Someone might say they do not have time to meditate on His Word or memorize, But the reality is that we ALL Meditate…It is what we think about continuously, and bring our thoughts back to, thinking on it, re-thinking, analyzing, inwardly speaking to ourselves about, over and over, sometimes it can be worries, fears, or a future event we are hoping, wishing for. Sometimes, it can be repeatedly thinking on past sins, failures, over and over again and getting bogged down, slipping into despair, hopelessness, as continually bringing it back up to chew on again and again…that is meditating! So we all do meditate. We just choose to meditate on the wrong things at times! And this is common for believers, followers of the LORD Jesus, can get caught up with allowing the evil one to bring a thought to mind and fail to immediately relate it to the LORD Jesus and what He says in His Word and instead relate it to ourselves. And we play it over and over, thinking, thinking, thinking on it and though there may be breaks, we tend to come back to that again and again…and so we are meditating, thinking about it, and talking about it to ourselves. It is a habit we have cultivated and continue to turn to.
God honoring Meditating, is focusing your thoughts on one thing and thinking on it over and over, speaking to yourself about it…and reflecting on what God’s Word says about Him, His promises, His will, His ways, and so God can speak to you with intent to influence your thinking, so you align with God’s thinking as revealed in His Word to shape your thinking, motivations and choices in your living!
Some say you need to get your mind “empty,” in order to meditate and “clear” your mind of everything, where Scripture would have us empty our mind of wrong thinking, lies, and instead “Fill “our mind, with Scripture to know God better, get His perspective on life and to influence our attitudes, motivations, and choices. His Word is “truth,”-{Read John 17:17}. We are to think continuously and dwell on truth.-{Read Phil 4:8-9} and thinking about Him who is Truth, the LORD Jesus who is “the way, the TRUTH, the life. “-{Read John 14:6}. “And Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” -{Read John 8:31-32}. Paul wrote, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”- {Galatians 5:1}. We are free from the penalty and power of sin, the bondage to be dominated, controlled by sin, set free to walk in newness of life by the Power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are free from the authority of satan, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”-{Colossians 1:13-14}. So, the good news, indeed the GOD NEWS is that we are free no longer to be controlled by sin, though tempted but now we have the power to say no to sin and yes to Him as Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age…” So, we are FREE to FOLLOW The LORD Jesus and know it is a FIGHT against the world system, the flesh and the evil one… but we can walk with Him and we can change the way we think and grow in our faith, no longer tossed to and fro by different teachings but growing up and becoming more spiritually stable because of the Truth of the Word of God ruling in our thinking, directing our decision making!
One way we RETRAIN our thinking is to “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.“- {Read Colossians 3:1-2}. We get a heavenly mind to help us live on earth applying Heaven’s perspective and priorities, as we renew our mind in His WORD, as the Holy Spirit helps us do so.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will…Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.“- {Read Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8-9}.
Here is a great verse as regards what meditation looks like, “So I applied my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things.” Ecclesiastes 7:25
Is it a fight for your mind? Yes, some days worse than others, “BUT GOD…”…“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.”-{Phil 2:13 nlt}.
One way is to take a verse and read it several times and then re-read and emphasize One word at a time as you read and re-read until you have emphasized every word from first to last one word at a time and for example, if you were to memorize, meditate upon His Word in Psalm 1:2 there are 19 words in the verse, so you would repeat it 19 times emphasizing one word at a time, speaking it out and the underlined word saying louder as emphasis, as I have demonstrated through highlighting in BOLD…for example, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- {Psalm 1:2}.”But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”-“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- ” But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”-” But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- ” But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”- You get the idea.,. AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT you will have memorized and can recall again and again and the Holy Spirit can bring back to your mind years later when needed!
PSALM 1:2 – “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”
And here is something to encourage you, the more you meditate on the Word, studying it, thinking it over and over, speaking to yourself about it, connecting it to other verses, and as the Holy Spirit teaches and explains the Scriptures to you, the more you will delight and return again and again to that which is nourishing your soul!
“Delights” in the Word of God. “Delight” refers to taking great enjoyment, pleasure, satisfaction in something and the Psalmist finds it in…the Word of God! It captures his affection, consumes, satisfies, and as a result he, …” Meditates on the Word of God day and night…” Constantly turning their thinking over to meditate about God and the things of God…when you have free moment’s, the mind like the needle of a compass returns to due north so the one who delights in God and His Word returns their attention and focus there! Not a “have to” but a “delight” to! The more you are in the Word the more you want to. The less you are in it the less you want to. Peter compared it to babies whose natural inclination is to crave milk, so the spiritual new babe desires the milk of the Word that they might “grow,’ spiritually and also to sustain, satisfy them and taste and see that the LORD Is Good! -(Read 1 Peter 2:2-3.) For it leads them to the knowledge of Him, His character, Will, ways, promises, and the Person. “DELIGHTS” in Him who causes their soul to delight and as a result Meditates over and over again on HIS Word… For it reveals HIM… “…He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.“-{Luke 24:27}…And as result, something happens, namely,…
We feed our mind with His Word, and depending upon Him to remind us when our minds are straying and to develop and strengthen new Godly habits in our THINKING…in those quiet moments, CHOOSING to THINK on His Word.