Comments on: Should Christians Meditate?

By: Dori

Dori — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 05:36:47 +0000

Meditation is not about emptying, it is about slowing your thoughts, creating more space between your thoughts – and this helps to relax your body. I find it much more effective in my meditation practice to clear the clutter in the mind first, and then fill it with God’s word. If you add God’s word to the clutter, it is harder to hear God speaking. When you try to fill your mind with God’s word when it is cluttered, only half the glass of water will fit, if you clear/empty your mind and slow your thoughts, you can drink a full glass of God’s love. I’m reading a lot of fear about emptying – that is what I do first and I hear God speak often. Also, it is wonderful to repeat words/mantra – just choose the word Jesus or God to repeat – nothing wrong with that. I learned to meditate in my yoga training, and my yoga practice and meditation is what opened my heart, cleared my mind, and let go of judgement enough to bring me closer to God. And amidst the challenge in my life, I was able to hear God speak to me and it brought me to the foot of the cross. Yoga and Christianity is a beautiful combination as long as you stay focused on God and Jesus.

By: Alvaro

Alvaro — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:07:30 +0000

I’m sure that is something we as christians should do. Many scriptures support it. The problem why many people think meditating is wrong is because the negative connotation given by oriental religions that make them think it is about “emptying” our mind, whilst the word of God insists that we must “fill” our minds with God’s word. So we have to meditate, not by putting our mind in blank but by filling them with godly thoughts: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableâ€”if anything is excellent or praiseworthyâ€”think about such things.” Phil 4:8

By: Bill Owens

Bill Owens — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:12:40 +0000

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.Psalm 1-2 (NIV)
It seems to me that we are encouraged to meditate on the Word of God as a pathway to “Blessedness” and “success.” Meditation is the method of attaining God’s perspective through deliberate, focused thought regarding God’s Word. We fill our thoughts with His thoughts by looking at, speaking(muttering to ourselves) and writing the words we are meditating. When our thoughts are saturated with what we are meditating on we will have His perspective. God’s peace and joy will then flood our souls.

By: Gerry Parkes

Gerry Parkes — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:32:51 +0000

meditation on the word brings you closer to God.
Its through meditation that we can have a two way conversation with God,gaining an understanding of the direction he wants us to go in and knowing of what he wants us to do.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:06:00 +0000

Remembering, thinking about a scripture is NOT the same thing as the meditating concept that we are hearing today… Because of the influence of eastern religions we have to be VERY careful. Never empty your mind of thoughts or chant or make repetitions…

When we meditate, we remember the word, think about how we can apply that passage to our lives throughout the day, pray responding to that passage (for example, if the passage talks about being pure, then my prayer should be “God how can I be pure, show me the truth in my heart, so I can see what things are not pure in me, etc)

To summarize, I think that when the word says “meditating” it means that God wants us to think ACTIVELY of His word, He wants us to apply it to every detail of our lives, not passive meditating. Our focus should be not the passage itself, but what is God’s heart, what is he saying, what changes in our lives He is asking us to do…

God Bless you all and please be careful, a word as simple as “meditating” can confuse us and instead of putting us closer to God it can drive us away from him!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:56:34 +0000

Totally right!

By: FireSpeaks

FireSpeaks — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:02:46 +0000

The Bible has verse after verse on meditation; however because society has attached meditation to Yoga, Buddhism, Eastern philosophy, New Age Mysticism and other thoughts and religions, most never explore how fulfilling meditation is or what the Bible has to say about it.

When we quietly sit and think on Godâ€™s word, fully removed from the noises of this life, our ear pressed up against Godâ€™s word, like a frontiersman would have pressed against the ground, than from a far off we hear the rumbling of Godâ€™s voice and the deeper things of God that we would otherwise miss.

Prayer is how we speak to God, but meditation is how we listen to Him. I think I can say confidently that we develop a deeper walk with God when we meditate.

By: Celeste

Celeste — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:55:11 +0000

There is nothing wrong with meditating on the word of God. It doesn’t mean to meditate as these new age religions practice by clearing the mind and silence. It’s merely reflecting and remembering. The bible talks about meditating on the word multiple scriptures in Psalms talk about meditating for ex. Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:26:57 +0000

Mike I just read your post. Your exactly right. I read it after I had posted the dangers of contemplative prayer. Ray Yungen’s book “A time of departing” helped me understand this foolishness all in the name of “drawing closer to God”

By: Adele

Adele — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:28:40 +0000

I think my concern about this is that our imaginations are fallen. I’ve done studies on medieval mystics who performed these kinds of exercises and they received some counter-scriptural answers from ‘Jesus’ in their meditations. So it’s important to always match any experience with the Word, of course. But I agree with you that we are very much in need of rediscovering silence.