Meditating Daily on God’s Word.

God wants us to know him intimately and come to a knowledge of the truth.  But, like anything in this life, it means we need to spend time with Him in order to know God and his desires for our lives.  One way to grow is to daily meditate on God’s word.  What does that mean and what is it like?

David Zandstra says, “The idea of meditating in order to gain a firm grasp on God’s Word does not come easily to many of us.  We are often under pressure to perform, always hurrying to accomplish goals and hearing that “Time is money.”  Meditation, on the other hand, takes thought, quiet and calm, space to reflect and maybe even to write down your thoughts.  Meditation moves us into the area of application of God’s Word.  Here we ask these kinds of questions: What truth in this passage seems most relevant to my life?  How should it change my character?  What difference would it make in the way I think, speak, and act?  What can I do this week to embrace this insight and put it into practice?”

After Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be with child and Jesus was to be born, scripture says “Mary pondered all these things and reflected upon them in her heart.”(Luke 2:19)  Mary took time to think about all that was happening and what its meaning was for her life and her family.  The word meditation means to think about or chew upon.  In order to do this, there are some things we need to consider first, since, as humans, it is not innate within us to want to do this.  We would rather do other things and even in the process we are easily distracted.  The following is a good summary by an unknown author.

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

 In today’s world anything seems to go, but as Christians, our minds can become a dangerous place when we don’t make time to meditate and reflect upon God and his word.  Ask yourself, how much of your day is spent doing any of the following?

1. Focusing on the faults of others (i.e. being critical of others)?
2. Feeling angry over a situation that took place.
3. Worrying about this or that?
4. Thinking about that TV or radio show you listened to?
5. And on, and on, and on…….

God calls us to think about something else.

St. Paul, in speaking to the Phillipians said, “Finally, my brothers, your thoughts should be wholly directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise.” (Phillipians 4:8)  Meditating upon God’s word helps us in this endeavor as we read and pray asking the Holy Spirit to teach us.

There used to be a program on the public TV station called “The Master Programmer”.  It was not speaking about someone programming a computer, but changing one’s mind by what they listened to allowing to come into their minds.  The program focused on how the wiring of our minds could be affected by the things of our past, our present and things we will experience in the future.  In other words, we are a reflection of our past, present and future.  What we can become though, will be based upon what we let into our mind and eventually our spirit and soul.  Proverbs 4:20-22 says, “My son, to my words be attentive, to my sayings incline your ear; Let them not slip out of your sight, keep them within your heart; For they are life to those who find them, to man’s whole being they are health.”

St. Paul says, “Indeed, God’s word is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword.  It penetrates and divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the reflections and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)  When we ponder reflecting on God’s word and what it means for our life, God can use that same word to transform us and mold us into who God wants us to be.  St. Paul speaks to Timothy about the hardships of the Christian life he is called to and how he is to conduct himself.  He reminds him as follows, “Reflect on what I am saying for the Lord will make my meaning fully clear.” (2 Timothy 2:7) God will speak to our hearts and he will reveal more to us regarding who he wants us to become and even give us direction, the more we spend time meditating on his word in our lives.

God’s word normally provides inspiration, teaching, commands and why the they are important.  Think of the mechanic teaching an apprentice or a coach training an athlete.  Each of them provides instructions that must be followed, practiced and reflected upon in order to grow to become a better mechanic or athlete.  Let me use two examples here.  Psalm 1 says, “Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, not sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)  It is important for us to understand why God wrote scripture the way he did.  When we hear this word (read the Psalm again), we should be asking the Holy Spirit, why does God wants this.  If we read a bit further, we read, “He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields it fruit in due season, and who leaves never fade.  Whatever he does, prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)  Stop for a moment and close your eyes.  Before you is a river full and running.  You see trees across the way.  Some of them have green leaves, but they are not so bright.  Some even look dry and some are turning brown or have holes in them.  Now you turn your gaze to the trees along the river and see their leaves are green,  full, bright and hearty.  You see an Oak tree full of acorns and another tree with large fruit in it.  The Lord speaks to you and says, I have planted you here, to care and nourish you just like the other trees around you.  I give you living water, so that you flourish and have abundance of life.  You will be able to bear fruit for me, so that others too may be planted here.  I have done this, because I love you.  You have chosen to follow me as you ponder my word day and night.

Let’s look at another example from Ephesians 6, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for that is what is expected of you.  ‘Honor your father and mother’ is the first commandment to carry a promise with it.”  And what is that promise?  Scripture says, “that is may go well with you and that you may have long life on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:1-3)  God wants to teach us what he is like and how he wants us to follow him.  He wants us to see his promises, so that our expectations for what he is able to do can grow in our lives and our faith increase as we love him more and more and bear fruit.

