An Introduction to Christian Meditation and Memorization

In my last post, we looked at some techniques that we can use to meditate on God’s Word as well as things we should not do.  In this post, we will explore how prayer fits in with Christian Meditation.

Christian meditation involves renewing our minds and changing the content of our hearts and minds with the Word of God.  “In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh.  Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.” ~ Romans 12:2

Christian meditation on God’s Word primarily involves hearing from God, and prayer is primarily speaking to God.

From earliest times, prayer has been an essential part of meditation for Believers.  The psalmist used meditation as an approach to God and prayed:

• “May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the LORD” ~ Psalm 104:34 ^(NKJV).
• “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” ~ Psalm 19:14 ^(NIV).
• “My mouth is about to speak wisdom; my heart’s deepest thoughts will give understanding” ~ Psalm 49:3.

Confession of God’s Word is praying God’s Word back to Him.  As we pray God’s Word we are also meditating on His Word and applying it to our life situations.  As Brother Lawrence was fond of saying, “we are practicing the presence of God.”

Meditation combined with prayer can shelter us under the Most High God as the psalmist says: “Whoever lives under the shelter of the Most High will remain in the shadow of the Almighty” ~ Psalm 91:1 ^(GW) and “Be still, and know that I am God” ~ Psalm 46:10a ^(ESV)

One goal of Christian Meditation is to commune with, to have a relationship with, and to be united in love with God.  We meditate on His Word and we pray His Word back to Him. When we are under the “shelter of the Most High” we can be shaped and transformed into His image. (See Romans 12:2 above.)

Jerry Bridges has this to say about meditation and prayer commenting on “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” ~ 1 Corinthians 16:14 ^(ESV):

“With all the enemies from the world and from Satan arrayed against us, and a guerrilla army of flesh within our own hearts, how can we effectively watch against the temptations that constantly beset us?  The old adage ‘The best defense is a good offense’ is good advice for watching against temptation.  The best offense is meditation on the Word of God and prayer. It’s surely no coincidence that they’re the only two spiritual exercises that we are encouraged to do continually.  We’re to meditate on God’s Word ‘day and night’ (Psalm 1:2), and Paul exhorted us to ‘pray continually’ (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NIV).” [1]

Through Christian Meditation and prayer, we draw strength to do the things we cannot do in our own strength.  As Rabbi Sha’ul wrote, “I can do all things through him who gives me power” ~ Philippians 4:13.

Christian Meditation and prayer are meant to be a way of life for all Believers.  Adonai desires to have fellowship with all His children.  Prayer and meditation on His Word make that possible and is pleasing to Him.  Yeshua commands us to “seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness” ~ Matthew 6:33a.  Prayer and meditation as a way of life allows us to talk to and hear from God throughout the day.

Christian meditation and prayer allows us to not only know scripture, but make it come alive and active in our lives.  Christian meditation and prayer allows us to not only know about God, but also to develop a personal relationship with Him.

In my next post, we will transition into exploring the concept of and techniques for memorizing actual verses and passages.

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[1] Holiness Day by Day by Jerry Bridges (emphasis added).