Spiritual Disciplines 2: Meditation

This series began with an introduction and study of why it's important to study the spiritual disciplines, which I recommend reading before you continue this post. It is crucial that you understand why you should even desire to learn about these before you commit to life changing patterns. If your heart is simply to read a blog post about God and not truly get to know Him better, this series is not for you. If you would like, you can read my introductory post by clicking HERE. Let's start with the Discipline of Meditation.

In his book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney recognizes meditation as a sub-category of "Bible Intake." He lists it among Bible Reading, Hearing God's Word, Studying the Bible, Memorizing Scripture, and Application. Think of meditation in this context.

What is Meditation?

What is the difference between Christian meditation and other religions' meditation? I discussed this in the context of Psalm 1 about a year ago (read HERE). In the Bible, meditation means focusing your mind on God, His Word, and things true and pure as commanded in Philippians 4:8. New Spirituality (aka New Age) has stolen the word out of the Biblical context, thus giving it a bad reputation among modern Christians. However, in a Biblical sense, "meditation" is very different from the meditation promoted by New Spiritualists. Whereas New Spiritualists encourage emptying the mind, Christians are aiming to fill it with God's truths. When New Spiritualists try to achieve mental passivity, Christians are using constructive mental activity (Whitney). Also, New Spiritualists attempt to visualize their own reality, but Christians focus on things that are real and true. In Foster's Celebration of Discipline, he says the clearest difference between Eastern forms of meditation and Christian meditation is the focus on obedience and faithfulness present in Biblical meditation. From here on, meditation will mean Biblically-based meditation.

Whitney defines meditation as "deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer." Foster says it is "the ability to hear God's voice and obey his word." Though at first glance these seem different, they're really saying the same thing. Hearing God's word is thinking on it, and obeying is the same as applying it. Together, these definitions give a good picture of meditation. It could be rephrased: "Meditation is hearing God's voice through thinking on the truths in Scripture and understanding them, obeying their implications, and praying about them."

A wonderful analogy my small group leader shared is also found in Whitney's book. Think of a cup of hot water. When you drop in a tea bag and immediately remove it, the water will have some flavor, but not much. This is like simply reading the Bible. However, if you leave the tea bag in the water, the flavor grows stronger—like meditation. Meditation is not the same as reading or studying the Bible. Meditation is concentrating on a specific portion of Scripture, listening for what the Holy Spirit reveals, void of outside sources. The longer you focus on a certain part of God's Word, the better your understanding will be, and the more it will affect your life.

Note: There are different forms of Christian meditation, such as examining nature, but this post concentrates on meditating on God's Word.

Why Meditate?

For starters, meditation is a command. In the NIV, Joshua 1:8 reads: "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." This verse shows us that not only is meditation commanded, but there is a purpose and a promise connected with it. The purpose of meditation is to obey God's statutes, and the promise is for success. Please note, this "success" is success in God's eyes, not necessarily our own. Another promise related to when we meditate is found in Psalm 1. "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." The Psalm goes on to compare this man who loves God's word to a healthy, fruitful tree that prospers. Isaiah 26:3 promises: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Do you want your soul to be prosperous, successful, blessed, and peaceful? Meditate.

However, the true heart that meditates should be focused solely on knowing God better and seeking to honor Him. Foster says that when we make a practice of meditating on God, we enter into a very intimate place with Him, where anything that is not of Him becomes distasteful to us.

Everything that is foreign to [H]is way we will have to let go. No, not "have to" but "want to," for our desires and aspirations will be more and more conformed to [H]is way. Increasingly, everything within us will swing like a needle to the polestar of the Spirit.

We cannot help but change when experiencing the presence of God. The "Divine Fire will consume everything that is impure." The more we meditate, the closer we become to God. "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you . . . " (James 4:8). This should be the desire of the heart that makes meditation a habit.

Therefore, why meditate? To grow into a deep closeness with God, change our lives to be more in line with His heart, spiritually prosper, and be blessed.

