Meditating on the Word of God

On Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries radio broadcast this last week…he was talking about God’s pathway to success. During this message Dr. Stanley talked about meditating on the Word of God.

Being that I dabbled in new age philosophy before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior…I’m a little bit leery when I hear the word meditation. But Dr. Stanley quickly laid to rest any concerns I had when it comes to Christian meditation. It’s reading God’s word and going before the Lord with an open and teachable spirit…and asking God how you should apply this passage to your life.

Below are some notes I jotted down from Dr. Stanley’s message.

Meditating on God’s Word doesn’t just mean reading through the word of God over a year. It means reading the God’s word and asking the Lord to, “Speak to my heart”.

So how might you meditate on God’s Word…just using Psalm 1:1?

Psalm 1

New International Version
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.

Look at the words in the passage and say, “Lord you said walk a certain way, don’t stand with certain people, don’t walk with them, don’t stand with them, don’t sit with them. What are you saying to me Lord about my life?”

When you are meditating about the word of God…you are thinking strongly about it in light of what it’s saying about your life. What is it saying to me? What steps do you take to meditate on God’s Word?

1) Read it carefully
2) Think about it
3) Apply it to your heart
4) Ask several questions:

• Is there any sin in this passage that I am to avoid?
• Is there any truth that you want me to understand or comprehend that I have not understood before?
• Is there any promise here that I have been unwilling, or not been able in my lack of faith to believe you for, and accept as true in my own life?
• Is there some victory that I am to have in my life according to this passage of scripture?
• Is there some blessing that I am to enjoy?
• Is there some truth that I have missed?
  

Read the passage today, tomorrow and the next day. Take note pad in hand. Say to the Lord, “Speak to my heart and show me in this passage what you need to say to me about my life.”

One suggestion that I have that’s proved helpful in Bible Study Fellowship, is looking up a passage in several different translations. It may be phrased differently or stated in a way that helps you to understand the passage more fully. See a couple of different translations below on the same Psalm 1:1 passage.

New American Standard
1How blessed is the man who (A)does not walk in the (B)counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the (C)path of sinners,

Amplified Bible
1[a]BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

May God enrich your Bible study as you meditation on God’s Word daily.