We have been writing all about meditation, but a key question must be answered. What are the actual steps to Christian Meditation? Not only will these steps help you to find beneficial, life-giving meditation, but they will also assist you if you have no idea where to start. We listed the 7 steps of Christian meditation, but we have also added helpful content and ideas along the way to make your Christian meditation the best that it can be.
What are the Christian Meditation Steps? The Christian Meditation Steps act as a guide for Christians to meditate properly using Biblical examples and Bible verses. The 7 Steps are:
- Set the Lord Before All Else In Your Mind
- Dwell On Who God Is
- Give Your Cares to Him
- Meditate on His Word
- Meditate on the Praise Worthy & Excellent
- Let His Words Reach Your Heart
- Thank God For This Meditation
Below, we will talk about what you need, how to prepare, the 7 steps, Biblical examples, and more. We hope that this benefits your mediation with an impact to take you further into a renewed mindset of the Lord’s Word and His character.
What You Need
You will need:
- A Calm & Comfortable Place
- A Bible
- A Pen & Paper
- Alone Time
- Music (Optional)
A Calm & Comfortable Place
A calm and comfortable place will provide you with space and comfort you need to meditate. If you are feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, it may be very hard for you to focus on meditation. Find a place that you know you will be comfortable. Likewise, it must be a calm place. This is because our thoughts can be easily disrupted by our outside surroundings. When the space around us is calm and peaceful we will not be distracted, which allows us to go deeper into meditation.
A Bible
A Bible is crucial for Christian Meditation. This is due to the fact that the basis of all Christian meditation comes from the Bible. If we do not have God’s Word ready for us to meditate on, our mediation may easily become futile. Have the Scripture that you’re meditating on ready, and in front of you in your Bible, for proper Christian meditation.
A Pen & Paper
A pen and paper, although not necessary, will be very helpful. With a pen and paper, you can write down notes of what you want to meditate on, or what you have been meditating on. It is a way to keep track of your meditation times and to write down Biblical truths and revelations that you have found in your time.
If you would like to know more about Christian Meditation Journaling, click here.
Alone Time
It can be hard to have alone time, I get it. And oftentimes, people even think alone is selfish. This is a misconception. Jesus often went alone to pray to the Father. Therefore, we should do the same. When preparing for meditation, make sure to put the phone on “do not disturb”, and tell your family and friends that you’re going to take alone time.
It is helpful to set a certain amount of time, or time period, to help your family and friends to better understand when to start interacting with you. This way, your time is respected, but then they know when to look forward to your attention again.
Music
Music has actually been proven to help the human mind concentrate and memorize. In the article Can Music Help You Study and Focus? from North Central University, the quote states, “’Music activates both the left and right brain at the same time, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory’, says Dr. Masha Godkin”. So, if you desire to memorize your meditation Scripture, or to go deeper in concentration during your meditation, find music to help you. The article goes into depth about finding the right music for you.
How to Prepare
In preparation for our meditation, be ready with the needed aspects above. Be ready to set aside time for as long as you may need to meditate. You may even want to take the time to tell others that you will be unavailable for the time being so that you may not be disturbed. It is important that you have peace and quiet during meditation. And the first thing to remember is to relax. God is a God of peace.
7 Steps for Meditation in the Bible
When you take the time time to meditate, I’m sure that you want to get the best results as possible. These steps will help lead you and guide you in the right direction.
The 7 steps for meditation in the Bible are:
- Set the Lord Before All Else In Your Mind
- Dwell On Who God Is
- Give Your Cares to Him
- Meditate on His Word
- Meditate on the Praise Worthy & Excellent
- Let His Words Reach Your Heart
- Thank God For This Meditation
These steps were created for the Christian meditator. Remember, that you cannot do wrong when in meditation, but that there may be a way that is best. Follow these steps, and add your own if necessary, to follow a well done Christian meditation.
1. Set the Lord Before All Else In Your Mind
I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
— Psalm 16:8
First and foremost, let us put God first. Let us look to Him, as greater than ourselves. Here, David sets the Lord before himself. He remembers that he and God are united and that God is with him, but he reminds us that he has set the Lord before himself. Remembering who God is will allow you to enter into His presence, and praise Him for what He has done because He has been holding your life and He will continue to do so.
“That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble'” (James 4:6). God needs a humble heart to work with in meditation. He needs a heart that is willing to submit itself to Him. A heart that is willing to say that God is greater. Let our hearts put God first, and to let go of our own pride for His glorification to take place.
