PRACTICE MEDITATION

Monday 30 September

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. Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

(ESV)

When we hear the word ‘meditate’ it brings up different ideas based upon our previous observations. For some it may bring images of New Age practices or some kind of eastern religion such as Buddism.

People sitting cross legged on the floor breathing deeply and chanting OMM. They are usually holding their fingers in a particular manner and attempting to empty their minds. All in an attempt to achieve a state of nothingness.

God also wants us to meditate, but instead of emptying our minds He wants us to fill our minds with His word. Instead of achieving a state of nothingness, His desire is for us to become conscious of the ‘everythingness’ of salvation in Christ.

So how do we do it God’s way? The scriptures as always hold the key. The word meditate in the Hebrew is ‘hagah’. The first step is to ponder. This is deep contemplation using your imagination to paint the picture of what you studied.

The next step is to mutter. You talk the word to yourself under your breath as it were and begin to utter the words that are on your mind. You may be praying in tongues in between the words you are saying in your understanding.

Lastly, you begin to shout or roar as the revelation of the word drops into your spirit. Isaiah 31:4 describes it as a young lion ‘roaring’ (haga). Just like the lion is focused on its prey, this is the attitude we need to adopt when approaching the word. We aggressively chase after and apprehend it.

‘Meletao’ the word for meditate in Greek gives us even more insight. It means to study, practice, diligently attend to and exercise yourself in. Have you noticed that at least half of meditation is verbal? It is because of what Jesus said; ‘out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks’ (Luke 6:45).

Gods word is the spiritual material we have been given to build our lives strong. Meditate on His word everyday and see your life go from glory to glory. I dare you!

APPLICATION

Take time out daily to withdraw from every distraction so you can meditate and focus your attention on God’s word.