How Gods Words Lead To Our Prayers
Executive Editor, desiringGod.org
What in the world did people do after dark on lonely nights before we had television? And before we had our litany of pixelated devices that so often light our nights, and days, absorbing our priceless commodity of human attention?
To go way, way back, Genesis 24:63 gives us an interesting peek into what Abrahams promised son did, however often, after dinner: Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. See him there alone, pacing in the field, with nothing in his hands, and his eyes wide open to Gods three-dimensional world with a screen far more powerful and enriching than our modern pixels: his imagination.
Meditation is a lost art today. And one way to reintroduce it to the church is to consider how it relates to something many of us know much better: prayer.
Daily Meditate On Gods Word
11. What should be the primary focus of our meditation, and why?
11 Of course, the primary focus of our meditation should be Gods inspired Word. Suppose you are in a circumstance where you are deprived of a Bible. * You will never be deprived of the ability to meditate on what you have stored in your memory, such as your favorite scriptures and the words of Kingdom songs. And Gods spirit can help bring back to your mind the good things you have learned.John 14:26.
12. What routine of Bible reading can be beneficial?
12 Some days of the week can be set aside to read and meditate on the weekly Bible reading for the Theocratic Ministry School. Other days can be set aside for meditating on what Jesus said and did. You will surely agree that among the better-known books of the Bible are the Gospel accounts of Jesus life and ministry. Gods people have even been provided with a publication that puts Jesus experiences and time on earth in chronological order. It is a wonderful aid, especially if we carefully read and meditate on the parallel Gospel passages cited in each chapter.John 14:6.
What Is Biblical Meditation
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
What is meditation?
The concept has been corrupted in modern thought. In the minds of many Christians, meditation is associated with eastern religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism belief systems that dont acknowledge God as Father or Jesus as Savior and Lord. This association leads many to believe that meditation in any form opens the mind to evil spirits or untrue teaching.
But that robs us of an important way of interacting with Scripture.
When I began staying home with my kids, I was overwhelmed. While I suspected such an endeavor would be hard, I wasnt prepared for the ways it challenged me. My daily time in the Bible kept me rooted in Christ my weekly Bible study kept me digging into Scripture but the thing that reassured me that I was in Jesus hands was meditation on his holy Word.
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S To Meditating On Your Bible
Not long ago, I asked my pastor about the difference between meditation and prayer, as the two can be hard to distinguish. He replied, In Scripture, God speaks to us. In prayer, we speak to him. What he says to us prompts what we say to him.
To meditate, then, is to think deeply about what God has said to us in Scripture and to prepare our minds and hearts for prayer. Scripture fuels meditation, and meditation fuels prayer.
But what exactly does meditation look like? The Psalms give at least five steps for meditating on Gods Word. We meditate to focus, understand, remember, worship, and apply.
Developing The Discipline: Step 3
It also helps to apply your imagination and senses to the truth of the text. Envision yourself personally engaged in the relationship or encounter or experience of which the text speaks. Hear the words as they are spoken. Feel the touch of Jesus on a diseased body. Taste and smell the fish and bread as they are served to the multitudes. See the truths that God has revealed by mentally recreating the scene with yourself present. There is nothing magical or mysterious in this. The purpose of the imagination is not, as some have argued, to create our own reality. Our imagination is a function of our minds whereby we experience more intimately and powerfully the reality God has created. As you are doing so, reflect on the truth of the Word brood over the truth of the text absorb it, soak in it, as you turn it over and over in your mind.
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A Secular Definition Of Meditation
When you look in the dictionary and see what the word meditate means, you can get dozens of differing definitions. I will try to give a general definition based upon what most people think meditation is and then what God means by His command to have us meditate on the Word of God. Most dictionaries define meditation as: Intentional contemplation on the authors work with the express purpose of reflecting upon it, contemplative thinking, the revolving of a subject in the mind or a self-directed practice of calming the mind and body.
