The Spiritual Rewards of Meditation

Francis Quarles, a 16th Century poet said, "Meditation is the life of the soul: Action, the soul of meditation, and honor the reward of action."

Diana Robinson said, "Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God."

Swami Sivananda, an author of yoga, said, "Practice meditation regularly. Meditation leads to eternal bliss. Therefore meditate, meditate."

The spiritual discipline of meditation is design to focus our thoughts on God and to reflect on the Scriptures so that we can place our mind back on God and His purpose for our life.

Spiritual meditation is not about feelings, exercises or some type of breathing technique, but rather, it's an opportunity to empty oneself of the worldly thoughts and set the mind on the spiritual things of life.

Throughout the bible, there are several different meanings used for meditation. In the Old Testament, Meditation is described as: to ponder, imagine, mourn, musing, pray, complaint, reflection, devotion and commune. In the New Testament, meditation is described as: Revolve in the mind or to take care of.

Reasons to meditate:
To praise God: Psalm 63:6, David's meditation was about appreciation toward God for taking care of all his needs. "When I remember you on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches."

To please God: Psalm 19:14, David's meditation was about his words and thoughts. David viewed his life as a sacrifice to God and wanted his words and thoughts to please God. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you...."

To deal with bad feelings toward God: Psalm 39:3, David's meditation was about dealing with God's discipline for a sin he had committed. David struggled and was complaining. In his meditation, he dealt with his feelings toward God's discipline. "My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned...."

To study God's Word: Psalm 119:15, The Psalmist found strength and comfort in meditating on God's Word. Out of the 176 verses, the writer references God's Word in some type of form in all but 5 verses. "I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways." Meditating on God's Word will enable us to deepen our relationship with God, Jesus, and Spirit.

The idea of meditation from the Christian perspective is not to detach, as the Eastern Religions will teach, but rather, to connect with God.


The Meditation found in Scripture isn't based on concentrating on an earthly object, nor is it to create a mantra where we repeat words over and over again, but rather, to focus our attention on God's Word so that our minds will remain spiritually focused on God and on prayer, where we keep the doors of communication open with God

What meditation will do:
#1. It will spiritually cleanse us: Meditation will detox the mind in order to prepare it for the transformation. Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline says: "In the discipline of meditation we are not so much acting as we are opening ourselves to be acted upon. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and work within us – cleansing [us]."

#2. It will transform our minds: Our mind gets filled with negative and godless clutter that takes our attention away from godly living. The spiritual cleansing will get our minds cleaned up, but the transformed mind will get the mind back into focus. Paul said in Romans 12:2, "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."

Meditation will help transform thinking and behavior and enhance the spiritual life.

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian