Devotional | Meditation: The Secret Place of Your Heart
Much has been written about Spiritual Disciplines which contribute to your spiritual maturity. Some of these Christian Disciplines include reading your Bible, prayer, and fasting, but there is one discipline that the enemy has tried to twist out of our grasp—meditation. Christian meditation is a powerful and profound discipline that will bear great fruit if you make it part of your personal walk with the Lord. Let’s find out what it means to meditate.
Give ear to my words, O Lord , Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord ; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. Psalms 5:1-3 NKJV
Often, meditation and prayer are used interchangeably. Meditating on the Lord is one of the highest forms of prayer. There are many different kinds of prayer in the Bible—the prayer of faith, the prayer of agreement, the prayer of petition, prayers of intercession—and meditation is communicating with the Lord. In other words, prayer. You are setting your heart on the Lord and opening your spirit for a two-way conversation to take place.
Jesus talks about feeding on the word of God. He said in Matthew 4:4 when the devil was tempting him, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Peter echoes this concept in 1 Peter 2:2, when he said as newborn babies, we need to desire the sincere milk of the word of God so that we may grow.
God’s word is compared to bread and milk or nourishment. How do we feed on His word? Christian meditation is the way you can taste and see that the Lord is good. Meditation is the way you move from information to transformation. And meditating on the things of the Lord is the path from hearing the word to doing the word. Many believers also ask this question: How do we renew our mind?
God’s word is compared to bread and milk or nourishment. How do we feed on His word? Christian meditation is the way you can taste and see that the Lord is good. Meditation is the way you move from information to transformation. And meditating on the things of the Lord is the path from hearing the word to doing the word. Many believers also ask this question: How do we renew our mind?
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 NKJV
Be aware, this is not talking about the removing of your mind, but the renewing of your mind. The word renewing in this verse indicates reconstruction or renovation—tearing out the old and replacing it with the new. Christian meditation is the way you renew your mind, by letting the Lord show you what needs to go and replacing it with His word.
Meditation is the secret place of your heart. Jesus says in Matthew 6:6, when you pray, go into your room and when you’ve shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place. We all need to find our time and space to meet God in the secret place. Life and schedules often make this a challenge, but we must all find a time and space to commune with God. It doesn’t need to be a closet to be a holy place. It can be in your car, in the woods, under an apron (like Suzanna Wesley), or in a deer stand.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord , my strength and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14 NKJV
Meditation involves the thoughts of your heart and allowing the Lord to show you where your thought patterns are not in sync with His. As you allow scripture to roll over and over in your thoughts (even just one verse), the Lord makes it come alive and it then becomes part of who you are.
Christian meditation does not contain any of the perversions that Satan uses to hijack the benefits of meditation. There is no New Age transcendence or Middle Eastern altered consciousness. Christ is IN YOU, the hope of glory. Christian meditation is what we read about in the Psalms.
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah Psalms 46:10-11 NKJV
Meditation is waiting on the Lord by being still before Him. It is developing a relationship with God—knowing God, hearing God, and finding God in the busyness of your life and the confusion of this world. It is not emptying your mind, but quieting your mind and concentrating on God’s thoughts, His ways, and His love.
It takes faith and courage to meditate on the word of God rather than your natural circumstances, your struggles, or your fears. Meditating is pondering, or being deep in thought. It is picturing, or visualizing the truth of God’s word. And it is uttering, or speaking out loud what you are seeing and hearing. When you hear the Lord in your heart, speaking it out loud gives you another mode of absorbing His word—your ears HEAR what your mouth is saying and it goes deeper into your spirit.
Today, take back what the devil has tried to steal from you. The discipline of meditation was in the scriptures long before the New Age movement and even before Middle Eastern mysticism came on the scene. Meditation is a powerful weapon that strengthens your relationship with the Lord and prepares you to stand against deception. Take some time today and ask the Lord to teach you how to meditate on His word.
For more information on Christian Meditation Brother Duane’s Message on Christian Meditation
Get a FREE download of scripture references related to Christian Meditation. Christian Meditation Scriptures
