Spiritual Practices - Bible Memorization and Meditation
In last week’s blog I talked about how to grow in our faith. Trying harder doesn’t work. We need to back up and change what we’re putting into our lives. Change the inputs in order to get a better output. Spiritual practices are some of those inputs.
When we’re talking about spiritual practices, we really have to start with the Bible. It’s the Word of God, His love letter to us and our source of ultimate truth. It outlines who God is, who we are and how He has designed us to live in the world.
If we want to replace the lies of the world and our own pasts with the truth, spending time getting to know the Bible is definitely the first, middle and last step.
This week, we’ll talk about two ways of interacting with the Bible - memorizing verses and meditating on them.
Memorizing
Why memorize Bible verses when I can just Google them? First, when you memorize verses, they become planted in your mind - no need to search for them. When the Holy Spirit wants to remind you of them, they’re readily available.
Second, in the process of memorizing, you’re likely doing the other practice I mentioned - meditating. You’re turning it over in your mind and thinking about it as you go about your day. In order to memorize the verse, you have to think about what the words mean and how they apply to your life.
One thing to keep in mind when memorizing verses is that it’s very important not to take the verses out of context. We can go down many a wrong path by just looking at one verse on a topic and not reading the surrounding verses and chapters.
Choose verses that relate to what you’re dealing with. When I’m stressed or anxious about things, many times I focus on Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, for he trusts in You.” Put truth into your life to replace the lies.
Meditating
The idea of meditating has gotten a bad rap in the Christian world because it’s become associated with Eastern or New Age mysticism. That’s NOT what the Bible is talking about. Meditating in an Eastern mystical way involves emptying your mind. Biblical meditating is filling your mind with God’s truth. Think about the verses you’re memorizing. What do the words mean? How do they apply to your life? With the verse in Isaiah, I was thinking about what “steadfast” really means. How do I keep my mind steadfast? What does that look like?
I also think about meditating when I read about Mary after the shepherds came to visit Jesus shortly after His birth. “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) She was meditating on what they said.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 talks about how God’s Word should be part of our everyday lives. It should be written on our hearts and something we talk about as we go through our days. That’s memorizing and meditating on it.
Where to start?
If you’re interested in diving into these spiritual practices, or maybe reviving them if you haven’t done them for a while, where do you start? You can download my free tips on creative ways to memorize and meditate on Scripture. I've included a set of verse cards to get you started. They are verses that talk about who God is and how He cares for us. Print them out and cut them into individual cards. Choose one to start with and keep it with you throughout the day so you can work on memorizing it and meditating on it as you live life. There’s also a set of blank ones where you can write in your own verses. Download them here.
Let me know how it goes! I hope you find this helpful!
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11