Why Biblical Meditation Brings Peace… (with help from Robert J. Morgan)
Friends! Is your spring fever producing heightened anxiety? Trying to calm down, but for whatever reason, you can’t? I’ve got good news for all of us! Thanks to insight from author Rob Morgan, we can find true peace. I’ll be sharing highlights from his excellent book, Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation—Find True Peace in Jesus.
I confess I didn’t know what “Biblical meditation” was until I read Rob’s book. He tell us, “meditation is not new and it’s not new age. God, not the gurus, devised it, and it’s based on the Bible, not on Buddha.”
We know any time anything is repeated in the Bible, it’s significant. We readers learn how many times references to “meditation”, “pondering” and “thinking” occur, “encouraging us to engage our thoughts with His Word.”
Rob quotes J. I. Packer in his powerful book, Knowing God:
“…the words meditate and meditation occur 21 times in the Bible.
…the words think, thinking, and thoughts, 252 times.
Mind is mentioned 163 times,
And the word ponder 9 times.”
Still a tad on the skeptical side, I continued reading. Clearly reading my mind, Rob point blank says, “If you’re a bit allergic to meditation, well….get over it.” I about fell out of my chair.
Then we readers are shown how many heroes from the Bible meditated, such as Isaac (Genesis 24:63), Joshua (Joshua 1:8), the Psalmist (Psalm 1:2-3), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:16), Mary the Mother of Jesus (Luke 2:19), Paul (Philippians 4:8 in the Message), the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 3:1), and even the Lord Jesus! (Mark 4:20 in the Voice).
Rob credits the Navigators for getting him started on Biblical meditation. They use the visual of a hand to help us understand. Hold up your hand and consider your 2nd thru’ 5th fingers to “hear the Word, read the Word, study the Word, and memorize the Word.” Then consider your thumb, “strengthening the grip on meditation.”
Rob shows us many benefits of Biblical meditation:
Spiritual growth
Emotional strength
Deeper intimacy with the Lord
Soul-steadying peace
Healthier attitudes
Lest any of you fear the thought of memorizing Scripture (I’m nodding with you!), Rob has also written an excellent resource for this very thing: 101 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.
Quoting painter Paul Maze who had listened to Winston Churchill on the radio. Maze wrote telling Churchill how he’d allayed his fears, “Every word you said was like every drop of blood in a transfusion.”
Rob says, “And so it is for us with the Bible. Every word is like a transfusion of strength, of peace, of wisdom, of knowledge about both everyday life and eternal life.”
While each chapter has wonderful take home value, my favorite is Chapter Six: Gaining Insight into God’s Will. The concept of “standing in His council” will blow you away, never reading the Word the same again.
After the Conclusion, you’ll arrive at the golden nugget of the book: We readers are gifted with examples of ten days of a “Meditation Guide” where we’re taught how to “Ponder”, “Personalize”, and “Practice” a portion of Scripture.
There are lined, blank pages after each example for you to make your own notes. THIS IS WORTH A SMALL FORTUNE! Ah well, a wee exaggeration perhaps, but Rob’s suggestion to take these “ten passages, ten minutes, ten days”… is well worth your time. DO TRY THIS AT HOME!
Walk, don’t run, to your nearest bookstore and secure Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation! Peace will pour over you like you’ve never experienced. (Bravo, Rob for this tool! Bravo to our Sweet Lord and His Word, where His well of wisdom never runs dry.)
‘Til next time!