MEDITATE

MEDITATE on these things; give yourself entirely to them; that your progress may evident to all – 1Timothy 4:15

As we MEDITATE on Scripture, God speaks to us; in prayer we speak to Him. What God says to us in His Word prompts what we say to Him. To meditate is to think deeply about what God has said and to prepare our minds and hearts for prayer. Meditation prepares us for prayers by helping us focus, understand, remember, worship, and apply. These are five Motivations for Meditation:

Meditate to Focus: I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways (Psa.119:15). Whatever time we read the Bible, whether at dawn, over lunch break, or before bed at night, our schedules and responsibilities tend to assail us with distractions, which are tools the enemy uses to take our eyes off Christ and to keep us from hearing God clearly in his Word. As wilful humans with many pursuits, trials, and people vying for our attention, meditation greatly helps us. It leads us to fix our eyes on the Lord and tune out distractions. Focusing on what we are reading in the Bible provides us clarity in prayer.

Meditate to Understand: “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works” (Psa. 119:27). God delights to answer this prayer. We meditate to understand what God is communicating to us through His Word: about Himself, our world, and our own hearts. Ask yourself during meditation: Why is this text important? What does it say about God and about me? How does this passage point to Jesus?

Meditate to Remember: “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands” (Psa.143:5). The whole Bible is the Grand Story that points to Jesus Christ. We meditate to remember all that God has done in His great redemption story and how He sent His Son to save His people from sin. Remembering in meditation may also bring us to ponder all that God has done in our own lives: how He saved us in Christ, what opportunities He is giving us to share the Good News with others, and what we have learned about who He is.

Meditate to Worship: “…but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Psa. 1:2)

Having meditated to focus, understand, and remember, we find our hearts inclined to worship! In meditation we take our eyes off the world, to lift our gaze to the Excellency of Jesus Christ, and to express to Him thanksgiving and adoration. In meditation the Holy Spirit inclines our hearts to understand how glorious our God is; it encourages our hearts to delight in God’s Word, for our spiritual strength and joy!

Meditate to Apply: “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” (Jos. 1:8). We meditate to apply what we have read in the Bible to our daily life and to ask for help in prayer. Here, we ask: What do I need to KNOW? And, What do I need to DO? Then, we bring these points of application to God in prayer, asking for spiritual strength to obey, forsake sin, humble ourselves, and walk worthy of our calling in Christ.

Time in the Word is like running a race. Meditation is the warm-up, and prayer is your sprint to the finish line. You cannot be effectual in your praying apart from engaging in the warm-up of meditation. When your focus is affected by outside circumstances, and your heart feels dulled to God’s Word, simply ask for and cling to God’s gracious help, poured out through the Holy Spirit. He helps us in our weakness, fixing our eyes on Christ, giving us understanding, bringing to mind God’s wonderful works, filling us with joy, and leading us to walk in the truth. Meditation in the Word is a profitable venture!