Other definitions are a clearing of the mind, an emptying of thoughts, having a mind that is open. The thing that I dont like about this kind of meditation is that a clear, open mind is one that is subject to spiritual attack or evil influence from demons or wicked spirits. The problem with an open mind is that it often needs to be closed down for repairs! What is called Transcendental Meditation for example is a technique that is derived from Hindu traditions that promote deep relaxation through the use of a mantra. However a mantras different for differing belief systems like Buddhism, Hinduism, and New Age ideas and so its definition depends upon the groups beliefs and is dependent upon the context of it. Some of this is practiced even in the work place, at Yoga classes, and in many Eastern religions. This is not what the Bible means by meditating on the Word of God.
What Does It Mean To Meditate
The first question we must consider concerns the meaning of meditation and what meditation involves. This is particularly important to the Christian because of the great and growing emphasis on meditation in eastern religions. Transcendental meditation, as it is often called, is not biblical meditation. It is dangerous and actually opens up ones mind for Satanic attack as it is found in New Age thinking. My purpose here is to deal only with the meaning and blessing of biblical meditation and to point out that eastern forms of meditation and biblical meditation are miles apart.
The Actions of Meditation
Meditation means the act of focusing ones thoughts: to ponder, think on, muse. Meditation consists of reflective thinking or contemplation, usually on a specific subject to discern its meaning or significance or a plan of action.
Some synonyms would be contemplation, reflection, rumination, deep thinking, or remembering in the sense of keeping or calling something to mind for the purpose of consideration, reflection, or meditation. Compare for instance the following verses of Scripture:
Psalm 63:6 When I remember Thee on my bed, I meditate on Thee in the night watches,
Psalm 77:11 I shall remember the deeds of the LORD Surely I will remember Thy wonders of old.
Psalm 78:42 They did not remember His power, The day when He redeemed them from the adversary,
Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of old I meditate on all Thy doings I muse on the work of Thy hands.
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What If Meditation And Prayer Are Drudgery
Finally, we must ask about this delight. The deepest mark of this happy person in Psalm 1 is that he delights in the Word of God . Bible reading and Bible memory and meditation are not a burden to him, but a pleasure. This is what we want. What a sadness when Bible reading is just a drudgery. Something is wrong.
What shall we do? Well, we will say more next week, but let’s close considering this. We struggle with Bible reading and memory and meditation because we don’t find pleasure in it. We have other things we want to get to more. TV or breakfast or work or newspaper or computer. Our hearts incline to other things and do not incline to the Word. And so it is not a delight.
Did the psalmists ever struggle with this? Yes they did. Take heart. We all do. How shall this be changed? This is Prayer Week, and so the answer we will stress is that it is changed throughprayer. This is what I will focus on next week. We must pray for God’s enabling to help us delight in his Word. This will be clear from the way the psalmists pray. I hope you will come back and hear the help that the psalmists give us not only to pray without ceasing, but to do it with delight.
Types Of Christian Meditation In The Bible
Dr. Maria D. Reyes
Christian meditation is an ancient practice with great relevance for todays problems. It involves a deep, slow, thoughtful reading of Gods Word. You can meditate for only a few minutes per day and receive extraordinary benefits for your mental, spiritual, emotional and spiritual health.
Joshua 1:8 NLT teaches us the why of Christian meditation: Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
God wants you to meditate on his Word so you will learn how to obey him. As you obey him, he will bless you with success because you will be following his will for your life.
Psalm 119 contains several examples of meditation, as shown in these verses:
Even princes sit and speak against me, but I will meditate on your decrees. Psalm 119:23 NLT
Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. Psalm 119:27 NLT
I meditate on your age-old regulations O Lord, they comfort me. Psalm 119:52 NLT
Psalm 119 teaches you to meditate on Gods decrees, deeds, and regulations. Doing so will give you peace and comfort. Two other psalms give more reasons for meditation:
O God, you meditate on your unfailing love as you worship in your Temple. Psalm 48:9 NLT
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. Psalm 145:5 NLT
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Examples Of Christian Meditation Techniques And Mantras:
There have been many forms of Christian meditation methods used throughout the years.
