Do you long to deepen your intimacy with God? Meditation is a powerful way to engage your souls with focused intentionality that produces spiritual maturity and growth. Throughout history, godly leaders have commended the transforming effects of meditation. Thomas Brooks, once said, “Remember that it is not hasty reading but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most but he that meditates most that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.”
What Is Biblical Meditation?
Biblical meditation is the habit of treasuring up God’s words and pondering them in our hearts. It is the activity of calling to mind and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God… It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.
The focus of meditation is on God, His glory and majesty, His ways and works in the world. Its intended effect is to shape one’s inner life and outward behaviour. In other words, meditation is a devotional practice that we engage in with God’s help to know Him better, love Him more, experience closer communion with Him, and live for His glory.
What Does the Bible Say about Meditation?
Let’s briefly look at a few Bible verses about meditation and its importance in the believer’s life. When God commissioned Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promised land, He said, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Josh. 1:8).
For Joshua to be successful in what God had called him to do, he needed to immerse himself in God’s Word and faithfully put it into practice, thereby growing in the knowledge of God and experiencing divine enablement. This ancient truth is as applicable today as it was then.
The theme of meditation recurs in Psalm 1 declaring the blessedness of the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked… but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (1:1–3)
This is a picture of one who is devoted to God and delights in saturating oneself in God’s Word and applying it in daily life. The result is a life of fruitfulness in which this person prospers in whatever God appoints for him or her to do.
How Do We Learn to Meditate?
Although the Bible does not give any specific instructions or models to guide us, the Hebrew words for meditation, give us enough to find our way into the practice.
Hagah, meaning to speak, mutter, muse, imagine or plot (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, Psalm 63:6, Psalm 77:12)
Siyach, meaning to muse, to study, to ponder, to sing, to speak (Psalm 143:5, Psalm 77:6, Psalm 119:15, 27, 48, 78, 148, Psalm 145:5)
Amar, meaning to speak, to command, to tell (Psalm 4:4)
Notice that these meanings involve thinking about, studying, speaking, and even commanding.
Steps to Biblical Meditation
Find a Quiet Place – Find a place where you won’t be distracted or interrupted while you meditate. Leave devices in another room.
Start with Prayer – Ask God to help you focus on His Word. Ask Him to help you understand what you’re reading and how you can apply it to your life.
Pick a Short Passage from the Bible – Start with a short section of 3-5 verses.
Read the Passage – Read the passage from the Bible several times. Try reading it slowly, then out loud. Emphasize different words each time and observe how that impacts your understanding of the passage.
Meditate: Meditation is like chewing. It is slow and thorough. Write notes about what you see in this passage. Make connections between the various sections. Ask yourself, “What do these words from God say?” “What do they mean?” Place who you are and what you do next to this passage and ask God to examine you. Continue to write your findings.
Pray: Pray using the passage as an outline for your prayer. Read the passage phrase-by-phrase, responding to God after each phrase or verse.
Contemplation: Wait in stillness once more. Ask that God bring to your mind any areas of your life that you need to shape more closely to His design as revealed in this passage. Contemplate God’s love and power as it is revealed here.
Live It Out: What precisely ought you to be believing, thinking, and doing as a result of this passage? Make notes about how you hope to bring these words from Jesus into your current practice.
Amazing Benefits of Biblical Meditation
- It makes you successful
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8
Before we begin forming in our mind a picture of ourselves with a great job, nice bank account, and a yacht, let’s remember that success for Christians isn’t the same as success for those in the world. We are most successful when we are accomplishing the purpose God created us for!
And when we meditate on God’s Word, we are able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more clearly, telling us where He wants us to go and do what He wants us to do.
- It makes you fruitful as Christians
Psalms 1 is all about how meditating on God’s Word makes us fruitful. As we meditate on Scripture, the seed of the Word is planted deep in our hearts, the soil is watered and fertilized, and the seed has a healthy environment to grow and bear abundant fruit.
- It renews your mind
As we daily meditate on God’s Word, it begins to shape our thinking, our philosophies, and our world view to principles of Scripture. It begins to change our “want-to”, so that we lose the desire to do those things that offend God, and begin to want to do those things that please Him. Christian meditation changes us from the inside out!
- It gives you wisdom
Christian meditation fills our lives with the wisdom of God’s Word so that we can approach every life situation from a godly perspective.
- It deepens your relationship with God
This is an obvious benefit. As you daily make Christian meditation a discipline in your life, you will notice how your relationship with God will grow deeper.
The more time you spend allowing God’s Word to shape your thinking, decision process, and your attitudes, the more you become more and more like Him. And as a result, your relationship with Him will grow deeper and deeper.
