Jesus made intentional prayertimes a priority in His life. If He did, then how much more should we! In a daily practice of an intentional prayertime, the ideal situation is to be alone, be quiet, and be still. This, in itself, implies meditation – in this stillness, we focus our mind on God. Many people also spend their prayertime with an open Bible.
Although Bible study should be a part of quiet time, meditation on the Scriptures is different from an intellectual endeavor. Intellectual study also has its place in our Christian life. But in reading and meditating on the inspired Word of God, we are listening for God to speak to us. Meditation focuses on Jesus through prayer or specific Bible verses. Either way, we are listening for Him. Revelation 3:20 says that Jesus Christ stands at the door (of our hearts) and knocks. If anyone hears His voice and opens the door, He will come in. Again – as with prayer -–in meditation, we much at still, we must be quiet, we must be listening.
When we meditate on God’s Word, the Holy Spirit draws us into a deeper knowledge and understanding and love of God. This is where prayer and meditation overlap. Meditation over a certain passage may become a prayer. To meditate in Scripture, we must read slowly. We may even choose to memorize it. This allows us to better internalize and personalize the passage.
Sacred reading and contemplative prayer
When we read the Scriptures slowly and prayerfully, allowing them to sink into our hearts, we listen to the Word of God speaking to us now. The early Christians used to pray in a method of prayer called sacred reading. It was called sacred reading not just because they believed the words of Scripture were inspired, but because they believed that as they read the words, they too would be inspired by the God who inspired the words in the first place. Sacred reading was introduced to the West by the Eastern Christian mystic John Cassian early in the fifth century. The sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict, which guided Benedictine and Cistercian monastic practice, continued the practice of sacred reading. These monastic orders and other still prescribe daily periods for sacred reading. In recent decades, however, this ancient tradition has been revitalized by both Catholics and Protestants. Sacred reading involves a progression through reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.
In addition to sacred reading, contemplative prayer has also been practiced through the centuries from the times of the early church, mainly through the monastic orders. In Christian circles, the terms meditation and contemplation may be used interchangeably. This practice is characterized by inner and outer silence and solitude. It is waiting in silence for God to speak to us. Contemplative prayer or meditation can be enriched by a tangible aid like a journal, beads, a labyrinth (a pathway for prayerwalking)- always with the purpose of focusing and concentrating attention on praying. These tools lend order to a quiet time to keep us away from distractions in our own minds. They have no other meaning or special significance. Some have even laid out a labyrinth or rocks in their garden like prayer beds to help them pray as they walk among flowers and vegetables. What better way is there to meditate on God’s goodness to us?
During contemplative prayer, as in times of sacred reading or any quiet time, we must be sure that it is God who is communicating with us. That may sound way out there, but remember that we are in a spiritual battle struggling against the forces of good and evil. John reminds us in1 John 4:1-4 that we must test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Any insight or instruction that comes during a times of meditation must be in line with what the reveal Word of God teaches; it must pass the test of Christian community; and it must reflect what we know about God through the person of His Son, Jesus. Often meditation serves to bring to mind the very things that we have learned through these other sources of revelation. If an insight does not pass these, tests doubt it! God doesn’t lead us in ways that are inconsistent with His Word.
Prayer reminders
The New Testament offers many examples of repetitive prayers used in meditation or contemplation. These were not the “vain repetitions” of the pagans (Matthew 6:7), but genuine cries of the heart to God. Luke 18:13 describes a tax collector who, in humble remorse, prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” This prayer actually because part of the repetitive prayer of the early church call the Jesus Prayer. This repetitive prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” like the Jewish Shema, is designed to be said over and over again, until it becomes part of the act of breathing, internalizing a sense of the lover of Jesus deep within. Used especially in the Orthodox church, but others as well, this is just one prayer that can be used in Christian meditation or contemplation.
Early monks began to count repetitive prayers by placing stones in their pockets or knots on a rope. This tradition evolved into prayer beads. Prayer beads have not been traditionally used in the Protestant church; however, the recent interest in contemplative prayer and meditation has introduced the tradition of prayer beads into evangelical circles. In the 1980’s, Anglicans rediscovered the benefits of prayer beads as an aid in contemplative prayer to engage not only the mind but also the body in prayer and meditation.
Statement of faith
Sacred reading, contemplative prayer, and other methods of Christian meditation have been criticized in some evangelical circles for being too close to New Age; however, just because we call focusing on God meditation does not mean that it has anything to do with New Age meditation. Meditation was a trusted part of Christian practice long before New Age Philosophy came around. Just because it’s possible to do a good thing the wrong way doesn’t mean we should never do it the right way again! Besides, the Bible urges us to meditate on God’s Word (Joshua 1:8, for instance).
There are specific benefits to meditating on Scripture and repeating it over and over, resulting in memorization. Repeating God’s Word ingrains it until it becomes a part of us. The regular Jewish daily prayer was the Shema, which starts like this: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). By Jesus’s day, it had already sunk deep into the lives of the Jewish people as not only a formula to be repeated three times a day, but a statement of faith – as habitual and as vital as breathing.
More of Him
Christian meditation is an active thought process given to study of the Word: praying over it, asking God to give understanding by the Spirit, putting it into practice in daily life, and allowing it (the Word, Scriptures) become what you do as you go about your daily activities. This causes spiritual growth and maturing in the things of God as taught you by His Holy Spirit indwelling each of as believers. We come into the rest of God as we meditate on Him alone. There must be less of us and more of Him.
Grant me most sweet and loving Jesus, to rest in You above every other creature, above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all power and dignity, above all knowledge and precise thought, above all wealth and talent, above all joy and exultation, above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and consolation, above all hope and promise, above all merit and desire, above all gifts and favors You give and shower upon me, above all happiness and joy that the mind can understand and feel, and finally, above all angels and archangels, above all the hosts of heaven, above all things visible and invisible, and above all that is not You, my God.
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