Meditating on Scripture
Since Jesus did not own his own copy of the entire Bible, it’s likely he spent time in prayer meditating on scripture that he had committed to memory. (In a culture where oral tradition is so important, people developed amazing capacity for memorizing scripture.) In fact, the process of committing a text to memory could be thought of as a very basic form of meditating on scripture.
The Bible itself speaks of the value of meditating on scripture. “Thy word have I treasured in my heart” (Ps. 119: 11) The words of God are meant to be savored: “Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” (Ps. 19: 10)
A simple method for meditating on scripture.
Pick a text that your heart is already drawn to. Something that already speaks to you in some way. Pick a shorter text: a single verse, one of the shorter psalms (eg Ps. 23), a single episode in the gospels. A short paragraph from the writings of Paul.
When you are reasonably alert (coffee is good!) find a quiet place, free from the usual distractions. Set a time that you want to devote to this (eg 10 minutes) Decide that nothing is more important during this time—or that more important things can surely wait. Put the answering machine on.
3. Get yourself comfortable, but not so comfortable that you fall asleep.
Back more or less straight helps to stay alert. (If it helps you to relax
and focus, play some relaxing instrumental music. The best place of
course is where the sounds of nature can be heard—lakeside, birds
singing, wind in the trees.)
4. Still your body, take a deep breath, give yourself to time at hand.
Quietly open your heart to the Lord, asking him to speak
to you through his word.
5 Read the entire text, without trying to get anything out of it. Read it
again, slowly. A third time is good.
Go to any portion of the text your heart is drawn to and allow yourself to mull over it. If your heart is not drawn to any particular start at the
beginning and mull over the text in bite sized portions.
If you are mediating on a slightly longer text (like a psalm) stick with
a portion as long as it seems to speaking, then move on.
Remember, the goal is to “taste” the text, not to master it (like you would master information for an exam.) Don’t waste time analyzing whether or not you are getting anything out of the text. Just taste it. Your taste buds may be dull. Don’t worry, just taste what you can, not what you can’t.
A simple repetitive method: “Be still and know that I am God…”
Be…..Be still……Be still and…..
7. Use your imagination. (Love the Lord your God with all your mind,
heart, soul, strength, includes imagination.)
Remember, words are designed to stimulate the imagination: word tree evokes in your mind an image of a tree.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” [picture shepherd standing
near sheep; see yourself as one of the sheep—he’s standing taller, sees a wider horizon, holds the staff to keep away wolves…]
“He causes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters…” (sheep feel so safe, OK to lie down…)
Example: pick a scene from the gospels. Read it slowly. Then place yourself in the scene as one of the characters. Picture the setting. Picture the people in the setting. Picture yourself in the setting.
Healing of deaf & mute man in Mark 7: 31-38 Pick a character to be. For example the deaf and mute man.
First, what would it feel like to be deaf? (Cut off from others, out of it…)
Mute (people might think you were less intelligent than you are.
What might it feel like for friends/loved ones to be dragging you to see Jesus?
Picture Jesus taking you by the hand to lead you away from the crowd.
Imagine what it would feel like to have him stand right in front of you and place his fingers in your ears. To spit on his hand and touch your tongue.
The only “don’t” is rush! Give it time. When trying something new, we can often be self-conscious at first (observing ourselves doing, rather than simply giving ourselves to it.) Stick with it long enough to get beyond that. We also tend be quick to analyze or evaluate how “effective” or “productive” the time is. Easy does it. Give it time. Don’t rush. Remember, your heart is bigger than your mind. God’s word can exert influence on the whole of your being.
Brother Lawrence Exercise.
From Brother Lawrence: “Present yourself in prayer like a dumb and paralytic beggar at a rich man’s door.” Imagine that you are the beggar and Jesus is the rich man. Imagine what he would do upon seeing you.
TRY IT OUT….
Select a text. Use one of above methods to meditate on the text.
Recommended: Psalm 23, Mark 7: 31-38