It was a strange experience for me during a flight between Lagos and Addis Ababa in 1994 as I heard a man muttering words I did not understand to disturb the tranquility of the flight. My peace was further threatened as I observed he was dressed in a black strange-looking suit (I have now come to associate with Jews) and a white shirt. He paced back and forth the aisle again and again. Observing I was the only one seemingly concerned, I tried to relax into my seat and began to reflect on his actions, and realized he was meditating.

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”Joshua 1:8 KJV

Meditation starts with recitation and that’s why the book is not to depart from the mouth. Muttering the Word of God to oneself over and over again is the starting point of meditation. It must be repetitive; again and again and again. The objective is to by so doing, lay it to heart. This process often leads automatically to memorization, although that is not the primary intention. The mouth ‘gate’ is one of the direct gates to the human heart. Whatever the human mouth declares repeatedly enters into the heart (Romans 10:8).

There is a symbiotic relationship between the mouth and the heart and so whatever enters into one will be found in the other. Meditation without recitation is strange to the Jewish mind. It is not a silent reflection for them and not quite a muttering of empty words. It is not the emptying of the mind of all thoughts and the staring into emptiness like some religions teach, nor concentration on light nor an empty chanting of strange words. It is the dual engagement of the human mouth and mind on the written Word of God.

The second part of meditation is pondering. This is where the human mind is probing, questioning and ruminating over a text. Rumination from animal studies is the ability of animals that chew the cud to eat large quantities of food and then store them in their first stomach before resting and regurgitating the same food back to the mouth for proper mastication and mingling with saliva for an effective breakdown of the food towards absorption into the bloodstream through their second and at times third stomachs.

Like the animal that is properly chewing the cud, thinking deeply upon the Word in a deep interaction with it activates the Spirit of understanding. Inspiration flows out of this process, shedding light on what the mind of God is for that part of scripture in focus. To meditate is to be bent over in thought. It is a concentrated engagement with the Word in our minds.

Imagination is the third part of meditation. This is where we visualize what the Word of God is saying. Naturally, images form in our minds as we hear words. We can actively engage ourselves further by developing a clear image of what we are reading and particularly of ourselves doing what the Word says to do or of seeing ourselves in the light of the Word. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, we, by the Spirit of God, behold the glory of the Lord in the face (or person) of Jesus. This is no more than a revelation of the divinity of Christ through His person, incarnation, crucifixion and finished work.

Since however, the Word is a mirror in this verse, it is ourselves we consequently see in Him due to our oneness with Him. Revelation comes to our spirits but our imaginations capture them because of the close association between our spirits and souls. We can deliberately cooperate with this process by deliberately focusing on what we see. I have seen hundreds of people healed over the years when I have been led to help them meditate on the reality of their healing in Christ within a few minutes in church services. Meditation allows the Spirit of truth to guide us into the reality of the Word.

To meditate is to practice. It is a mental rehearsal of God’s Word. Observing to do the Word according to Joshua 1:8 is a process of deliberately practicing the Word in private and acting it out in public. This is a process we all engage in as we prepare for job interviews, oral examinations, romantic proposals, conflict resolution, song presentations, theatre displays, public speaking and a myriad of other engagements. Through private rehearsals of the Word of God, we interact with the Word and encounter the power of the Word which will energize and anoint us.

Meditation is life-transforming as it takes us into dimensions of communion with God that will change our lives for the better.

Victor Adeyemi