Sister Ann Shields writes often and speaks on a radio program called, “Food for the Journey” reflecting and meditating on God’s word.  She provides examples from God’s word to speak to people.  She encourages people to daily spend time in his word, even to the point, that we should never miss doing this unless there is some emergency in our family or life.  One reflection she did from her book “To Be Like Jesus” was on Luke 5, where Jesus tells Peter to go back out and cast his net one more time.  She says, “Can you imagine them thinking, ‘He is not familiar with the lake; He doesn’t have the experience we do.’  You could understand, couldn’t you, if the disciples said, ‘Jesus, that’s a bad idea, and we don’t want to waste the time going out again.  We’ve been out all night.  The fish aren’t biting.  We’ll try another day.”  She goes on to say, “Nevertheless, with all the know-how Simon has gained from experience, look at what he says to Jesus: ‘We have worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at your word, because you have asked it, even though it makes no sense to me, I will take the boats back out.’  Simon heeds the word from Jesus to ‘let down the nets’, and the result is the biggest catch they have ever had.”  She shares an important point then in her reflection by asking questions.  “Have you had such an experience in your life?  How did you handle it?  Did your faith grow?  If you haven’t had an experience like this, imagine it.  How might you respond?  How strong is your faith in a God who wants to care for you in every circumstance?”  Meditating on God’s word has to be done with our entire being when we enter into this.  It is not just reading the sacred scriptures, but asking questions like the ones above, doing study, especially on words we read and may not understand. We should think of it like food that we see, that looks good.  We want to understand it, taste it, digest it to see what it is really like.

In his book, “The Gospel Marinated Soul”, Ryan Pelton, a protestant pastor, discusses how the Puritans in the 1600s and 1700s approached meditation on God’s Word from the teaching called “A Puritan Theology”.  They used a three step process as follows:

1. Prepare your mind and heart to focus on the Lord, and not the worries of the day.

Pastor Pelton says from the moment we get up, our minds tend to immediately focus on the tasks, worries and anxieties of the day.  He says we must pray and ask God to free us from these worries, so we can focus our minds and hearts on God and his Word.

2. Confess and repent of any known sins.

Here he conveys this idea, “The Psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievious way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24), and “hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).  We need to ask God to search our hearts, and to confess known sin, before him and others.”

3. Come to meditation feeling the weight and seriousness of it.

Finally he says, “When we sit before God and his Word, we are not sitting merely before an equal.  We are sitting before the God of the universe in all his power, glory and grace.  We need to feel the weight of who God is and how awesome he truly is, as we meditate on the Scriptures.”

He calls this process, the process of marinating on God’s word where we enter into the presence of God in a way that calls us to grow ever more in a closer relationship with God that leads us to understand God’s Word this way, “If we never get our hearts in a place to encounter God’s grace, mercy, power and love, we can never grow in a knowledge of God” and “The more we grow in our love for the Word, and the God of the Word, new desires are cultivated in us to walk in obedience, holiness and a deeper pursuit of Christ.”

So practically, how do we do this.  Here are some thoughts Pastor Pelton provides on how to approach meditating daily.

1. First pray and ask God to help you in this journey. We need his guidance and help from the Holy Spirit to enter in.  Talk to God about the areas of struggles to do this and ask him to help you.
2. Find a bible that helps you to read God’s Word. There are many bibles out there, but some are more helpful as you study.  A good bible is the Bible Study version.  It has footnotes and reflections to help you, if you are a beginner.  You can also use study guides that help you ask questions and think about the application in your own life.
3. Set realistic goals. If you are a morning person, it might be better to get up a bit early.  If you are a night person, it might be better to look at doing this in the evening.  If you are new to this, don’t set a goal to read the entire bible.  Start with a smaller book or section of the bible.  Ask God to show you what you can handle in this time and then grow as time goes on. Also, we learn over time.  Think of the soldier who keeps working toward becoming a better shot.  It is muscle memory that has been practiced over and over until it becomes a normal habit that is well learned and understood.  It is same with any endeavor in life.  We must start small and build on our habits and skills over time.  Remember, it is a journey, so build good habits over time.
4. Community is very important. We need good solid teaching to ensure we are growing correctly and we understand God’s Word correctly.  By being part of a community, we can ask questions of those who have studied longer and done this.  We also need to be held accountable to others that have the same goals.
5. Find a place where there are little to no distractions. While this is not always possible, it helps to be able to keep focus on what you are doing during this time.
6. A comfortable posture is important. For instance, if you start early morning or late night and you are tired, being in a place that is too comfortable may lead you to fall asleep.  You can sit, stand or lie down, but ensure your heart and mind are able to focus on God.
7. Finally, prepare your heart. Meditating on God’s Word can become a chore or routine, if we don’t prepare to work through the difficult times when we don’t want to do this.  When you find yourself struggling, talk to God about your struggle and ask him to help you be persistent.  Grow in knowing yourself and your limitations and seek God’s help to transform you.

In summary, my challenge for you is take to heart what I have shared with you and choose to begin this journey.  As you do this, when you are reading, do it a few times.  Read it out loud and even write it down.  A study shows that when we write down something we are reading or thinking about, our ability to remember it grows exponentially.  Find songs that use his Word and sing them as part of this time.  Ask God to open his word to you and let it speak to your heart?  Ask him what he will do through his word in your life.  You might even think about the Lexio Divinia process, reading slowly, contemplatively over the scriptures. If you have a smart phone, you can visit the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops site (www.usccb.org) and when you click on any date from the calendar for the daily readings on the right hand side, at the bottom of the daily readings, you can sign up to receive them directly in your inbox daily.  You can then use it when you are at Mass, at work, eating, etc. to read and reflect over and over each day.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to commit to a time each day and allow the word to speak to you treasuring it in your heart and mind, so that you have it with you always.  God can use that to recall his word to you when you find yourself in certain situations and don’t know what to do.  It can even be a way he uses you to speak to others when an opportunity presents itself.

Let us pray.  Lord, speak to our hearts today.  Help us to know and come to love you more through your word you have given to us.  Show us how it can transform our lives and free us to be who you want us to be.  Holy Spirit, teach us through your word, so we daily follow you in this life and know all truth.  We ask this through Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.