Biblical Meditation
A Focus on the Word of God
For a Christian, meditation is a quiet focus on what we know about God. It is a rehearsal of the truths found in Scripture. In the history of yoga, meditation was the primary focus. The aim of meditation is communion with their god. To find this perfect communion with god, the yogi needed to move from many thoughts whirring in their mind to no thoughts. And while as Christians we are not emptying our mind of thought, we do need to practice the art of focus.
Our culture is one of distraction and distortion. Between the screens and devices we carry with us to the “success” driven, constant-hustle culture, we are pulled in many directions with many responsibilities. We must retrain our minds to be still and focus on one thing at a time, to be constantly coming back to Jesus. This is where the practice of meditation comes in. There are many physiological benefits to meditation, but for today let’s just look at how meditation works for Christians. How can we practice slowing our minds to focus on the One thing that matters most and set aside the distractions?
In The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, meditation is the final three of the eight limbs of yoga. Dharana, which is focused concentration; Dhyana, meditation; and Samadhi, absorption. These are the progressive steps of meditation.
It begins with building the concentration muscle. At this stage in the practice, there is often a need for constant reminders to quiet the mind. Our thoughts often wander and drift. But with practice the reminders become less frequent. This is, in fact, something that we as Christian’s should practice as well. Often we come to our time of prayer and Scripture with so many thoughts racing through our minds. We need to practice slowing down, removing the distractions and noise, and learning to focus on one thing at a time. It’s a practice of fixing our eyes on Jesus. He is the center point and all the rest can fade into the background.
Dhyana is the next stage with fewer reminders and prompts to be still. This is the “meditation” stage. It is once again a practice of quieting the mind, the chattering thoughts. At this point, for a Christian, we bring Scripture into this practice. You may have heard that the term meditation in Scripture is like a cow chewing the cud. To fully digest its food, a cow chews and then swallows, then regurgitates its food, chews some more, swallows, and continues the process until its body is able to absorb and digest the food fully. Likewise, we “chew” on Scripture, turning it around and around in our mind. As our mind wanders, we bring it back to the passage we are meditating on. As we move through our day, we bring this meditation with us.
Just like yoga is a practice, meditation is also a practice. We start small and build our concentration/meditation muscles. Maybe you simply begin with a short five minutes of meditating on one or two verses. Overtime, your meditation practice is not about sitting still on your mat, but it becomes a living breathing embodiment of Scripture. To me, the goal of meditation as a Christian is to saturate your daily life with God’s Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 gives us a good picture of this:
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
The third step, according to Patanjali, is Samadhi, absorption. This is the idea that everything else falls away, you are emptied of all but communion with the divine. For Christians, we know the truth. Perfect communion with God was broken by sin. Sin is what separates us from God and there is nothing we, in our own power, can do to remove that sin. The only way back to that perfect communion with God is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We must believe in Jesus as our Savior to restore the broken relationship with God. The error of meditation is not the method, it’s the means. Without Jesus doing the work for us, we can never attain peace with God. So, the goal of meditation for us, as Christians, is not emptying the mind, but rather filling it with Jesus.
5 types of Biblical Meditation:
Lectio Divina
This meditation focuses on a few verses; moving through these 4 steps: read, reflect, respond, and rest.
Read: Begin by reading through the chosen passage, attentively & carefully. Notice if any words or phrases stand out to you.
Reflect: Read the passage again. What is God trying to say to you in these verses? Notice how you feel - body, mind, heart, as you read through the verses.
Respond: Slowly, read the passage again. Ask Him for understanding as you respond to the passage in prayer.
Rest: Listen to anything He might be saying in these verses. Sit quietly in God’s presence & rest in His love.
Prayer of Examen
A meditation of reflection, often done at the end of the day to notice & review the day - a practice of daily gratitude & repentance.
Relish: Begin with gratitude. Allow your mind to wander through your day noticing all the blessings & the presence of God throughout your day.
Request: Ask for the Spirit to lead me through a time of reviewing my day and my behavior. Ask for His discernment between disobedience and mistakes.
Review: Look back through your day and allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sins, the ways you have failed to live according to God’s righteousness.
Repent: Ask for forgiveness of your sins; healing for any hurt caused by your mistakes; help to move on (not dwell); & wisdom to respond rightly.
Resolve: Pray about tomorrow. Pray for wisdom & discipline to make better choices in the areas I have failed. Pray for the people you will interact with & for His agenda for your day.
Breath Prayer
This meditation combines the breath with a phrase from Scripture. As you inhale, say the first part; as you exhale say the second part.
Centering Prayer
A practice of being quiet and still in God’s presence. Learning to listen & surrender.
Name or Attribute of God
In this meditation, the focus is on a name or attribute of God, as opposed to a single passage of Scripture.
For me, having a list like this tucked into my Bible or prayer journal helps me to meditate more often. Meditation is a practice. Like strengthening your muscles, beginning a meditation practice starts small and builds.
There are three ways to build in strength training: more weight, more reps, and more sets. Weight is obviously the amount you lift, i.e. 10 lb. Reps, or repetitions, are the number of times you perform an exercise. For example, 20 push ups. And a set is a group of reps, so like 3 sets of 20 push ups, with typically a pause or break between sets.
So, for a practical way of beginning your meditation practice, let’s look at it with this same concepts in mind. To begin, we must start small and build.
Three ways to build your meditation practice…
Duration, Frequency, & Form.
Duration is pretty self-explanatory. This is how long you meditate. I would recommend starting small with 1-5 minutes. This is doable for most people and once you form the habit, you can begin to increase the duration of your practice.
Frequency would be the number of times in a day or a week that you practice. For example, you could add a meditation practice to your daily Bible reading and simply work toward once a day practice. Or perhaps this feels too daunting, maybe you could pair it with the kids soccer practice or music lesson. Take 1-2 minutes for a breath prayer meditation every time you drop off or pick up the kids.
Form would be the type of meditation. So, perhaps in the morning you practice using the Lectio Divina meditation style and in the evening you practice a Prayer of Examen. Habits are often easier to form if you pair it with something that is already a habit. So, maybe as you brush your teeth before bed, meditate on an attribute of God. Or while waiting in the school carline, practice a Lectio Divina meditation. Or maybe after the kitchen is cleaned up from dinner, take a few deep breaths coupled with a breath prayer. Think of some aspect of your day or week that is consistent and has a brief window that allows you to pause and meditation on Scripture.
This will not only benefit you from a spiritual and mental standpoint, but also a physiological standpoint. Meditation is a way of slowing down and breathing deeply. Connect it with truth and you have a build in stress manager. It is amazing how often the things what is good for the souls is also good for our body and vice versa.
So, where could you plug one of these into your day or your week to begin establishing a new habit of meditating on Truth?
Feel free to download the PDF list for you to use as a reference - 5 types of Biblical meditation.
