WORK THESE WORDS INTO YOUR LIFE // A BLOG SERIES // PART 4
“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” —Psalm 119:16 ESV
Mention the word “meditation” and some people immediately freak out. They think of it as some new age practice of emptying your mind and opening it up to “the universe”. But biblical meditation isn’t about emptying your mind, at all. It’s about filling your mind with God’s Word. Biblical meditation is FOCUSED THINKING on a passage of Scripture to discover how you can apply its truth to your life.
One of the Hebrew words for “meditation” is the word “ha-gah”. It means “to murmur or to mutter” or “to murmur or mutter under your breath.” Basically, it’s talking to yourself. Meditating on God’s Word is a very focused conversation with yourself, where you talk to yourself about God’s Word. You turn it over and over in your mind. You think about its meaning, its implications and how you can apply it to your life. You think about what it has to say to you or to any situation you may be facing.
Of Cows and Cud
The process of meditation has often been compared to a cow chewing its cud. Cows have an interesting digestive system. When a cow chews its cud, it takes grass and chews the grass up, swallows it, and at some point, regurgitates it. Then, chews it up again, swallows it, and the process continues. I know…. I know… It’s gross. I’ve actually read that a cow can repeat that process as many as seven times.
The question is why would a cow do that?
Because… The cow wants to get every ounce of nourishment possible from every blade of grass. Every vitamin. Every mineral. This is a great picture of the way you and I should think about and MEDITATE on God’s Word!
“Blessed is the one who…delights in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.” —Psalm 1:1-2
Psalm 1:2 describes a group of people who “…delight in the law of the Lord, MEDITATING on it day and night.” The Message Translation reads, “…you thrill to God’s Word, you CHEW on SCRIPTURE day and night.”
Why? Because this group of people wants to get every ounce of nourishment — every vitamin and mineral possible — from every promise and principle God has given!
Biblical meditation is the slow process of thinking about and chewing on what God has said! There’s no such thing as an “Evelyn Wood Speed Reading Bible Course” when it comes to growing a vibrant, strong, stable, fruit-producing life! The writer of Psalm 1 didn’t come to God and say, “Wow! I’ve discovered a secret. I can meditate at 700 words a minute with a 90 percent comprehension rate.”
He simply said, “I’ve committed to this practice… I meditate, chew on and talk to myself over and over about the principles and promises I come across in your Word, and it’s making a difference in me! I’m like a tree planted by a source of constant refreshment and supply. Even when things around me are fading, I’m flourishing.”
The Psalm goes on in Verse 3 to describe the impact of this kind of “chewing” and “meditation” on the Word of God. David writes:
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” —Psalm 1:3 NIV
What a promise!
David is saying that the person who makes meditation and chewing on God’s Word a consistent and regular practice will experience a fruitful, productive and even prosperous life!
Many people I’ve met feel that they don’t really know how to meditate on God’s Word. But I think you do…
In fact, according to Kris Vallaton, the word meditate can also mean “to imagine, think about, envision, talk to yourself and even sing the truth to yourself.”
Author John Ortberg says that research indicates that most worriers tend to have a high capacity imagination. They are often people who are very intelligent and have a load of creative potential. Unfortunately, their imagination usually runs towards the negative.
You may have never thought of it this way before, but if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Worry is nothing more than focused thinking on a problem, challenge or your personal pain. But meditation, on the other hand, is focused thinking on the PROMISES in God’s Word. Meditation is making a decision to focus on God’s Word instead of the overwhelm that comes from focusing on your difficulties, problems or lack.
If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.
Joshua 1:8 contains an amazing promise.
“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.” —Joshua 1:8 NLT
Do you realize that this is the only place in the Bible where the words “prosper” and “succeed” are mentioned in the same verse? God said, “If you will MEDITATE on my Word day and night… If you’ll put it into practice… If you will align your life with it, you WILL — not maybe or might — but you WILL prosper and succeed.”
Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting that mediation is some kind of a magic formula for success! But a consistent habit of biblical meditation will eventually result in the outworking of this simple principle:
What you THINK about consistently is ultimately what you will BECOME.
And, the more you THINK about God and His Word, the more your thoughts, attitudes and actions will become aligned with His Word, will, purpose, promises and design for your life!
