EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was first published on Baptist Press.
Can Christians meditate in prayer? The eastern practice of meditation associated with Yoga and Hinduism has gone mainstream in American culture. Consider, for instance, this meditation advice, “If your mind gets caught in a chain of thoughts, gently step out of the thought stream and come back to your breath.” That counsel was not given by a guru leaning into Dhyana on a mat in a Yoga center in New Delhi; instead, it is a recommended business practice advocated in Forbes Magazine.
Christian leaders have correctly identified numerous problems with the wholesale endorsement of the meditation exercises promoted by both Hinduism and Buddhism. Still, according to Pew Research, a higher percentage of evangelicals than Hindus meditate in any given week in America. Where is the disconnect? Are Christians and Hindus talking about two different things?
In the modern classic Celebration of Discipline, author Richard D. Foster identified a difference. He wrote, “Whenever the Christian idea of meditation is taken seriously, there are those who assume it is synonymous with the concept of meditation centered in Eastern religions. In reality, the two ideas stand worlds apart. Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind. The two ideas are quite different.” Perhaps it was this significant distinction which led Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when asked to explain why he practiced meditation, to simply say, “Because I am a Christian.”
Scripture invites us to meditate
The Psalms open describing the lifestyle and practices of the godly follower of the Lord (Ps. 1:1-6). One of the prominent qualities of the blessed man is this-he constantly meditates upon the law of God. The Psalms are not generally regarded as a primary source for building doctrine, but God still speaks through the Psalms.
The first Psalm, for example, reflects the portrait of a blessed man who has taken deep roots in God’s grace (vv.1-3). Part of the sanctification process being lived out in the believer of Psalms 1 is the call for him to meditate.
The believer presented in the first Psalm is the believer God wants all of us to be. We should be steadfast, fruitful, and meditating on the Word of God continuously. The psalmist said, “but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2). This passage isn’t written in the form of a command. Rather, it is an idyllic description of a godly man; and the implication is that we should follow the example of the man described.
The same Hebrew word for mediation found in Psalm 1:2, “haga,” is also mentioned in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” This passage is in the form of a command. Although it is a command given to one individual, the implication is clear. God wants His people to meditate so that they may be intellectually and spiritually immersed in His word for their individual good and the good of the community they serve.
In addition to the passages mentioned, meditation is encouraged by example in numerous Psalms (63:6, 77:12, 143:5) and modeled in Proverbs (8:7, 15:28). The Hebrew word is picturesque and describes the sound of a low murmur, an inarticulate moan, or a groan. The idea is essentially that we consider a passage of Scripture as if we’re silently mulling it over and over. In this way, the Word not only affects our minds, but, in the words of Foster, “We can descend with the mind into the heart….”
Meditate upon Scripture
In his book The Hour that Changes the World, the President of the National Prayer Committee, Dick Eastman, writes, “Scriptural meditation provides the believer with spiritual benefits, received through no other means.” So, knowing there are benefits associated with the practice, the question is: How do we meditate on Scripture in prayer?
The late Tim Keller wrote an entire chapter about meditation in his book Prayer. Among many other things, he wrote, “Many of us have a devotional life in which we jump from fairly academic study of the Bible into prayer. There is a ‘middle ground’ however, between prayer and Bible study, a kind of bridge between the two. While deep experiences of the presence and power of God can happen in innumerable ways, the ordinary way for going deeper spiritually into prayer is through meditation on Scripture.”
So how do we meditate upon Scripture? As noted above, the common biblical word translated into the English text as “meditate” implies mulling over a text to the point of “muttering” it under your breath. In a sense, when meditating upon Scripture we are “talking to ourselves,” even if silently, about the text of God’s Word. Why is this important when we can easily apply principles of hermeneutics such as studying context, biblical culture, grammatical standards, or geography to understand the passage? For one thing, biblical exegetical study (which is absolutely essential for preparing to teach or to understand a passage) is not prayer. To meditate, therefore, is to move from intellectually understanding the passage to spiritually and prayerfully experiencing the passage.
Let’s say you choose the most well-known passage in the New Testament to meditate upon. So, you think prayerfully and deeply about John 3:16 and all that its truths mean to your own soul. Spend a few moments silently mulling the words and teachings of the passage, all the while deeply attempting to experience the Word at a “heart” level.
Try the same exercise with Romans 5:8 as you prayerfully contemplate the cross. Or meditate upon the Great Commission or the Great Commandment as you consider what it means to be His disciple.
For a variety of reasons, such as our highly educated dependence upon intellect, our fear of emotional imbalance, or our notoriously poor attention spans, Biblical meditation may be difficult. It may feel awkward at first, but the rewards are desirable. Meditation on Scripture promises to make you “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither,” so that “in all that you do, you prosper” (Ps. 1:3). Given the biblical encouragements to meditate, what are you waiting on?