How to Meditate the Bible

Meditation in God’s Word is the process by which we change our thinking to line up and come into agreement with God’s Thoughts, which are higher than our thoughts.

Meditation is not the devil’s idea or creation. That liar never created anything. What he does is tries to contradict and use God’s principles in reverse so that man can in various ways destroy himself/herself. These are called the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)

God gave us the process of meditation for the purpose of aligning our thoughts with His Thoughts, thereby enabling us to live as He would have us live, yes, even by His life, while in our natural bodies. However, the adversary has attempted to use this Biblical Principle against man. Through eastern religions of various kinds many have been misguided and deceived into all kinds of mind altering and hallucinating states, which are not godly and really, in the end, lead to the destructing of those who practice the negative form of this principle.

God gave us the positive way, which is the right way, the proper way, the safe way and the most beneficial way of meditation, which is filling our thoughts with the thoughts of God.

The adversary has told many that to meditate is to empty one’s mind of any thought. This is gross error. We must remember that the mind is the gateway to the heart, the spirit. And when you just sit idly by emptying your mind and releasing it to whatever is out there floating in the universe, you may be setting it up to be taken over by evil spirits, foreign spirits that would attempt to control, manipulate and deceive you, and ultimately destroy your soul.

Don’t empty your mind. Many of us don’t have much in there now. Don’t empty it. Fill it with the Word of God.

When the Lord spoke to us of meditation, He spoke of it in relation to His Word. Notice the following Scriptures:

Joshua 1:8

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Notice here that God tells Joshua that he is to meditate in the law of the Lord (the Word of God), day and night. He was to fill his mind with God’s Word, not empty it. He was not to sit down, get comfortable and think about nothing. He was to give his mind to the Word of God. Fill his mind with God’s Word. Now let us look at another Scripture concerning meditation.

Psalms 1:1-2

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law (Word) of the Lord; and in His law (Word) doth he meditate day and night.”

I trust that you can see once again God admonishing us to meditate in His Word, day and night. He does not ask us to empty our minds. Instead He tells us to fill our thoughts with the Word of the Lord. So meditation is thinking God’s Word and thinking based upon the Word. And the results of meditation are manifold, beneficial and indeed glorious and life transforming.

Now that we have established the fact that meditation is thinking God’s Word, let us now look at how to practically do it. First let us note what it means to meditate.

The word meditate, in both Joshua 1:8 and Psalms 1:1-2, come from the Hebrew word, Hagah. According to James Strong’s Concordance of the Bible, Hagah means the following:

1. To muse

2. To mutter

3. To speak

4. To imagine

5. To ponder

6. To think.

Let us look at what these words mean to gain a better understanding of their operations.

1. To muse means to mull over, to consider, to reflect in and to chew over. Just as a cow chews the hay, swallows and regurgitates, even so we are to muse over the Word of God, thinking deeply upon it so that we can drink in the richness and sweetness of its meanings to the end that we may apply His Word to our lives.

2. To mutter means to murmur, to speak softly, and to whisper. In essence it means to speak to yourself over and over, pondering His Word to gain more and more understanding of its marvelous Truths.

3. To speak means to talk, to converse, to verbalize and articulate. We are to keep God’s Word in our mouths. Our words, the very words of our mouths have much to do with what we believe, and with the condition of our minds. We think what we speak and we speak what we think. Our words are the result of our thinking and at the same token, our thinking is the results of what we constantly say and hear spoken. Hence it is vital and indeed beneficial to us to speak God’s Word so that our minds can be absorbed in its revolutionary realities.

4. To imagine means to picture, envision, visualize and to see in your mind’s eye. This is powerful. You will live based upon what you see on the inside, in your mind. Your imagination is the ability to see your future as you desire it to be before you get there. Whether you know it or not you need to realize that your imagination is given to you by God so that you can shape the way you desire to live your life. However, if this area of your life is not brought into submission to the Will of God for you, it will be taken advantage of and damaged by the darkness of the world, meaning the evils of the world’s ungodly system, under the control of the evil one. Your imagination is very important in the process of the renewing of the mind and the transformation of your life. If you get this area under the control and influence of God’s Word, your transformation will be of such a nature that it will indeed seem as if you are a new person to those around you. Your attitude will be different. Your choices will be different. Your actions will be different. Your responses will be different. Everything will change. (More about this later).