Examples

• Genesis 24:63 "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening."
• Likely either David or Ezra wrote Psalm 119:15-16, 97-99, 148. "I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word . . . . Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation . . . . My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise."
• David in Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
• While the Bible doesn't specifically say, "Then Jesus went and meditated," we know that He did, because He frequently left the crowds to go pray. We know that He knew the Scriptures well, because he quoted them often. Luke 2:52 says that Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God. As we've seen this is the result of meditation.

How Do I Meditate?

As Foster says, "We learn to meditate by meditating." However, here are a few basic steps to get started.

1. Find a location. This should be a fairly quiet place, and there should be minimal distractions. (no phones!) Also, it's good to use the same place each time so you don't waste time looking for a place.
2. Devote a sizeable amount of time. Don't rush your meditation—it takes time to calm your mind from all the stresses of everyday life and reach the place where you can truly concentrate on Scripture. The longer the better.
3. Find a passage to meditate on. This can be done in any number of ways. You could look up verses that apply to a certain situation you are going through, or you could choose a word, phrase, verse, or chapter that stands out to you during your Bible reading. Another option is to read a passage, discern its main point, and meditate on the meaning and application.
4. Read your passage. Often, it is beneficial to do more than a cursory "reading" of your section of choice. You might read it over multiple times, rewrite it in your own words, repeat aloud a verse or phrase, emphasizing a different word each time, or pray through the passage and ask the Holy Spirit to grant you understanding. You could do all of these or just choose one or two.
5. Find a way to apply what you've learned. Application is a discipline in itself, but since meditation is for the purpose of change, as you meditate, look for a way to apply it to your life—then do it.

In Conclusion . . .

Meditation is a key discipline. Every discipline is important, but meditation is one of the biggest for bringing you closer to the heart of God. As I quoted earlier, "We learn to meditate by meditating." Don't put this off. Start meditating today, and make it a habit. Don't give up when it gets hard. The fruit of your relationship with God and actions of your heart will be well worth it.

Looking Into James: James 1:22-25

A few mornings ago as I read my Bible, a passage in James stood out to me. James 1:22-25 reads:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

I read this, then went back and read it a few times over, trying to understand the mirror analogy. Through personal reflection and discussion with my family, I noted two major takeaways from the passage. The first point I noticed lies in not forgetting. So often, even in my own experience, I go to church, youth group, a Christian camp, hear a message, and forget about it within an hour. If you asked me the following day what the sermon covered, it would take me a few minutes to remember, and after several days, I might not have any idea. In these cases, I am being "a hearer of the word and not a doer." What good is it to sit in church and listen to a teaching if you then neglect to apply it to your life and grow from what you heard? Sometimes, it's a challenge to pull a practical aspect out of a lesson, but I've found that the times I do this, the more I get out of it. When I take the effort to find a practical application and truly work to practice this in my own life, that's when I make progress in my spiritual walk. Growing closer to the Lord takes work, and that includes finding and applying spiritual lessons. For me, this may be hearing a teaching regarding self discipline, then asking myself what areas of self discipline I'm not good at, how to be better, and then doing so.

My second note regarding this passage concerns self-examination and relates to the point I made above. My best understanding of the mirror analogy is this: When we study ourselves, and find areas that we need to improve upon (as we always will), we are foolish if we do not then go and work to fix those areas. Like I mentioned earlier, it does no good to hear a message or notice ways we should be better in our spiritual lives and not work to become better. The entire point is to notice things to improve in ourselves, and then find ways to do so. Otherwise, we are being lazy, and honestly very foolish. We're concentrating on our short-term, earthly lives, not on honoring the One who gave His own life for us. We're being focused on the temporary, not eternity-minded. Remember, even if we neglect to grow spiritually and examine ourselves, God knows. If you lack insight, ask Him and read your Bible. Hebrews 4:12-13 points out:

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

So next time you are at church, youth group, or God reveals something to you, ask yourself how you can grow through it, and apply it to your life. God will honor your efforts and help you grow stronger in Him. "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).