“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” – Joshua 1:8 KJV
Mediation is one of the most common practices of our models of faith in both the Old and New Testaments. It is the practice of thinking through, pondering upon, or ruminating over a thing – in this case – the word of God.
The Hebrew words most often translated as “meditate” in the Old Testament are hāgâ and sîḥâ, which means “to sigh or murmur”, “to muse” or “rehearse in one’s mind”.
The word of God not meditated upon can not produce the desired result. The our opening text, it says for us to meditate so that we can do all that is written. If we don’t meditate on the Word. i.e. intentionally calling back all we learned to our conscious memory, we might forget them.
As powerful as the words in the scripture are, if not meditated upon, they just become literary material. The operational power in the Word of God is fully harnessed when it is meditated upon. Meditation, for a believer, is to the end that he can fully comprehend and do the will of the Father. Through mediation, we can mechanically “program” our minds, conscience, and our entire faculty to function in the will of God, which is the Word of God.
Proverbs 4:20-22 says; “My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them amid thine heart..” Mediation is not just something we do at our convenience, it is a practice that requires discipline and consistency. An effort at retaining and recalling information to consciousness.
In Joshua 1:8, we are given a template to follow. He says; we are to meditate on the words Day and Night. David also says in Psalms 1:2 that we are to; … meditate on the law day and night”. He even showed us how he does it in his own life in Psalms 63: 6. He says, “On my bed, I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night”.
Not to make it legalistic, Meditation can be practiced at any time of your convenience and for how long too. However, it must be practiced. There are so many things that strive for our attention in the world, making it difficult to set aside time for what truly matters. If an intentional system is not put in place for this practice, it may never happen.
Just in case you are asking How to cultivate and sustain this habit of daily meditating on God’s word. Here are some tips for you;
- Create a plan around it: There is a 90% chance that you will not do what you do not plan for. You first need to know to meditate, so create time to read the word. For example, you can plan to read through the first four books of the New Testament in the next two months. That being your overall goal, you then need to create action points within this goal. It could be to wake up at 6 am every day to read two chapters.
- Treat your meditation time as sacred: Get rid of any distractions, set alarms/reminders, and organize other activities around this.
- Avoid speed-reading: Take your time and give it your utmost attention. Remember your goal is to let the word of God dwell richly in you. Col 3:16
- Get a note and write things: It’s often said that you do not lose what you write down. Habakkuk 2:2
- Write down little notes that you can stick in your home, office, and devices that bring to mind what you’ve read to mind.
- Repetitively declare the word: There is power in repetition, it helps to keep your mind
