So You Tried Christian Meditation and Nothing Changed!
I recently received an email from someone who told me that she had been meditating with the mantra (sacred word like Jesus, peace, etc.) and that she still felt empty inside. Her desire was to feel closer to God and she believed Christian meditation would help her achieve this. The first thing I like to address is that Christian meditation is a tool with great potential to help us realize God in our life on a deeper level. It does this by helping us to clear out and eliminate the mental clutter and mindsets that block the peace, joy, love, and light of God from shining through to our hearts. Christian meditation is like the window squeegee that wipes away the dirt, cobwebs, smudges, and debris that clings to the windows of our mind, heart, and emotions and keep us living In perpetual darkness.
Here are a few things to consider when beginning a Christian meditation practice.
#!- Depending upon the condition of your mind, it may need a lot of washing. You may need to release deeply-rooted mindsets and falsehoods that block you from feeling and experiencing God’s peace and joy in your life. So with this in mind, Christian meditation must become a practice, a daily one, that you do without judgement or expectations. You just do it and let it do the work. You must take the YOU out of the equation and give it 8 to 10 weeks before you can evaluate your progress. Just like anything else you add to your life, it takes a little time before you notice the results.
#2- You must build your life on a spiritual foundation. Christian meditation is a tool that can help us draw closer to God, but it is not the end-all -be all. By simply meditating, and only meditating, we may have some breakthroughs connecting to God in Spirit, but we also have to connect with him in truth. This means we have to read his Word and apply it to our lives. The Bible tells us that we must hide God’s word in our heart so we might not sin against him. When reading and meditating on the Bible, you come to know and understand the character and ways of God. It also builds your faith and spiritual muscles for “faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.”
Listening to God’s word further cleanses our mind and heart by replacing our old ways of thinking and being. Because we are constantly being bombarded with fear-based and worldly perspectives, we must use God’s Word to counteract these weapons of mental and spiritual mass destruction. Starting your devotions or quiet time by incorporating Christian meditation helps tend and prepare the soil of your heart, so you can receive and hold on to God’s Word and truth so much better. You want God’s seed to be planted on good ground where it can take root and grow and bring a wonderful harvest of peace love and joy. If the soil of our heart is full of weeds (negative thoughts) it’s going to choke out the good seed.
# 3- Root out fear-based in stinking thinking. So as I stated earlier, for meditation to work, you must do it and do it consistently, at least 8 to 10 weeks daily, to get the full benefits. Most people will notice the benefits right away though. The power in Christian meditation is the ability to observe and disengage from thoughts that are sabotaging your walk with God as well as your peace of mind. I can guarantee you that the person who wrote me the email is engaged in a battle in her mind and she may not even know it. The value in Christian meditation as opposed to just meditation is that we’re infusing it with God’s Word and His transforming Spirit.
Many people, before they start meditating, don’t realize the extent of the negative thoughts doing cartwheels in their head. It often takes Christian meditation to shine the light on the destructive, fear-based, and erroneous thinking running rampant in their minds day and night. Therefore Christian meditation brings awareness and with awareness you can institute conscious change. So if you notice that you are constantly thinking depressed thoughts, you can now incorporate tools in your life to help you come back and preempt them. These can include meditation, prayer, rejecting negative thoughts in their tracks, emotional freedom technique, journaling, replacing destructive thoughts with positive scriptures, and the others. It’s a faith building process.
Drawing closer to God requires more than just meditation only, but it’s a great start. You must also incorporate other Biblically-sound practices to build your life on a strong and solid foundation in Christ.
In closing, know that too many expectations can breed misery. So for now, let all expectations go and just practice the spiritual tools without looking for immediate results. Instead, learn to enjoy the process and leave the transformation up to God and the Holy Spirit. Make abiding and resting in God your ultimate goal.
Sometime a step-by-step program can keep you motivated. Check out some of my Christian meditation and personal/spiritual growth courses.
Excellent. Very well said. Thanks