There is only one way to meditate if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and a lover of God’s word. The world teaches a methodology that includes emptying your mind. God’s Word teaches quite the opposite.
Emptying your mind a very dangerous thing to do. The Bible speaks of putting the right things in to occupy your thoughts and direct your thought processes. The very term “meditate” has the idea of ruminating…chewing on it thoroughly and getting every possible nutrient from it. Reading God’s Word, journaling or scripture writing, praying scripture, and memorizing…these are all excellent ways to meditate biblically (and we do all of them in the span of 20 minutes each week day on the podcast!).
If you want true, lasting, substantive peace, yoga is not the answer. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165 We are to strive to have the “mind of Christ”–which is why our next scripture memory passage at the podcast will be Philippians 2:1-11.
I’m not a believer in the idea that certain bodily poses in and of themselves will open you up to evil influences. The control and core strength which can be developed by employing the physical disciplines of what is commonly called “yoga” in terms of exercise can be beneficial.
Postures are not evil. On any given day I might unknowingly execute multiple “yoga poses” in the course of cleaning the house or playing on the floor with our grandson. It is how they instruct you to engage (or disengage) your mind in the process that is worrisome. The battle is for your mind. Every action and motive has its origin there. They call it “mindfulness” when in actuality it is “mindlessness”.
The Bible doesn’t have much to say about the physical aspects of meditation other than the idea that getting off to a quiet place can help the process. Who wouldn’t agree with that? Solitude lends itself to focusing the mind, training it to think in a way it is not prone to naturally.
Here are some scripture meditations I’ve created via the Quiet Rest Podcast. Some are only 2-minutes long, when you just need a couple moments to refocus during a harried day. Others are a bit longer. Still others are 10-20 minutes long and have been set up as Night Seasons Meditations, to help settle your mind before bed time. All are set to calming, peaceful instrumental music. Most consist of only scripture. A couple include prayers (which include scripture allusions) from The Valley of Vision (don’t let the title put you off). I hope these are a help!
Two-Minute Resets
Theme: Worry https://anchor.fm/…/epis…/Two-Minute-Reset-Worry-e1067sj
Theme: Thoughts and the Mind https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Thoughts-and-the…
Theme: God’s Sovereigntyhttps://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Gods-Sovereignty…
Theme: Forgiveness https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Forgiveness-e1068vo
Theme: Security https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Security-e1068o1
Theme: Peace https://anchor.fm/…/episodes/Two-Minute-Reset-Peace-ev423i
Theme: God’s Presence https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Gods-Presence-ev780t
Theme: Scripture Prayers (5 minutes) https://anchor.fm/…/Five-Minute-Reset-Scripture-Prayers…
Theme: Joy https://anchor.fm/…/episodes/Two-Minute-Reset-Joy-ev79md
Theme: Patience https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Patience-ev7a0o
Theme: Trials https://anchor.fm/…/epis…/Two-Minute-Reset-Trials-ev7f2d
Theme: God’s Love https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Gods-Love-ev7fns
Theme: Longsuffering https://anchor.fm/…/Two-Minute-Reset-Longsuffering-ev7gjs
Theme: Faith https://anchor.fm/…/episodes/Two-Minute-Reset-Faith-ev7h0e
Theme: Rest https://anchor.fm/…/episodes/Two-Minute-Reset-Rest-ev7hfj
Theme: Comfort: https://anchor.fm/…/epi…/Two-Minute-Reset-Comfort-ev7hq1
Theme: Fear https://anchor.fm/…/episodes/Two-Minute-Reset-Fear-ev9fd4
Night Seasons Meditations
Meditation #1 (5 Minutes): References: Psalm 23; Matt. 11:28-30; Phil. 4:6-7; Ps. 91: 1-4, 9, 11, 14-16; Ps. 4:8; Ps. 3:3-5; Psalm 121 https://anchor.fm/…/Night-Seasons-Scripture-Meditation…
Night Seasons Prayer Meditation from the Valley of Vision 1 (10 minutes): Praise and Thanksgiving, Repose, Resting on God, Sleep https://anchor.fm/…/Night-Seasons-Prayer-Meditation-1…
Night Seasons Prayer Meditation from the Valley of Vision 2: Comforts, Before Sleep; The Personal Touch, Love Rest in God https://anchor.fm/…/Night-Seasons-Prayer-Meditation-2…