Meditation
Spiritual Disciplines • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewWe meditate by reflecting on God’s Word, Ways, World, and Work in our lives.
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In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in muchness and manyness, he will rest satisfied…If we hope to move beyond the superficialities of our culture, including our religious culture, we must be willing to go down into the recreating silences, into the inner world of contemplation… - Richard Foster
What Does the Bible Say About Meditation
What Does the Bible Say About Meditation
There are two Hebrew words used for meditation; used 58 ties. They mean:
Listening to God’s Word
Reflecting on God’s Works
Rehearsing God’s Deeds
Ruminating on God’s Law
And more
Often times meditation is connected to the practices of repentance and obedience.
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
The Bible is filled with individuals who meditate on God and His ways often. It was a common practice
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
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. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
But you are doing away with the fear of God
and hindering meditation before God.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.
Let the insolent be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with falsehood;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
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.
I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Other Examples
Other Examples
Eli, the priest, listened to God and helped Samuel know the Word of the Lord (1 Sam 3:1-18)
Elijah spent time in the wilderness learning to listen to the “still small voice of Yahweh” (1 Kings 19:9-18)
Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1-8)
Jeremiah dwelled upon God’s Word (Jer 20:9)
Jesus made it a habit to withdrawal to a quiet place (Matt 14:13)
These are all people who are close to the heart of God, and God spoke to them because of their willingness to listen.
What is Meditation
What is Meditation
The ability to hear God’s voice through obedience and reflection on His Word.
God desires our fellowship just as He did from the beginning when Adam and Eve walked and talked with Him the garden.
Even through the fall, God continually sought to act, teach, and guide His people.
He desires His people to hear and obey. This is demonstrated through the life of Jesus
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
We will know His voice if we listen
When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
We will hear him and have help through the Comforter
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
We see over and over God’s people learning to live on the basis of hearing God’s voice and obeying His word
Philip’s conversion (Acts 8)
Paul’s conversion (Acts 9)
Cornelius conversion (Acts 10)
Church’s instruction (Acts 15)
Jesus has not stopped teaching. He is alive and well. he is our Priest (forgiving us), Prophet (teaching us), Shepherd (guiding us), King (ruling over us), and Savior (saving us)
Theophan the Recluse said it well:
To pray [meditate] is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all seeing, within you.
And again, Dietrich Bonhoeffer when asked why he meditates says,
Because I am a Christian
Meditation is the practice of listening to God and His Word with the intention of repentance and obedience
Meditation is the practice of listening to God and His Word with the intention of repentance and obedience
Why do we Meditate
Why do we Meditate
Meditation is the key to the door that opens up a friendship with Jesus
Remember the song “He walks with me and talks with me”
However, personal as this must be it is not a buddy-buddy type relationship. This mindset ignores our place in front of the throne of God. He is high and lifted up and revealed to us in Scripture. Think of Isaiah and John’s response in the presence of the Lord
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
We meditate to create the emotional and spiritual space that allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in our hearts
We meditate to create the emotional and spiritual space that allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in our hearts
In this place, we will go from “I’ve got to” to “I want to” seek divine communion, righteousness, and holiness with God
Meditation by the Word, not the World
Meditation by the Word, not the World
Eastern religion says that meditation is for the purpose of emptying the mind.
Christian meditation, though, is process of welcoming God to fill our mind with Him.
Eastern meditation seeks to detach
Christian meditation seeks to attach
Refer to Jesus’ story about the man who had been emptied of evil but not filled with good
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
We must empty ourselves, and be filled by God (Ephesians 4)
This is a pursuit to deal with our walk in the world with God in mind as our guide
True godliness does not turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it. - William Penn
Meditation will prepare us to face the world with a heavenly perspective
From the Head to the Heart to the Hands
From the Head to the Heart to the Hands
Meditation is the descent from the head (mind) to the heart and out to the hands.
We must desire to think like God, delight on His ways, be in His presence, depend on Him, and live in His truth.
How do We Meditate
How do We Meditate
Proper time
Meditation is a 24/7 thing (pray without ceasing - 1 Thess 5:17)
It is also good to set certain times for contemplation on God and His Word
Slow down and take time to meditate of God and His Word
Proper place
We will explore this with the lesson on solitude
Free from interruption
Pick a designated place(Matt 6:6-7)
Proper posture
Our body, mind, and spirit must be properly prepared and postured
What is most comfortable
Aim to seek the light of the Gospel
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Continue reading about the difference between the outer and inner self and the benefit of being renewed daily
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Proper thoughts
Meditate on Scripture
Pick a text to contemplate (psalms and proverbs are good for this)
Internalize Scripture - be an active participant in the story of scripture
Meditate on God’s blessings
Count your blessings
Rest in thankfulness
Experience God’s presence through His creation
Mindfulness
5 things you hear, see, touch, smell; then 4; then 3; then 2; then 1 and so on
Explore God’s creation and acknowledge your thankfulness
Meditation is a Way of Life
Meditation is a Way of Life
We meditate by reflecting on God’s Word, Ways, World, and Work in our lives.
There is no one-size-fits-all method. Find what works for you
Alabama has the song “I’m in a hurry and don’t know why”. Slow down, ignore the hurry of the world, bask in the presence and peace of God and His Word