Pastor and theologian, Joel Beeke, describes the benefits of meditation like this:
“Disciplined meditation on Scripture helps us focus on God. Meditation helps us view worship as a discipline. It involves our mind and understanding as well as our heart and affections. It works Scripture through the texture of the soul. Meditation helps prevent vain and sinful thoughts (Matt 12:35) and provides inner resources on which to draw (Ps 77:10-12), including direction for daily life (Pro 6:21-22). Meditation fights temptation (Ps 119:11, 15), provides relief in afflictions (Isa 49:15-17), benefits others (Ps 145:7), and glorifies God (Ps 49:3).” —Joel Beeke
FIVE WAYS To MEDITATE On GOD’S WORD:
1. VISUALIZE IT! In other words, VISUALIZE the scene or passage of Scripture you’re reading.
Remember, the word “meditate” can mean to “imagine.” This technique works great with passages of Scripture that contain a narrative or tell a story.
For instance, if you’re reading about the woman at the well in John 4 you can visualize or imagine the story. “What must it have been like to be a woman who had been married five times, currently living with a guy she wasn’t married to at the time? What was it like to have a stranger sit down beside her and tell her all about her life as if he had known her forever? What was it like for the woman? What kind of feelings or emotions did this encounter with Jesus stir in her?”
When you come upon narratives like the one in John 4, visualize or picture the scene and write down the thoughts that come to mind.
2. ANALYZE It! Just reflect on what God’s Word says. Live with it. Think about it over and over again. Turn the passage over and over in your mind.
I love the way Charles Spurgeon describes this. I’ve updated some of the language to help you connect. Spurgeon writes:
“Some people like to read so many chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather [let] my soul [soak] in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hands in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up into your very soul, till it saturates your heart! Set your heart upon God’s Word! Let your whole nature be plunged into it as a cloth into a dye!” —Charles Spurgeon
I love that! Focus your mind on the passage. Think about it over and over. Analyze it until it becomes part of who you are.
3. VERBALIZE It! In other words, just SAY IT OUT LOUD.
Sometimes, I’ll just take a passage of Scripture and say it out loud, emphasizing a different word in the passage each time.
Take Philippians 4:13 for example:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…”
I can do all things… (That’s me! Not just Billy Graham, Steven Furtick, T.D. Jakes, Bill Johnson or some other Christian celebrity!)
I can do all things…
I CAN do all things… (This isn’t positive or wishful thinking. It’s not some far-fetched fantasy. This really is possible. I can do all things…)
I can DO all things through Christ… (This is not just something for me to THINK about… This is something I can DO…)
I can do ALL THINGS… (Not just the easy, comfortable, convenient or possible things. I can do ALL THINGS… Even the hard, difficult and impossible ones…)
I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me. (All of this is possible because of JESUS. Because He overcame, I can overcome!)
I can do all things through Christ WHO STRENGTHENS ME. (The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now present and resident in me — strengthening and sustaining me.)
This is another way to meditate on a passage from God’s Word. It will help you squeeze every ounce of nourishment possible from every word of God.
4. PERSONALIZE It! Make the verse PERSONAL by replacing the pronouns or names in the verse with your OWN NAME.
Sometimes the evil one will attempt to get you to believe that God’s Word is meant for everyone else but you! But that’s just not true! Put your NAME in the verse! God’s Word was meant for YOU! Every PROMISE has your name on it!
For instance,
“I — [ insert your name ] — can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” —Philippians 4:13
“…you belong to God — [ insert your name ] — and have overcome them, because greater is the One in you — [ insert your name ] — than the one who is in the world…” —1 John 4:4
5. ACTUALIZE It! Turn it into a PRAYER and PRAY IT back to God!
Again, sticking with Philippians 4:13, you can turn the passage into a prayer like this:
“Father, I thank You that I can do all things through Christ who is strengthening me in this moment… Today, I won’t face a single challenge that you and I can’t handle and overcome together. Your strength is at work even in my weakness, and today your strength is working in and through me. Because of that, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
This the power of MEDITATING on God’s Word. It’s another way of improving your grip and grasp on the “sword of the Spirit” and “working God’s Word into your life.”
Be sure to tune in to the message this Sunday as we walk out the remaining ways you can work God’s Word into your life and follow along next week as this blog series continues.
