Scripture
Week 5: Meditate
Meditating on Scripture goes all the way back to Jesus and the Jewish people (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2; Ps. 48:9; Ps. 119:15). The Hebrew word used for meditate means to “mutter”, “speak”, or “imagine”. We may think of Eastern meditation or having an empty mind. This is not the idea here. The Biblical idea of mediation is quite the opposite — to keep Scripture on your mind and lips by “speaking”, “muttering”, and “imagining” the Scripture. In fact, Joshua 1:8 says to meditate on Scripture by keeping it “always on your lips…” Early followers of Jesus practiced this by repeating or muttering Scripture on their lips. They called this “breath prayer”. A breath prayer is a short phrase of Scripture that you can repeat to the rhythm of your breath. Some examples of breath prayers are:
Inhale: “Abba, Father” Exhale: “You love me.”
Inhale: “Lord Jesus” Exhale: “You died for me.”
Inhale: “Holy Spirit” Exhale: “You are with me.”
These prayers at different moments to remind you of God’s character and posture toward you. This is meditating on God’s character, which has a long history within the prayers of the Psalms (Ps. 48:9; Ps. 77:12; Ps. 145:5). But for now, we want to focus on meditating on Scripture.
The practice for the week: This week we will learn to meditate on Scripture by practicing breath prayer.
01 – Silence. Take 2-5 minutes to sit quietly with God. Set your phone and any distractions away from you. Focus on being with God.
02 – Read Scripture. Hopefully, by now you have a Bible reading plan. Simply read the passage scheduled for today and allow yourself to sit in it and be in the text for a few minutes.
03 – Pick a verse or phrase. Once you’ve read the passage, there should be a verse or a phrase that stands out to you. Use this as a breath prayer.
04 – Meditate. Take the next 2-5 minutes and use the verse or phase as a way to meditate on God’s word. As you inhale, quietly say the first half of your phrase. Then exhale and say the second phrase. As we do this we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). Here is what that could look like:
Example 1: Inhale and say, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Exhale and say, “I lack nothing” (Ps. 23:1).
Example 2: Inhale and say, “Come”. Exhale and say, “follow me” (Matt. 4:19).