Christians and meditation – what is it all about?

“Let the words of my mouth

Be pleasing to You, pleasing to You

The meditation of my heart

Be pleasing to you, pleasing to You

Oh Lord, my strength

And my Redeemer.”

Let The Words Of My Mouth – Fernando Ortega

How many times have Christians been advised to meditate on the Word to build a closer relationship with God? The advice is often taken, but doing it is another matter completely. Many confess to being distracted when they try to meditate, and instead of focusing on the things of the Spirit, they confess that the cares of the world often come rushing into their thoughts.

But what really is meditation, and how does that help in a Christian’s spiritual growth? Family and Religion asked Rev Carlene Bryan of the Dominion in Christ International Ministries Church, who pointed out that meditation is to “mutter, to speak to oneself, speak out loud and to muse”. In simplifying it, she said it’s all about continually keeping that relationship with God.

“The world says only a crazy person speaks to him/herself, but in the Word of God, the one who mutters or meditates on the Word of God is the one who creates his/her success. There is power in the Word of God, and you need that power working in you and affecting your entire life,” she notes.

According to Bryan, many Christians struggle with meditating because they are doing it incorrectly.

She pointed out that meditating on the Word of God is not just reading the Bible, sitting quietly or doing yoga, but following the instruction that was given to Joshua from the Bible.

“God told Joshua, ‘This book of the law (the Word of God) shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success’.”

Bryan said meditating on God’s Word is not difficult. It just requires a little time and effort on the person’s part and if they will commit to do it, God’s Word will not return void. It will transform their life.

Highlighting the practice of some religions, which she said teach that meditation is allowing your mind to become completely blank and empty, Bryan stressed that that is far from the truth.

“When we follow this method, it is an invitation for distraction, and for the cares of this world to begin playing in our thoughts. On the other hand, to meditate is to fill our thoughts with the thoughts of God, to be consumed with the things God has said. When we become utterly consumed with what God has said, it becomes easy to do the things He is asking us to do. Meditation on Him (Jesus is the Word made flesh – John 1:1) will bring our mind and emotions under control,” she shared, adding that souls will become satisfied at the constant muttering to oneself at the greatness of God.

Emphasising the benefit of meditation, Bryan said it is a powerful instrument to use to keep the mind under subjection to the spirit.

She said it is normal in the beginning for thoughts to wander and waver when first attempting meditation, but stressed that it is important to stay with the process.

Christian minds, she said, will often question whether you will make it through the particular problem at hand, but if meditation on what God has promised is done, the mind will have to quiet down to hear what the mouth is saying.

“The noise of our circumstances will eventually become less because the Word is achieving greater ascendancy. The Word of God coming out of our mouth will change our attitude towards the circumstances at hand. This is where we begin to take on the mind of Christ. This is where we begin to think in line with God’s thoughts. Thoughts of failure begin to grow dim and all things enter the realm of possibility,” she said.

Bryan said when Christians find a promise in the word of God, they should meditate on it just as how a cow chews his cud.

“We have to read it over and over again out loud, consider it, repeat it to ourselves again and again. Each time we ‘chew’ on it, we are demanding all the nutrients out of it, making it more and more a part of our life. This is the power of meditation. Bible reading is like the dumplings in your spiritual diet, but you must have meat in your diet to remain healthy,” she said.