God’s Way of Prayer & Meditating
Our physical eyes are the gates through which we contact the world around us, but our minds determine what we actually see with them.
How our minds think and the knowledge and wisdom contained in our minds determine what we actually perceive. The Law of Meditation shows us that everything we see is in our minds. What we meditate on is going to determine the way we view everything our physical eyes observe.
When the twelve spies went into Canaan, only two of them saw a great land given by God and prepared for them by God. What they saw in their minds gave them the inspiration and ability to possess it. Why? They were meditating in God’s Word, His promises, day and night. They were seeing what God saw and thinking God’s thoughts; therefore, they were able to do what God said to do.
The other ten spies still had their eyes on themselves, thinking about what they wanted and what they were capable of doing. They were not meditating on God’s promise, so they saw only giants and a land too great to possess. This is a perfect example of how a renewed mind can make the difference between success and failure, just as God told Joshua.
The enemy knows how God’s laws work, so he perverts them to accomplish his own evil purposes. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 the Bible says that the devil has blinded the minds of those who do not believe God’s Word. Notice it did not say he blinded their eyes. It said he blinded their minds. We don’t see with our eyes; we see through them. We actually take pictures with our minds. The mind is the lens that gives focus to the picture we are taking. Our perspective is formed in our minds.
Meditation deals with the internal, subconscious mind. The subconscious is like a gauge. It holds down growth and expansion—it holds back redevelopment. It doesn’t want you to stop doing what you are used to doing. Your subconscious sets boundaries—makes decisions whether you want it to or not—without your conscious participation. The landmarks it sets prevent you from going either below or above a certain level—it will reject any change to keep you in the comfort zone. God designed us with a subconscious mind that goes on automatic pilot to keep us alive and functioning automatically.
However, meditation changes all that. It provides you with a spiritual experience that causes your subconscious to look into new information. The Word of God will provide you with a spiritual experience and cause your mind to lock into new information. Caleb had a different outlook or revelation from the other ten spies, which enabled him to say, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (see Numbers 13:30). Jacob received new information through a dream from God. The dream not only delivered him from years of servitude and financial bondage to Laban, but also caused a transfer of great wealth to come into his hands. (See Genesis 31:10-12.)
The subconscious is affected by repetition and pondering the Word—by reading it slowly, hearing the Word, often in quiet and rest until your subconscious receives new information. It has the power to transform you.
Satan and his demons try to plant all kinds of ungodly images and thoughts in the minds of people so that when they see the truth they will not recognize it or receive it. We must always remember that Satan and demons have no truth in them.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44
If our minds are renewed in God’s Word, we will take a godly picture and see as God sees. If our minds are not renewed, or if we reject His Word, we can be deceived and blinded by the devil to see what he wants us to see—and the devil is a liar and the father of lies. If we don’t keep our minds renewed and continually submit our lives to the Word of God, the enemy can lead us down the path of destruction and even death.
Simple & Consistent
One of the things the devil will do is try to complicate everything. But everything God does is easy enough for a child to understand and accomplish. Take the law of gravity. It is very simple. Everything is pulled to the Earth’s surface because the Earth is spinning on its axis. Children understand very easily that if they are standing on a chair and jump off of it, they will go down to the ground. They will not fly up into the air. They don’t need to know the full scientific explanation to accept the truth and live by it, but it is available to them. This is why Jesus said that we must become like children to be born again and live the Christian life.
Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3-4
Little children believe what their parents tell them, and they are totally dependent on their parents for love, provision, and protection. That is the way we are to be with our Heavenly Father. We are to believe everything He tells us in His Word and rely completely on Him for everything. Life becomes incredibly simple when we do this, and we understand that everything He asks us to do is simple. Whether it is sowing seeds of faith, abiding in His Word, feeding and clothing the poor, forgiving those who hurt us and offend us, or seeking first the Kingdom—all of His commands are simple.
