Redeeming Meditation

During a recent series in my Personal Spirituality class on prayer I was greatly encouraged to first and foremost pray simply. Richard Foster’s statement, “The only way we move beyond ‘self-centred prayer’ (if indeed we do) is by going through it, not by making a detour round it” reinforced my experience. Reading this encouraged me to be honest as I go to pour out my heart to God in prayer, and to deal with any thoughts bubbling away on the surface first. I have also been challenged to not try too hard to pray, and to trust that even in times of prayerlessness my hunger for God is in itself prayer.

Having been heavily involved in New Age and occult practices before meeting Jesus, the word ‘meditation’ has had negative connotations until now. It has been liberating to claim back meditation as a truly biblical discipline so often practiced by the psalmists.

When meditating, I previously attempted to empty my mind in order to keep it empty and reached inward for enlightenment. I now temporarily clear my mind in order to call on God and fill it with the Word of God. I contemplate the implication of Scripture - how it speaks to and challenges me, while depending on the Holy Spirit for illumination through contemplation of God’s revelation. This is bringing both joy and transition: Word → Mind → Heart → Will → Action.

I also find myself focusing on my breathing, a technique I previously avoided through fear of deception. I now delight that God is sustaining me, breathing life into my inner most being. A Japanese friend recently shared with me the way in which she speaks to God; she places one hand on her chest so that she can feel her heartbeat. In this way she too finds delight in knowing that God gives her life and now resides in her heart.

To close I quote Joyce Huggett on the wonderful realisation that all of the new insights spoken of above are God-induced, God-initiated. “Whenever we yearn to make a fresh start in our relationship with God, the place to begin is with the realisation that the desire is of itself God’s work.” I am so thankful to my Lord for His constant and faithful tug His Way.