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Too often it seems we’re only motivated to pursue God when we encounter a problem in our daily walk But meditating on the Word of God should be the daily way we go about getting His life-giving truth into the core of our souls – down into the place where the vital decisions of our lives are made every day.
Meditation is the process by which God’s Word passes from your head down into your spirit where its power can be released. “Meditation is the digestive faculty of the soul .” Even though Jesus was physically depleted from 40 days of fasting, He was so strong in spirit from seeking God and meditating on the Word that He wielded a few words and they were a powerful weapon to defeat His adversary.
To apply this, here are six simple but important principles I use to deepen and enrich my meditation in God’s Word:
(1) PRAY FIRST: Ask God for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation into God’s Word (Ephesians 1:17) He wants to give us insight through our meditation! It’s very important that we understand that fact so we don’t keep letting our feelings and emotions stand in the way of our time with the Lord. You may have to fight through a case of the “blahs” – but God never does!
(2) GRAB SOMETHING: Write the scripture down in your notebook or journal. Writing down the scripture takes a disciplined effort, and the more disciplined you are, the more opportunity you give the Holy Spirit to speak to you. When you write something down you tend to think about it in a deeper way. You analyze it more carefully, and your thoughts are more penetrating.
(3) STOP FOR A MOMENT: Write down what you understand from that particular scripture. At this point you might think, “This thought is nothing new – nothing unusual. Why bother writing it down? I’ll wait until I think of something really unusual.” But if you do that, your mind is going to start floating away on another subject. So write down your thoughts, even though they might not seem very profound to you at the time.
(4) LISTEN TO GOD: Apply the understanding to your life. As you continue to meditate, the Lord will probably begin to fill you with incredible insight concerning His character and His love. When you receive these “nuggets of gold” in your heart, don’t just relax and be content to store them away for safekeeping – start to apply them to your life! Ask yourself:
(5) ANSWER HIM: Respond to God. Nine times out of ten, meditation will bring you to a point where you’re bursting with a new response to God. Don’t lose that moment by hesitating! Seize the opportunity to respond with all your heart to the living God!
(6) START A NEW HABIT: Seek Wisdom. Meditating and receiving understanding from the Lord is not just a quiet and passive activity. We don’t just sit there with an open Bible while the Lord fills us to the brim! Instead, the Lord requires us to take an active stance in meditation. As the truth of God penetrates your mind it attacks and demolishes the sin it confronts. John 17:17 was what Jesus told us, Mt. 4 He demonstrated it! Jesus said the way we become holy is through the Word. Remember this book will keep you from sin and sin will keep you from this book!
Now let’s stop talking about it, and do it. So where should we start? How about the first book and chapter many people are discipled from – Colossians 3?