God’s laws are not only simple, but also they are consistent. When I say consistent, I mean they work the same way every time, and they will work for everyone. If it is a law, it will work the same for you as it will for me. The law of gravity will work whether you are rich or poor, black or white, male or female, old or young. Whether you are a high school dropout or have a doctorate in economics, if you jump off the observation deck of the Empire State Building you are going down!
The Law of Meditation is no exception. It is simple. Anyone can do it. And it will work the same for everyone. That is why the devil will take this law and deceive people with it. He knows it will bring results. So he gets people meditating on things other than God’s Word. The meditation Satan inspires can bring a season of pleasure and even temporary good into their lives, but ultimately they will find themselves in greater bondage than when they started because they are not meditating in God’s Word. They are meditating on things that are not of God.
In recent years the church has stayed away from meditation because there have been so many cults based on some type of meditation. The New Age Movement in all its forms offers numerous ways of meditation. From Transcendental Meditation to Yoga Meditation to Silva Mind Control, people’s minds are blinded by the enemy to meditate on what he wants them to meditate on. He deceives them in their minds. They believe they are doing something good, but they are following the greatest liar in the universe.
We must remember that the enemy has never had an original thought. Satan has never created anything. The Bible says that all things were created by and for Jesus Christ (see Colossians 1:16). The devil and his demons can take only what Jesus created and pervert it for their purposes. So the enemy has come up with a multitude of ways to get people to meditate on anything but God’s Word. Then he can keep their minds blinded, keep them from believing, and keep them under his control.
Unfortunately, the church has seen all these eastern religions and cults become popular in recent years and many believers have decided that meditation is of the devil. They forgot that God gave the Law of Meditation and that it is a key to our ability to possess all that Jesus died to give us— everything from peace within to financial prosperity without. Therefore, we must look at what the Bible has to say about meditation and practice it as God instructs us.
God’s Way of Meditating
I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.… I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings (Psalm 77:6,12).
In verse 6 the word “commune” could also be translated “meditate.”1 In verse 12 “meditate” means “to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication, to ponder:—imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar,…speak, study, talk, utter.”2 Do you see why God told Joshua not to let the Word depart from his mouth? Meditation is not just thinking and pondering but also speaking. It is not crazy to talk when no one else is around! And if you want to get technical, God is always there, so you are never really alone. In fact, He is the one you are talking with anyway.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands (Psalm 143:5).
In this verse “muse” is the same Hebrew word translated “commune” in Psalm 77:6 above.3 Both of these words refer to meditating God’s Word. God wants us to think and say His Word over and over, pondering it in our hearts like a cow chews its cud. If you are a city-dweller, let me explain this analogy.
A cow will chew some grass and swallow it, which is like the first time you hear the Word and receive it. Then the cow will regurgitate what it has just swallowed and chew it some more. This releases more nutrients. Likewise, when you continue to muse on Scripture, to speak it out, ponder it, mutter it, and ask the Holy Spirit about it, you are going to continue to get more and more revelation from it.
The cow continues to do this until all the nutrients in the grass are ingested into its system. This is where meditating the Word differs, because there is no end to the revelation we can glean from God and His Word!
Again, it is so simple! We meditate on His Word day and night and we become one with the Living Word. The Word literally transforms us and enables us to be like Jesus and do the works of Jesus. As long as we are meditating on God’s Word, we will do well. And we must always keep in mind that if God’s Word is not transforming us, then whatever else we are meditating on is transforming us.
Repetition
Advertisers know that if you are constantly being told that only Coke will satisfy your thirst, the next time you go into the store and see a bottle of Coke, that is the first thing you’ll pick up. They bombard you with television commercials, billboards, radio spots, and magazine ads about how refreshing and thirst-quenching a cold glass of Coke is. Even the world knows that the Law of Meditation works, and it is all about repetition. If you watch movies about having sex outside of marriage all the time, it won’t be long before you will be thinking about it all the time and then hopping into bed with anyone who comes along—and believe me, the devil will send them along!
