit the lack in our life? "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." We aren't anywhere near what we should be because we lack two very basic Christian disciplines: Bible hearing, reading, studying, meditating, and prayer. How can we love Yahweh with our entire mind, soul and body when we choose a life of lack? Yet, we are told that prosperity and success belong to those who meditate on and live the Word.

Our prayer should mirror that of the psalmist who prayed:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

It is a simple decision to allow Jesus' love for you to decide your actions and priorities. "Because you love me so much Jesus I want to know all about you; what pleases you and how I can honour you." It is when we make the decision to make the time for the Bible and to make the time for prayer that we grow in the relationship. I said "make" on purpose. It is something we have to carve out of each day. As we know the Word we will begin to live it. In this we will find the blessing of Jesus' prosperity and successful for our lives and we will go from dry bones to being trees planted by streams of living waters, whose leafs never wither. Is this not our great desire?