Skip to main content

Meditation without the "Ohm"


When you hear the word mediation what is the first thing you think of? A monk? or a yoga girl sitting on the floor with legs crossed and arms extended with the typical fingers touching in a circle. Did you hear that famous, monkish "ohm"? What does meditation look like to Christians? Is it biblical? Is it something talked about by God?

Most definitely! Rand Hummel has written a book called "Fear Not!" Meditations to Overcome Fear, Worry, and Discouragement. Before he even started into chapter one he wrote an introduction all about meditation - God's way.
Buy it here


I will be directly quoting out of Rand's book from pages xii-xvi

The word translated "meditation" throughout scripture is also translated "imagine" (Ps. 2:1, Ps. 38:12) "Studieth" (Prov. 15:28, Prov. 24:2) , "Utter, mutter, talk, or speak" (Job 27:4, Ps. 37:30, Ps. 71:24, Prov. 8:7) , and "mourn" (Isa 16:7, Isa. 38:14, Isa. 59:11). It is usually defined as "murmuring,"or speaking to oneself. How often do we as believers devote a full morning to studying, imagining, talking through, or speaking to ourselves (meditating) about one specific characteristic of God taught in His Word?

Meditation is a form of creative thinking... If we set aside an entire hour to "think about" or mediate on how much God loves righteousness and hates evil, our thinking will be affected in such a way that we will personally begin loving good and hating evil more. 

Meditation is essential for a full understanding of God's Word. Most of us have developed lazy habits in reading, grammar, syntax, and word study. We often glance over a word we think we know rather than gaze into its true intent and purpose. When Paul uses the phrase "for this cause" (Rom. 1:26, Eph. 5:31; 2 Thess. 2:11, and so forth) it is so easy to just keep reading rather than to stop and think, "What cause?" What is this driving force in Paul's life?" "What is my ultimate reason, purpose, or cause for living?" "Have I attached myself to a cause bigger than myself, my wants, my time, and my life?" Now Paul's simple phrase "for this cause" takes on a new relevance and my heart is convicted because I have been living for my own "causes" and not God's!

Meditation is essential for all who seek victory over fear, worry, and discouragment...and all kinds of life issues. 

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all." I Tim. 4:15


Meditation should delight us!

"I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word." Ps. 119:15-16

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord: and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Ps. 1:1-2

"My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord." Ps. 104:34


Mediation should consume us!


"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." Ps. 19:12

"O how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day." Ps. 119:97

"Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that  I might mediate in thy word." Ps. 119:148


Meditation should control us!

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt mediate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written 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." Josh. 1:8

Wow! Meditatation God's way is pretty intense. It calls for hours of intense thought changing meditation. It calls for less t.v., less day dreaming, less time in the nothing box. Bibilical meditation is a call to bring your mind into subjection. I call to think on things that are pure and right and holy.

I encourage you to buy the book and finish reading about how mediation on God's Word can and will change your life. And like he said in the introduction it will change more than just the highlighted fear, worry, and discouragement in this book.

What is your definition of mediation? Do you meditate?

Sarah


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Make Your Apartment More Homey - Part 5

Welcome to part 5 of my mini series "How to Make Your Apartment More Homey". Once you get a grasp on the first four topics you've really got something going for you. These last two steps are definitely not the meat of the problem.  Today we will focus on - The Color Palette. A little bit of color theory wouldn't hurt anyone. I realize that we are alway feeling the need to try something new and be a little different. It's called fashion, and that's okay. Be different! Make a statement! It's good to try something new. But if it's ugly just say so, don't lie to save your pride. Your pride has already been painted all over that new yellow couch!  You can google a basic color wheel and the different ways to pair the colors or most people have an eye for what looks good together. It's usually a good thing to stick with the same hue (bold with bold, or pastels with pastels, and burnt colors with burnt colors) but even that isn't alwa...

42 Questions To Ask Your Spouse On Valentine's Day

If you and your spouse were on the Newlywed game show... would you win? My husband and I are going to a couple's retreat next month and decided to get a head start on it by brushing up on our newlywed gameshow questions. We actually did pretty well the first time through, but we keep giving each other pop quizzes to keep the answers fresh in our minds. Below I've made a list of common couples questions that you and your spouse might find fun to ask each other. 1) What is your spouse's all time favorite movie? 2) What would your spouse request as their "last meal"? 3) What is your spouse's favorite pastime? 4) What percentage of housework would your husband say he does? 5) What flavor of cake did you have at your wedding? 6) What is your spouse's ideal date night? 7) Excluding people, what would your spouse say is their most prized possession? 8) At what specific sport or game will you wife say she is better than you? 9) What is your spouse...

Spring Cleaning Challenge Day 6 Psalm 51:10

Welcome to your first day of rest. Tomorrow is Sunday, a day that should be put aside to worship the Lord and to rest your body from physical activity. Each Sunday we will meditate on a verse that reflects having a clean heart. Because we all know that a spotless house doesn't make us truly happy. Only a clean heart can keep a smile on our faces. Psalm 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,  and renew a right spirit within me.  What does a clean heart look like? Who judges wether the heart is clean or not? Who cares about your heart more than anyone else? Just like we have been pulling out our furniture this week looking for dust bunnies, take a moment to pull out the furniture in your life and look for "Me" bunnies. Search out your heart for selfish things you've tucked away, whether it be a secret, a personal pleasure, a blatant sin, or an old heartache.  When you've found them, take them all one by one and lay them out in a straight row in front of...