We have to become aware of what we are continually seeing, hearing, experiencing, and thinking. Now I know how it is in this world today. You might be watching a good television program, but the commercials come on and confront you with sickness and death and all kinds of drugs you can take to prevent it. Or you will be driving down the road and see a billboard, and the images are nothing but lust. You are waiting for an appointment and pick up a magazine, only to see all kinds of ungodly images. And watching the news can have you depressed in no time!
There is an old saying, “You can’t help the birds flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” When the world and the enemy and your flesh gang up against you, that’s when you go to 2 Corinthians 10:5 and remember to cast down every vain imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and begin meditating on all the wonderful works and plans of God in your life, just as Psalm 143:5 says. Use repetition to eradicate anything the devil throws at you!
We don’t meditate on the shopping mall, how fat we think we are, or what we are going to do on Friday night. We meditate on the Word of God day and night. Then, when we go to the mall we will know exactly what God wants us to have. We will be able to eat what the Holy Spirit tells us to eat and pass up the stuff we shouldn’t eat. And on Friday night we will find ourselves at the right place at the right time because our minds are in complete koinonia with God.
The Power of It!
Just imagine the whole church, every believer, meditating in the Scriptures day and night. We would easily walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. We would be proving God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will for our lives. We would be connected in the body properly, prospering and in health because our souls would be prospering in the Word. And there would be no limit to what we could accomplish for the Kingdom of God.
What we are talking about here is the most powerful—yet simple—key to living a joyful and successful Christian life. The more simple the truth, the greater its power. This is God’s design. It takes human beings with the help of the devil to make life complicated and mess it up!
Understanding and practicing the Law of Meditation gives you a confidence that says, “This situation is a real challenge, but I know that if I just meditate in the Word and see this problem the way God sees it, then I will know the truth and be free. I will have His wisdom and be able to make a decision to follow the path that is His will. Meditating in God’s Word will deal with this the way it should be dealt with. This problem is nothing more than a miracle-in-the-making!”
I’ll tell you how powerful this Law of Meditation is. Whatever you think is what you are and what you will become. You are what you think. You are becoming what you are thinking about. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
My wife said it this way, and I know this is God because there is no improving on it, “If we get the truth and stand on it, everything around us that’s not true will have to change.” Not only does our own life change when we meditate in the Word day and night, but we have an incredibly powerful, positive impact on the world around us!
If you will alter your thoughts to think like God, you will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in your life. Not only will you have an increased sense of wellbeing inside, but your body will become healthier, your relationships will improve, and your financial matters will just seem to work themselves out as you follow the leading of the Spirit and do things according to God’s Word. All this will happen simply because you changed the way you think by practicing God’s Law of Meditation.
Changing Your Situation Starts Inside
Once you understand the transforming power of walking in God’s Law of Meditation, find a problem or an area where you are struggling and begin meditating on what the Word says about that problem. Let’s say you are believing God to heal you of some physical sickness or disease. You can change the way your body functions by how you think.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones (Proverbs 17:22).
If you spend your day meditating on all your symptoms, worrying about your future, and having discouraging and depressing thoughts, your body will just become sicker. Worry is meditating the problem instead of the answer from God’s Word, and worry (a broken spirit) will break your body down. Your immune system will become weak. Your heart rate will be irregular. And your negative emotions will cause problems with your digestive system. All that anxiety will constrict your blood vessels and cause circulatory problems.
What you think affects your physical body. I gave a perfect example of this when I told the story of what happened to my physical body after repeatedly watching horror movies. My body was in great dis-ease! Therefore, if you want to obtain the healing God has for you, it is vital that you meditate on what His Word has to say about your body.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions (Psalm 107:20).
This verse of Scripture reveals one of the purposes of God’s Word. He gave us His Word so that we could be physically strong to do what He’s called us to do and have joy in doing it. His Word literally heals us supernaturally as we read it, study it, and meditate it day and night. Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s Word is living and active and powerful. The Word of God supernaturally heals our physical bodies!