5. To ponder means to consider, to think about, to think over, contemplate and deliberate, to brood over. We must think upon God’s Word to see what God the Father is saying to us. God’s written Word is God speaking to us. Many are saying that they need a now word from the Lord. All they need to do is, stop being lazy, pick up their bibles, read, study and meditate. We have God’s Word. It is God speaking to us. Let us therefore listen to what He has to say. Let us feed upon this Word for it is our spiritual food. Man cannot live by physical food only, but by every Word of God. (Matthew 4:4) The Bible is God’ Word. Eat it up child of God.

6. To think means to imagine, reflect, consider and believe.

God gave us our minds and He expects us to use them wisely. Meditating in God’s Word is important because it teaches us to think in line with what God says rather than leaning to our own minds and reasoning faculties. To advance spiritually, you must learn to value the practice of daily meditation in God’s Written Word, the Bible. And in order to do so, you will need to hear His Word, read His Word, study His Word and permit the Holy Spirit to enlighten you. He is the One who shows you what God’s Word means and makes it alive within you.

Here is an example of how to meditate God’s Word. I will use a particular verse of Scripture, one of my favorites, which, after you read this, may become one of your favorites as well.

Isaiah 41:10

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed: for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”

Take those first three words and ponder them:

God says, Fear thou not. To fear means to worry and be overly concern. It means to fret over a situation as if things will never get any better. It means to literally be in a depressed and anxious state over things that have not yet become a reality.

God says to your heart and to mine, fear thou not, do not worry, do not fret and be anxious. Thinking about this I see that I do not have to fear. If God tells me not to fear, I do not have to fear. I need not stay up all night, fretting over my problems. God sees this as unnecessary. For this reason He gives me, His beloved, sleep. He does not want me to worry. I can live fear free. Yes, He speaks to my heart and reminds me that He has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. His perfect love cast out fear. I do not need to fear. Why? Look at the next clause in Isaiah 41:10. “Fear thou not for I am with thee.” Ponder and muse upon this. God says I do not need to fear and worry because He is with me. God is with me. He is not just way up there in Heaven. He is with me. He is with me NOW. He is with me, even while I am going through my situations and circumstances. He is with me. God, the Almighty God is with me. He has power to help me through anything I may face. He is with me. He is Wisdom. He has the answers that I need. He will always have the answers that I need for any circumstance. He is with me. He is for me. And if He be for me, who can successfully be against me? Who? What? Nobody and nothing. He is with me NOW. He is for me. He is in me. And, Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.”

Then God says, “be not dismayed.” To be dismayed means to be distressed, disappointed, distraught, troubled, sad, in tears, offended and wounded. God does not want you or I to be sad. He does not want us to be troubled, distraught, and disappointed. I muse and meditate upon these things. I think on this. God does not want me to be sad. Why? Because, “He is my God.” Think about that. Say that aloud. God is my God. God means Provider. God means Protector. God means strength. God means Sustainer. God means Healer. God means all that I need, all that I will ever need. Oh, glory to God. I feed upon His Word. He is my God. I need no other. He is my God. Its personal. Mine. He is my God. I remember the apostle Paul speaking in such terms when he told the saints at Philippi, “But my God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19).

Look at how Paul words this. My God shall supply all your need. My God. He speaks in such personal terms when he speaks of the Father. God is God. God is God over all the world. God is God over the universe. But God is my God. He is mine. He tells me not to be dismayed and sad because He is my God. I can lean on Him. I can depend upon Him. I do not have to face my challenges alone. I need not go through life by myself. God is with me and Jehovah God is my God, my Strength, my Source of Power and Victory.

