WAITING ON THE LORD
Psalm 19:14 – Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Meditation and Prayer
Meditation is the act of contemplating or reflecting on something or someone. It demands discipline, since the mind tends to wander on many different things. It is an integral and important form of prayer. Since our actions are affected by our will, and since our will is to a great degree affected by our thinking; if we can therefore direct our thinking (contemplation), we can control our actions.
When you meditate, you must focus your mind clearly on the subject on which you desire to meditate. To concentrate your mental faculties on a specific subject over a protracted period of time, you must delight in that thing. Psalm 1:2 – But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Therefore, to meditate successfully on something, you must be motivated. You must see the benefit you will derive from the thing you are meditating on. If you delight yourself in the Word of God, then you will gladly meditate on it and receive greater knowledge and understanding. Psalm 49:3 – My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
David was motivated to praise the Lord continually in the Psalms because he allowed himself to meditate on God’s goodness in his life: My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyous lips: when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice – Psalm 63:5-7. My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord – Psalm 104:34.
Apostle Paul also saw the importance of meditation. Writing to his disciple Timothy, he told him to: “Neglect not the gift that is in thee… Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all –1 Timothy 4:14-15.
Timothy was therefore instructed to give himself totally to the ministry call given to him by the Holy Spirit. The way he could accomplish this total devotion was through meditation. Yet, again, he was commanded to meditate on something specifically, not just generally on anything.
When I prepare my sermons, I ask God to enlighten my mind to know the mind of the Holy Spirit, who wrote the Word of God. After I finish writing my outline, I then meditate on the message I am going to relate to God’s people. From the introduction to the conclusion, through every one of my points, the Holy Spirit give me fresh understanding of what the Word means and how to apply the Word to meet the needs of the thousands in attendance on Sunday; although the message is re-broadcasted in several countries through the medium of television; I believe that the Holy Spirit knows the need of every individual and will meet that need through my Spirit-anointed message. By meditating, I will know what to say and when to say it. Later I learn of something that was said that met the specific need of someone hearing the message. How did I know exactly what to say? I didn’t; but the Holy Spirit knew and communicated it to my mind while I was meditating on my sermon.
In order to have successful meditation, one must first get quiet before God. As one remains still, the confusion which surrounds all busy people departs and one is ready to meditate. I find that it often takes at least thirty minutes to get quiet before the Lord. That is why discipline is so important if one is going to be a successful prayer warrior.
One cannot allow the internal conflicts to trouble his spirit. He cannot allow external problems to affect his peace. One must maintain a heart quiet before God if he is going to have genuine meditation.