Here are some other healing scriptures to meditate so you can get the victory over sickness and disease.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases (Psalm 103:2-3).
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (1 Peter 2:24).
When you first read these scriptures, you mentally ascent to the fact that they are true, but they are not the very fabric of your life yet. You must study them. Look up the Greek and Hebrew words. Then meditate on them day and night for them to take root in your soul and transform your thinking. You must chew on them and speak them over and over until you become one with them. Because God’s Word is life, when you become one with His Word, His life fills your spirit, soul, and body. This is how the Word heals you.
Meditating on the truth enables us to live in the truth and stand on the truth that we are healed. Jesus paid for our healing with the stripes He took on His back. God sent His Word to heal us. There is healing in His Word. And He heals everything, all diseases. As we believe this in the core of our being and see ourselves healthy and whole, knowing God wants us well, we will be healed because our inward condition determines our outward condition.
Just Do It
Biblical meditation is God’s method of getting a vision of the reality of God’s Word. Then His Word determines the outcome of our situation. Meditation is a spiritual process that transforms our belief system and thinking patterns to be like God in an accelerated manner. You see, we were all slaves in Egypt (the world), programmed by Pharaoh (the devil). Every child of Adam and Eve were born into spiritual slavery. But then Jesus saved us and delivered us into the Kingdom of God. Now we have to reprogram our minds to think like God thinks so that we can prosper in His kingdom. We have to purge ourselves of the old slave mentality by meditating on the reality of now being a free child of God.
Some of us were programmed to believe, “Black folks are not as smart as white folks.” But the Bible says that Jesus is made unto us wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30) and is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He is our source of wisdom when we are born again, no matter what color or culture we come from. We have to replace that old program with God’s truth. Then we will be free to do what He’s called us to do and receive all Jesus died to give us.
When we wanted to start the Joseph Business School, God pointed out a team of people to help set it up. I met with them, told them the vision God had given me, and then asked them to pray, meditate on it, and come back to me with a starting date. They came back and said, “We can have the school up and running in about eight or nine months.”
I said, “I had a different time frame in mind. I need to have it up and running in two months.”
They began to trot out all the reasons or excuses that it couldn’t be done in two months, and finally I said, “Okay. Just start. Take the project and begin with the first step.” They came into agreement with that and as soon as they moved forward God began to move miraculously with us. They believed they could take that first step, and when they took it, God was with them. Their faith released His power and resources to do His will.
As believers we must believe what God says! We can’t lock ourselves into old patterns of thinking that cause us to say, “I can’t,” and receive all God has for us. “This is hard,” you say. “The world and everyone around me don’t believe this way. Every time I turn around I am seeing or hearing something that God’s Word says is a lie. People will think I’m crazy if I live like this—going around meditating and speaking the Word.”
Just do it! And consider this: the people around you may think you are crazy until you get your family in order and your home full of laughter and joy, get your body healed, get your finances in order, and have a peace about you that they begin to covet. Then they are not going to think you are so crazy! They are going to come to you and say, “Hey! What’s happened to you? How’ve you managed to get your life so together?”
You will simply answer, “Jesus saved me, and I just follow His Law of Meditation. It’s real simple. Nothing complicated about it.”
“No kidding? What’s the Law of Meditation?”
“All I do is think about the truths in the Bible day and night. I talk about the Word with God and with other Christians. I ponder it, meditate on it, and pray it. I let it guide me and comfort me in every situation.”
“That’s all?”
“Yep, that’s all.”
Practicing the Law of Meditation simply transforms every area of our lives!
If you think you don’t have the time, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to do it. You can meditate on God’s Word when you’re doing laundry or driving to work. You can meditate on His works and plans when a problem arises or a relationship goes into turmoil. It won’t be long before you will wonder how you ever survived without meditating Scripture day and night!
Most important, your level of intimacy with the Father will grow stronger and deeper. Like any other relationship, the more time you spend with Him, the better you will know Him. More and more you will walk in His character and see His power manifest. So the best advice I can give you today is, “Just do it!”