2. Dwell On Who God Is
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
— Psalm 145:5
This is where you let go of thoughts on your own life or self. God is so much bigger than one person. He is majestic and full of wonder. The psalmist wants us to understand that meditating on God will transform our lives with new revelation, to declare who He is. Meditating on who God is, is a crucial step to your Christian meditation because it brings our minds beyond ourselves, and closer to God.
A huge distraction in meditation is when we are focusing upon ourselves. This is a misfortune and is not true Biblical meditation. We should focus on God, on what He has done, and on who He is. This will fill our minds with truth, understanding, and peace.
3. Give Your Cares to Him
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
— 1 Peter 5:7
It is difficult to enter into the Lord’s presence when you have burdens on your mind. When we are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and our thoughts are focused on our worries, it makes it very hard to clear our mind to meditate on the Lord’s word. This is why Step 3 is to cast your anxiety on Him.
Once we have cast our anxiety and cares on Him, we are then at peace. Scripture tells us that He cares for us, so let this truth be an assurance during your time of meditation. Once you have done what Scripture calls us to, then you will be able to meditate on the Word of God, with no thoughts other than your meditation.
4. Meditate on His Word
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
— Psalm 119:15
In this Scripture, the meditator, David, is desiring the Word of God to be established upon his heart. This should likewise be our desire from meditation. To fill our minds and hearts with God’s Word, so we must use His words found in the Bible.
Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right Scripture for your meditation time. This Scripture may already be established from days prior because often times we must meditate on the same Scripture reference for many days.
Choose what you need to meditate on for this season. What would be the wisest and most beneficial given your current season? Is it His faithfulness, His trustworthiness, His provision? You may even find Scripture that you can relate to the main character, such as Joseph, David, or Daniel. Meditate on what the Lord has done in their lives, and how He can do it in your life as well.
5. Meditate on the Praise Worthy & Excellent
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
— Philippians 4:8
This is a very important Scripture reference for your meditation. What Paul is saying, is that we must meditate on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good, excellent, and praiseworthy. When we choose to meditate on something, are we filling our minds with what is of God?
This is why meditating on Scripture is so important; Scripture is the truth that fits all qualifications that Paul lists for correct meditation.
If we do not use Scripture, it becomes far more easy to meditate on things of the world or to let our minds and flesh go astray from the purity of our meditation.
If you choose to not meditate on Scripture, are you meditating on God’s character or on what He has done in your life, or the miracles that you have witnessed? Do not let your meditation stray from what Paul has listed above, and ask the Holy Spirit to allow you to discern what is right.
6. Let His Words Reach Your Heart
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.
— Psalm 19:14
One of the main results of meditation is heart transformation. The only way that our words and heart will be transformed through meditation is if we are allowing God’s Word to reach our hearts. If we simply meditate for our own self-gain, or simply just because then our hearts may not be transformed. Our goal is to be life David, to desire a pure mouth and pure heart through our meditation. For this reason, soften your heart to the Word of God.
7. Thank God For This Meditation
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 4:4-7
Finally, before you end your meditation, thank the Lord. Thank Him for what He has done throughout your meditation, how He has renewed your mind, and how He is faithful to bring good fruit into your life through your mediation. This will help you to reflect on and process what the Lord has just done in your life through your meditation.
As Paul says, we should be rejoicing in God. There is so much to be thankful for, and there is so much that He is doing for you specifically, that we should end our time in thanksgiving unto Him.
Closing Your Meditation
Close your meditation in prayer. Take time to have a dialogue with the Lord about what you just experienced. It is more than okay to process with Jesus. Take time to process with Him, and listen for His voice and what He has to say. The Lord is for you and desires for you to understand what He is trying to reveal to you. Allow Him to help you understand.
From this point, you can try and apply the principles in your meditation to your everyday life. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to act out the truth, love, peace, etc. of God. Then, not only will your meditation impact you, but it can impact your life and lives around you.
Additional Steps to Include
These additional steps are not necessary, but they may be beneficial in the benefit and concentration of your meditation. We have listed the ideas of memorizing your Scripture beforehand and creating an atmosphere or finding an environment for your mediation. We have also added the idea of aromatherapy to your meditation. Aromatherapy is used in many contexts to help brain function and to create a sense of ease.
