Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)
All of us were created for the purpose of worship. Our souls crave unity, solace and restoration.
Every religion encourages meditation including the anti-religious and atheists. Meditation draws energy from whatever source it is focused upon. Nature, the earth, the soil, the sun are some of the primary sources of meditation as individuals try to calm their souls.
Meditation, even worldly meditation has positive effects as it is the exercising of the soul which is hungry for interaction and yet the meditation of the world is misguided as the creator's purpose for this is not self centered at all but Christ centered.
The Bible is our guru. The Bible is our source of meditation. It is our "LOGOS". To meditate on the Logos is to meditate on Christ for John tells us that "In the beginning the word was with God and the word was God". Jesus is the Word made flesh.
While the meditation of the world and other religions does have positive effects on the body and soul it opens the practitioner up to spiritual powers and influences that may not be of God and might be of the demonic realm.
Christian meditation is the emptying of oneself too... but the question is "What are you bringing back in." This is why there is a direct connection between Christian meditation and the memorization of scripture. The memorization of scripture is the practice of filling ones mind with Christ (who is the word of God) while meditation is filling the heart and soul.
Choose a Bible verse. Maybe you have one of those "daily bread" containers on your table filled with Bible verses... Imagine if during the course of a year you could memorize all of those verses. Take a verse and read it out loud. Turn it into a song if you can.
Meditation is very effective if you have a specific place and time to meditate. You do not have to put on exercise clothes or wrap your feet around the back of your head. The world does that in an attempt to connect the body and soul. However if you are one that needs to exercise the body early in the morning take that verse with you as you jog. Repeat it each time you bench press. On the way to work read it at every stop light.
Here is what the Lord says:
"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul,
and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
As you memorize that word of God that verse will become one with you and you become transformed into the image of Christ. It transforms the mind and renews the heart.
Then the Holy Spirit will take that verse from your mind and fill your heart with the peace and presence of God.
Now you can take that verse without looking and you can go to your prayer closet and pray it back to God phrase by phrase. If you take the verse from Deuteronomy it might go this way... "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart. I praise thee everlasting Father for Thy precious word. Allow these words to dwell in my heart and soul that I might glorify thee." "Bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. Lord I ask thee to fill my being with thy word that whatever my hands do they would do thy will and that others would see thy Word when they look on my face."
And continue on in that manner. This is true meditation and you will sense the presence of the Lord as you pray his Word back to Him asking for illumination.
The hard part of Christian meditation is finding quiet time and a quiet place free from distraction. If Children are a distraction incorporate them into your practice of meditation and they will either participate and grow or make themselves scarce and do other things. If you have time to watch a tv show each day you have time to meditate. It is a matter of what is important to you.
If you do this you will be able to say with the Psalmist:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalms 119:11
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