Prayer was always something I struggled with at times. I prayed but I believe if you are a person of action you will struggle with prayer. In my mind it seems so much easier to
just do something and not slow down and pray.
In my journey to grow in prayer, I learned how wrong that idea was in some hard ways. All it took was a few times when my action and effort were not going to have any
impact at all. The situation was beyond me and my efforts no matter how hard I might try. It just didn’t matter. I had no control of the circumstance. And I began to see that
was the reality even when I tricked myself into thinking otherwise. So, I learned this lesson:
I give up control to God and prayer leads me on that path: Prayer Lesson #1.
MY BIGGEST PRAYER LESSON–BIBLICAL MEDITATION
My next lesson about prayer is what the rest of this blog is about. So, I began to regularly turn to God in prayer knowing my efforts were ultimately weak and frail at best.
My prayers began to change. There was much more dependence and trust and faith in my prayers but there was still a problem.
Unless there was some big issue or task (I had learned Lesson #1), my other prayers seemed to me to be shallow and weak. “I need this, God. Bless the church. Bless the
family. Keep everybody safe and well.” I realized that honestly I could pray those prayers just once a year just to remind God because He already knew anyway how my
prayers were directed.
Then I read this by J. I. Packer in a book called Knowing God: “Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to
oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God.” I was introduced to meditation as a bridge to prayer. First,
I had to realize there were lots of verses about meditation in the Bible: “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 (NLT). “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it
day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
So meditation wasn’t something strange or weird or evil (not transcendental meditation, for example). It was in the Bible! And I was supposed to be doing it.
What is Biblical Meditation?
Simply, meditation is taking a truth from the Bible that I knew in my head or read in scripture, and working it into my heart so it would be real to me, and not just a cold
fact. And then let that truth guide my prayer.
How do we do Biblical meditation?
I like to read a short passage of scripture aloud a few times, and allow its words and meanings soak in. For example: “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart,
I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” Psalm 103:1-2 (NLT). As you are about to pray, focus on
the words–forget not all His benefits. Ask: (1) What are some of the benefits of God in my life that have been clearly obvious to me lately? (2) Which of those benefits do I
tend to take for granted? (3) What do I learn about God as I think of all He has done for me? Then I pray. My prayer will then reflect the truth of scripture and help me
see my life and how it should be shaped in light of God’s truth.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Let the truth of scripture soak into my heart and as I reflect on God’s truth, let my prayer reflect the truth of God and how it changes me: Prayer Lesson #2.
This lesson on Biblical meditation has changed and is changing my prayers as I read God’s Word, take a truth, let it soak in, and let that truth change me and lead me in
prayer. “I remember the days of old. I ponder all Your great works and think about what you have done. I lift my hands to You in prayer. I thirst for You as parched land
thirsts for rain.” Psalm 143:5-6 (NLT). I pray that these verses will be true of you and me. If it isn’t, we can ask God to help make it so.