Memorize Your Scripture
Memorizing Scripture is a helpful way to allow your brain to recite the Lord’s Word so that it may be planted in your heart. Without the bother of actually reading the text, your mind can focus on other things than reading. This can be beneficial in allowing space for the Holy Spirit to move within you and inside of your mind.
Create an Atmosphere / Discover an Environment
You may even want to create an atmosphere/environment specifically set aside from your meditation.
While being outside is almost always a go-to place, sometimes the weather does not permit. And your bedroom might be the perfect place until your spouse or sibling decides to come in, which would disrupt your meditation.
Click this link Christian Prayer Room Ideas To Strengthen Your Faith to learn how to make your own Christian meditation space, as well as a prayer room. However, if you don’t want to do this for one reason or another, you can choose to find an environment. This post, Christian Prayer Rooms: What They Are & Where to Find One should be helpful.
Aromatherapy
A quote pulled from Inc.com says this “your sense of smell has a powerful effect on your brain’s many functions. Any odor you breathe in affects your limbic system, which governs emotional processing, motivation, fear, and pleasure, including your hippocampus and amygdala, all three of which impact learning and memory”. With this in mind, it is no wonder why aromatherapy may help your meditation practices. Aromatherapy can help sooth your brain, it can help you relax and concentrate amongst many other benefits. Therefore aromatherapy can enhance your meditation by helping you to remember certain Scriptures, to help you concentrate on what the Word is saying, and to help give you peace of mind to actually strengthen what you are trying to accomplish.
Examples in the Bible
Examples in the Bible of meditation will help us to better reflect on the steps of meditation, as well as understanding the heart and mindset behind meditation. Looking at these Scripture references, we will also see why followers of God meditate and we will see the results of meditation.
Biblical examples we have included are:
1 Timothy 4:13,15-16
Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.
— 1 Timothy 4:13,15-16
Here, the author is giving an overview of how following Jesus wholeheartedly and in the correct manner, will result in salvation for yourself and others. More specifically, the author mentions reading the Scriptures to the church. It is important to note than when we read the Scriptures to the church, we should also have an understanding of the words. This is why meditating upon the Scriptures day and night, as David says, will be beneficial in the exhortation and salvation of the Church.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
— Romans 12:1-2
Paul calls us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice”. This can be difficult, however, if we do give our bodies to God as a sacrifice, we then are no longer being conformed to the world. The world walks by the flesh and only cares about fleshly things.
We also learn here that the Lord not only wants our bodies, but He wants our minds as well. A powerful way to transform our mind, and give it over to Christ, is through meditation. Once we choose to meditate and be transformed by the renewing of our mind, the heart transformation takes place. This is the reward and benefit of meditation. Paul calls us to meditation in this way.
Psalm 145:5
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
— Psalm 145:5
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
David gives an excellent example of meditation. Personally, this is a favorite of mine, because the entire gaze and focus of this verse and the meditation, is on God. It is on His character and deeds that we must meditate. This is when our trials and troubles start to fall, and our hearts become more and more trusting in Him. David was a man after God’s own heart, and he knew that meditating on God would be the best form of meditation.
We also must keep in mind that David’s life was far from easy; he ran into heaps of trouble everywhere he went. David feared for his life often and was consistently on the run. With this in mind, it is impactful to remember that he chose to meditate on God above even the fear of his own life.
Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace
— Isaiah 26:3
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
The context of this verse is very important. What the reader must know is that “This chapter is a song of holy joy and praise, in which the great things God had engaged, in the foregoing chapter, to do for his people against his enemies and their enemies are celebrated…” (Matthew Henry Commentary). Therefore, this is what God is saying to His people. God wants us to keep our minds stayed upon Him, which can be done through meditation. When we keep our minds meditating on Him, God will then keep us in perfect peace. This is a reward and a blessing from God when we choose to meditate on Him.
Joshua 1:6-8
Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
— Joshua 1:6-8
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 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.
The Lord gives the benefits of meditating on His law day and night. His rewards and benefits to Joshua and the nation of Israel include; entering into the Promise Land, good success wherever he goes, a prosperous way, and good success. These are the promises from God, which are good. The bountiful blessings of these promises go to show the heart of God in meditating on His Word. He regards it highly, proven through His great rewards.
God, so cares about the meditation on His Word, that He tells the highest leader of Israel to meditate on it constantly. Looking at the pivotal point in the Israelites history, one may think that God would call Joshua to do something very different. Such as fight battles for the Promised Land, or even to keep a close eye on the nation. But no, God tells Joshua to pay attention to His Word, to His law.