Two famous types that were principally used in the Middle Ages are Hesychasm and Lectio Divina .
Lectio Divina has been promoted twice in reason times, once in 1965 in the principal document of the Second Vatican Council, titled Dei verbum, and then again on the 40th anniversary of Dei Verbum by Pope Benedict XVI.
However, in truth, there are many different bible meditation methods. Try the methods below to get started.
1: Meditative prayer:
Meditative prayer is a type of contemplation that was advocated by St. Teresa of Ávila .
When we do a meditative prayer, we repeat the words of the prayer like how we repeat a mantra . Below you can try some Christian mantras from the Bible.
Follow these instructions:
3: On Gods love
Instructions
Problems Hazards And Hindrances To Meditation
Writing to the Corinthian church the apostle wrote,
2 Corinthians 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
Speculations is the Greek logismos, calculation, reasoning, reflection, thought and in this context it refers to wrong thinking or reasoning and is connected to those thinking processes and attitudes that usurp Gods viewpoint and stand against the knowledge of God and what that should do to and in our lives.
We see that Paul and his co-workers were committed to destroying and dealing with any such thinking in their lives because it was so destructive to their ability to wage war against the enemy and carry out Gods purpose as soldiers of the cross. The suggestion is that this is a daily battle, an ongoing process without which we are unable to obey and serve the Lord. He uses a military term, taking captive plus the present tense which point to this as a continual struggle and warfare.
The battle concerns our minds in both the content of our minds and in the way we think with our minds, the human devices of our minds which are so often influenced by Satan. Thoughts is the plural of noema, mind, thought, purpose, device, design. It is used of the schemes or devices of Satan in 2 Corinthians 2:11 and of the effects of his work on the minds of men .
Psalm 119:125 I am Thy servant give me understanding, That I may know Thy testimonies.
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Christian Meditation Is Different
Christian meditation must be distinguished from the sort that we find in eastern religions or new age fads. Here are seven differences between Christian and eastern meditations:
What Does Meditation Mean In The Bible How Can I Practice Biblical Meditation
Meditation is a key component to a Christians growth. While meditation isnt described in Scripture as many think of meditation today, which is greatly influenced by Eastern meditation methods, meditation in the Bible is associated with growth and prosperity.
- Crosswalk.com Contributor
- 201924 Jun
Meditation is a key component to a Christians growth. While meditation isnt described in Scripture as many think of meditation today, which is greatly influenced by Eastern meditation methods, meditation in the Bible is associated with growth and prosperity.
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To Be Obedient To God
David says that when we meditate on Gods law, we will keep His ways.
Psalm 119:15,17 I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways Deal generously with your servant so that I might live then I will keep your word.
What we learn from this, is that it takes not only meditating on Gods word to follow His word. It takes the Lord dealing generously with us. It is by the grace of God that we are able to follow His word. However, He desires our obedience to His law, so He will enable us to be obedient.
Reciting His law in our hearts teaches our minds how to behave and act. It renews us from dwelling on what we believe and takes us to a holy way of thinking.
How Do You Find The Time
17. How do you find the time to meditate?
17 Some get up early in the morning to read, meditate, and pray. Others do so during their lunch break. You might find that this can be done early in the evening or before you go to bed. Some enjoy reading the Bible in the morning and again before retiring. Thus they read it . . . day and night, or regularly. The important thing is to buy out time from less important things for daily meditation on Gods Word.Eph. 5:15, 16.
18. What does the Bible say about all who daily meditate on Gods Word and strive to apply what they learn?
18 Gods Word repeatedly promises blessings to all who meditate on it and who strive to apply what they learn. Happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it, said Jesus. Most important, meditating on spiritual things each day will help us to bring honor to the Grand Creator of our marvelous brain, and he will reward us with happiness now and everlasting life in his righteous new world.Jas. 1:25 Rev. 1:3.
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