Then God says, I will strengthen thee. He strengthens me. I do not need to stay weak. I get strength from His strength. He is my strength. Ponder these words carefully. I can handle anything because He is my Strength. I remember what the Psalmist says in the 27 Psalm. “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear. The Lord is the strength of the life; of whom shall I be afraid.”

God is my strength. He strengthens me, NOW. Then He says, “Yea”. Wow. Yea means YES. This means God is the guarantee of His promise. He will keep His Word to me. Yes what? Yes, I will help thee. I think and ponder the depth of this promise, this guarantee. God says that He will help me. Help me do what? Surely not help me do evil for God is Holy. So what will He help me do? He will help me do those things that are wholesome and necessary and according to His Will for me. He will help me to accomplish things that I cannot do on my own. He will help me to reach my God-given goals and dreams, those aspirations that He placed within my heart. He is my Strength. He is also my Help. I need His help to get through the various challenges I face from day to day. I need His help to do His Will for my life. I need His help to choose godly friends, to choose wisely in life. I need His help to know which paths to take and which to avoid. I need His help to know who I can trust and who I cannot trust in this age of deception. Oh, I need His help. But I need not fear. He has promised it. He has guaranteed it. He will help me. Oh Glory to God.

Then God promises, “I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” God gives me His Word, His unfailing Word that He will uphold me. He will hold me up. He will not let me fall. He will not let me fail. As long as I walk in His Will for my life He will uphold me. Dare I think failure? Dare I think defeat? Dare I think misery and utter chaos.? No, I refuse to. God says He will uphold me. Dare I doubt Him? Never.

This is just my thinking upon and pondering this verse of Scripture. Now that I have firmly grasp the definitions of this particular passage, I am now ready to imagine and visualize myself walking in its reality. Now, I must see myself not fearing, being anxious and worrying about anything. I must see myself walking with God, communing with Him, speaking to Him about the things that I face. I must see myself hearing His Voice, as He, by His Spirit, through His Word leads me and shows me the path that I must take. I must see and visualize Him as He strengthens me, giving me the ability, His supernatural ability to handle the challenge.

Can you see it? Can you see Almighty God giving you all the strength, power and wisdom, you need as you deal with your situation of circumstance. Can you see Him giving you a stable, discipline and calm mind, so that you can deal wisely in the affairs of life, without freaking out and acting outside of the realm of proper, reason, good sense and good judgment?

I see Him giving me strength and making me strong. Yes, I see Him helping me. He is showing me what to do, how to get what I have to do done more efficiently and effectively. I see Him increasing my capacity to understand what I need to understand so that I can know what to do, how to do it and when to do it, who to speak to about what I am doing and who not to speak to, yes, He is giving me of His wisdom.

I can see Him upholding me through His Holy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will not let me fail. He, through Jesus is keeping me. Thank God for His saving power. But Thank Almighty God also for His keeping power. He is keeping me.

The darkness and ignorance of spiritual blindness and apathy is all around. People don’t know what to do. They seem to be caught in a maze of failure, despondency and despair. No matter how hard they try, they are puzzled with the current state of affairs and with the constant state of their affairs. Terror, panic and fear is all around. And yet, in the midst of it all God is keeping me, upholding me, holding me up and keeping me together, through Jesus.

Many are losing their minds. Many are seeing suicide as their only alternative. Yet I am at peace. My mind is alert and sharp. My thinking is not filled with woe and doom and disaster. It is rather consumed with the thoughts of God, filled with God’s promises of deliverance from danger. He keeps me. He that keepeth Israel keeps me. He does not slumber, nor sleep. He keeps me. Yes, He keeps me in perfect peace, because my mind in stayed on Him. (Isaiah 26:3)

Because I constantly meditate upon Him and His Word, He keeps me safe, stable and secure. I rest in Him. Nothing moves me. I am of a cool spirit. Praise His Name.

Meditation in His Word, thinking upon it, pondering it, visualizing and imagining myself doing it and thereby living in the benefits God’s Word guarantees causes my mind to become agreeable to His Will.

I trust that this article gives you a starting point from which you can learn the awesomeness of meditating the Scriptures until the Blessed Holy Spirit makes it come alive within your heart and mind.