Step 3

So, now we are at third step in meditating on passages of scripture and things are about to get good. You have already spent time in reading the passage over a number of times, getting familiar with the content in question and allowing the Lord to begin to stir ideas inside of you. Then, you went the next step and wrote the passage out. Now it is time to say it out loud.

No kidding, there is something about speaking it out that takes the truth of it to a deeper level. You hear yourself say it and it produces faith in your own spirit. You understand it better. You feel the rhythm of it and God will often take you even deeper into the knowledge of what is contained in it.

But, it is at this step that we have to do something different. Now, it is critical to return back to the previous two steps and begin to use all three together. Now is the time to take what you are reading and thinking and turn it into writing. And then take what you are writing and turn it into speech. At this point, you want to go past the verse and into what God is speaking to you about it. From this place, it should be written down in prayerful journaling and then spoken out loud as it becomes alive to you.

Let's consider an example. Earlier we picked Psalm 27:4 ("one thing have I desired of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon His beauty and seek Him in His temple"). Now, to meditate on it with what you have so far, it could look a lot like this:

-you read the verse a few times, putting emphasis on certain apsects of the verse in your reading and letting ideas come to you.
-next you write it down on paper or in a book, leaving room for more journaling to come.
-now you speak out the passage a few times, letting the power of the verse hang in the air so you can hear yourself say it. Faith will increase a little as you connect with it.
-next, return to the verse and prayerfully consider the first part..."God, how could David actually mean this is the one thing, the most important thing, he would ask for above all else?"...
-time to listen...God is talking
-write down your thoughts AND write down His thoughts.
-"I want to seek this out like David did, God...I want to see what he was seeing...I want to really know what you are like and find myself gazing at you in all that you"
-time to open your mouth and say out loud what you are feeling and discovering. "You are beautiful!...I want to know more...this is a worthy goal in my short time on the earth...I will gaze on you in eternity anyway...why not now??"


And, there you have it. You are meditating on scripture. God is talking through the verses and in addition to the verses. You are connecting to Him in the text and apart from the text. He is alive and is helping you see things about Himself and about your own heart and life. He is changing your way of thinking.

Next step...we go even deeper.


Blessings,

Brian Creary
Ministry Director