WHAT IS MEDITATION
Is it not interesting that these days meditation has become the “ish” thing. It’s the go to place for people to relax, overcome depression, gain self confidence and self awareness. Indeed atheist and religious people alike meditate. How does a christian learn how to meditate on the word of God in order to tap from the many benefits of meditation. What makes the Christian experience unique?. We will delve into all these and more.
Meditation is an age old practice and yet it seems to be gaining popularity in these times. According to wikipedia:
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God.[1] The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study, and to practice. Christian meditation is the process of deliberately focusing on specific thoughts (such as a bible passage) and reflecting on their meaning in the context of the love of God.[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_meditation.
The question now becomes, how do we meditate on the word of God the Christian way.
HOW TO MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF GOD (THE BIBLE)
Ultimately meditation is for man to access some form of self-help outside of himself. Self-help outside oneself sounds contradictory right? Here is what I mean to say, taking action personally by tapping into some power outside of yourself which in our case as believers tapping into the power of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians are battling with depression, mental confusion, and indecision in life. Not knowing which way to turn to. Many have fallen victim to wrong advice in an attempt to find out about God and the will of God for their lives. Others also have become pawns to so-called men of God. Men who seem to have the exclusive rights to hearing from God.
Let me burst your bubbles, everyone has the “exclusive right” to hear from God Almighty. Do not get me wrong there are genuine men of God and there are false men of God.
Back to the discussion, how do we really hear from God, the simple answer is “Read the bible”. Is that all there is to it? NO of course not, there are a few add-ons to the whole process. I remember having this conversation with my sister some time ago and her complaint was that it seems the moment she takes the bible to read, in no time she starts to doze off. There is a way to go about reading and studying the word of God that makes the whole process an enjoyable and interesting journey-read on.
BENEFITS WHEN YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD OF GOD
By the grace of God, I have been meditating on the word of God consistently since I was a boy and can personally attest to the many benefits of meditating on the word of God.
- peace of mind
- Power over depression
- Confidence
- Self-awareness
- Discovery of Purpose
- Business success
- Direction in career
- Power over sin and addictions
Now to the real deal. How do we go about reading and studying the word of God to access such divine benefits?
- Choose a time of the day you are most alert.
Many believers claim to want to hear from God and understand the bible yet they choose the time of their day they are least attentive. That doesn’t yield the best pay off. - Choose a very serene atmosphere:
Your environment should have no or minimum distractions. I personally have my meditations at dawn. Usually around 4 a.m. It’s a bit of a sacrifice but the payoffs are huge. I cannot begin to state the ease with which one immediately receives insight and revelation from the holy spirit in such quiet times of the day - Have a distraction-free Bible app:
Funny to have to put it this way. Avoid bible apps with ads. These can be a distraction and this is definitely not the time for some pop up on how to visit Israel or access the powers of Venus. lol 😁. Sounds personal right. Yeah it is, I just got a pop showing just that.
The simplest and best solution is just to use a hard copy bible. If not you literally have to put your phone on airplane mode to avoid calls, WhatsApp messages and other notifications. - Select a version you are comfortable with:
For starters the New Living Translation (NLT) is good. I personally prefer the king James version because it’s as close to the original text as possible. The downside however is that it’s got some archaic English. But once you go pass that, you get to read the texts almost as literally as the original writings.
The point is this start with a version you are comfortable with. - Ask the Holy Spirit of God to teach you.
The Bible contains the revealed word of God. It also serves as a historical book for some academc disciplines. And for others the geography of ancient lands particularly of Palestine.
Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the bible becomes many things to different people except the revealed word of God. Tha t is why you need the Holy Spirit’s guidance. - Choose a Bible study strategy.
You can choose to read the bible from Genesis to Revelations. Or choose a book and read it through. There is also the option to study a particular character in the bible. - Begin to read.
This doesn’t need much explanation, does it? This is the first step to meditation on the Word and your journey into a glorious relationship with God and his spirit.
Read according to your own pace so long as you understand what you are reading. The word of God is a living thing. I cannot emphasise this enough.
New Living Translation For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires: Hebrews4:12
As you read, your journey of meditation has begun. The goal is to seek to understand every thing you read by questioning what you read. That actually means you may cover just a few verses every day. Studying the bible in a groups of two or threes and discussing what you have read helps. - Watch out for the points where you do not understand something in the text.
THAT IS THE POINTER YOU ARE ABOUT TO GO DEEPER IN MEDITATION. From my experience, it is at these moments of questioning, pondering and lacking understanding that the spirit of God teaches you.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE TEXT
Again be aware the moment you do not understand a verse. Pause at that point, read and re-read the verse sentence or phrase you do not understand, and ask the holy spirit to help. At that point, understanding will begin to fill your mind. It’s almost like drawing out of a well.
Thoughts, divinely inspired thoughts will seep into your mind. As you ponder over the verses, you may find yourself wondering where such understanding came from. It is the Holy Spirit teaching you.
Even as you read, make it a point to pause, reflect and ponder over the verses. I noticed that it is through pondering and questioning that revelation is born.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE STUCK
It is also important to use dictionaries and bible commentaries to help you understand certain verses of the bible, especially for starters. It puts the text in proper perspective for you. There is no point getting stuck because you do not understand a scripture and it seems the spirit of God is not helping either. lol. Just move on and search through your bible app’s commentary( most bibles have them)
Do not get spooky in an attempt to hear from the Holy Spirit. Just read on if your feel stuck at a particular verse. Highlight it or note it down for later pondering and learning.
PRACTICE MEDITATION DAILY
I cannot emphasize this enough. Practice daily meditation on the bible. Do not bother your head over how meditation will produce the benefits we discussed. Yours is to follow and trust the process. It will produce the results it talks about. We will get into advanced and topical mediation where you change specific situations in your life through the power of meditation, prayer and declarations in a future article
CONCLUSION
If you have enjoyed this read or put it into practice send me an email and let us get talking.