Transformational Meditation
In 1968 the Beatles decided that material success was not enough to fill the void in their lives, so they traveled to India to meet with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the developer of Transcendental Meditation. He trained hundreds of thousands of people in the ways of TM, and in the process became very rich. They have the ambitious goal of creating heaven-on-earth through Transcendental Meditation, and have made the claim that meditation reverses the aging process, reduces the crime rate and lowers blood pressure. They also lead high-priced corporate seminars with the promised result of improved job performance and increased job satisfaction. To this day, due mainly to the amount of press the Maharishi received in the sixties, many associate the term "meditation" with the Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation.
If you stop the average person on the street and ask them about meditation, more than likely they will talk about sitting cross-legged in a trancelike state, reciting a mantra, and attempting to enter a state of "nothingness." In other words, most people on the street know very little about meditation
Unfortunately, the same thing can be said of many Christians. Many devout followers of Christ are convinced that meditation is bad - they identify meditation with the new age, the occult, or eastern religions. They think meditation equals Transcendental Meditation. Of course, they overlook the fact that meditation is a biblical idea. The word "meditate" or "meditation" appears about 2 dozen times in the Bible. In the Psalms we are encouraged - even commanded - to meditate. Paul exhorts us to meditate. As we look at the spiritual lives of the great saints of the Bible, we see meditation put into practice.
In Psalm 62, David gives us a clear example of what meditation is. We're going to take a closer look at this passage, and learn the biblical technique for meditation. There are three elements to biblical meditation.
First, there is attachment. Others religions teach that meditation means detachment. You want to separate yourself from your surroundings and empty your mind. So you can be completely detached. However, in Christianity our goal is to be attached to God. In Psalm 62:5 David said “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” I realize that in our lives this is tough. But if we could somehow separate ourselves from the business of life and could attach ourselves to God perhaps we could find more joy and meaning.
Second, there is expectation. Many of you have experienced the power of God in your life through answered prayer. My prayer for every one of you is to experience often the blessing of answered prayer. However, meditation moves us beyond simply "asking and receiving" and leads us into a deeper kind of communion with God that simply basks in his presence. David said, "For God alone my soul waits." Waiting on God means that we are yielded to him. It means that we have submitted ourselves to his timetable. It means that we have set aside our desire for worldly pleasure and will continue to seek his face. We haven't come to him for a blessing, we have come to rest in his presence. In fact, the phrase translated my soul waits has also been translated my soul rests. David is saying his place of comfort, his place of relaxation, his place of peace is in the presence of God. When we meditate, we commit ourselves to waiting on God in faith, and resting in his presence.
Finally, there is silence. The discipline of silence must be observed before we can hear the voice of God. It's a simple fact that you can't be talking and listening at the same time. The problem with our prayers is that they are often much too wordy - we spend too much time talking and not enough time listening. If prayer is really "communication with God" there has to come a point in the conversation when we let him speak to us. This can only happen if we allow ourselves to become silent.
I hope these words will encourage you to consider making meditation a part of your daily spiritual disciplines. Perhaps if we would spend more time listening for God we would discover more about Him and His plan for our lives. Who knows are lives could be transformed?
Just a thought!
Will
If you stop the average person on the street and ask them about meditation, more than likely they will talk about sitting cross-legged in a trancelike state, reciting a mantra, and attempting to enter a state of "nothingness." In other words, most people on the street know very little about meditation
Unfortunately, the same thing can be said of many Christians. Many devout followers of Christ are convinced that meditation is bad - they identify meditation with the new age, the occult, or eastern religions. They think meditation equals Transcendental Meditation. Of course, they overlook the fact that meditation is a biblical idea. The word "meditate" or "meditation" appears about 2 dozen times in the Bible. In the Psalms we are encouraged - even commanded - to meditate. Paul exhorts us to meditate. As we look at the spiritual lives of the great saints of the Bible, we see meditation put into practice.
In Psalm 62, David gives us a clear example of what meditation is. We're going to take a closer look at this passage, and learn the biblical technique for meditation. There are three elements to biblical meditation.
First, there is attachment. Others religions teach that meditation means detachment. You want to separate yourself from your surroundings and empty your mind. So you can be completely detached. However, in Christianity our goal is to be attached to God. In Psalm 62:5 David said “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” I realize that in our lives this is tough. But if we could somehow separate ourselves from the business of life and could attach ourselves to God perhaps we could find more joy and meaning.
Second, there is expectation. Many of you have experienced the power of God in your life through answered prayer. My prayer for every one of you is to experience often the blessing of answered prayer. However, meditation moves us beyond simply "asking and receiving" and leads us into a deeper kind of communion with God that simply basks in his presence. David said, "For God alone my soul waits." Waiting on God means that we are yielded to him. It means that we have submitted ourselves to his timetable. It means that we have set aside our desire for worldly pleasure and will continue to seek his face. We haven't come to him for a blessing, we have come to rest in his presence. In fact, the phrase translated my soul waits has also been translated my soul rests. David is saying his place of comfort, his place of relaxation, his place of peace is in the presence of God. When we meditate, we commit ourselves to waiting on God in faith, and resting in his presence.
Finally, there is silence. The discipline of silence must be observed before we can hear the voice of God. It's a simple fact that you can't be talking and listening at the same time. The problem with our prayers is that they are often much too wordy - we spend too much time talking and not enough time listening. If prayer is really "communication with God" there has to come a point in the conversation when we let him speak to us. This can only happen if we allow ourselves to become silent.
I hope these words will encourage you to consider making meditation a part of your daily spiritual disciplines. Perhaps if we would spend more time listening for God we would discover more about Him and His plan for our lives. Who knows are lives could be transformed?
Just a thought!
Will
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