You connect with God when you intentionally focus on His Word, digest it, and allow it to become alive in you.

Watch how SueAnn connects with God through Meditation!

What is Meditation?

You connect with God by intentionally focusing on His Word, digesting it, and allowing it to become alive in you. Connecting with God through meditation is not just reading your Bible, but allowing every word to transform and renew your mind. Renew means to resume after an interruption. The thoughts we love to lean into all day will have interruptions, but it’s in the returning or resuming that allows renewal to take place.

The daily habit of meditation creates a residence for the Holy Spirit to dwell in continuously. When you meditate daily, you are actively taking every thought captive and aligning it with God’s heart and mind. In meditation, we are telling our minds, “You belong to God!”. Consistency in meditating on God’s word will bring renewal to your mind, emotions, and breakthrough. When you give God the territory and real estate of your mind, it allows you to steward Jesus in every place around you. There is a promise of blessing to those who meditate on God’s word day and night!

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

As you grow in connecting with God through Meditation, expect the unexpected. Be open to God revealing new facets of Himself when you slow down and intentionally focus on His word. This is what your daily encounters are all about.

How to Connect with God through Meditation: 

MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE.

  • Ask God what verse you should focus on.

  • Put a reminder in your phone to bring it to your mind. 

  • Write the verse out. 

  • Have sticky notes around the house to memorize scripture. 

INVITE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO MAKE THE WORD OF GOD ALIVE. Meditation is not about how much to read in your reading plan, it is about entering into an invitation by the Holy Spirit to make the Word of God alive in you. Your daily encounter can look like focusing on just one verse or chapter. It is in meditation that we slow down and pray through scripture instead of moving through it quickly. This is how transformation takes place! 

MEDITATE ON THE LORD WHEN YOU WAKE UP AND MEDITATE WHEN YOU GO TO SLEEP.

  • > Ask God what to focus on. 

  • > Go to the Scripture He is referencing to you. 

  • > Write it and keep it close to you by making it your phone background, writing post it notes around your house or office, etc. 

VISUALIZE THE SCRIPTURE YOU ARE READING. “For the word of God is alive and active.” Hebrews 4:12 Pray in your spiritual language while reading. “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” Jude 1:20

BE ATTENTIVE WHEN YOU ARE READING SCRIPTURE. As you are reading Scripture, pause when a verse stands out. This is the Holy Spirit communicating with you! Read that verse again. Speak it out loud back to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what He is wanting to teach you. Keep it in front of you that day by repeating it. 

ASK FOR THE FATHER’S THOUGHTS AND DESIRES. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of one who walked in a lifestyle of true meditation. His thoughts were always about the Father’s business. This is key! Ask for the Father’s thoughts and desires, then ponder on them. 

PRESS IN WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND. When you don’t fully understand something, keep meditating on it by repeating it, writing it out, and asking the Holy Spirit for what it means. 

MEDITATE ON SCRIPTURE THROUGHOUT YOUR DAILY ROUTINE. Meditate on a specific scripture daily when you are doing activities. Meditate on a verse when you are getting dressed, making breakfast, cleaning dishes, driving in the car, etc. This is giving God territory over every area of your life!

FEAR THE LORD. Job 15:4 - “But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.” When you don’t fear the Lord, you can not connect with God through meditation. Ask God to remove fear of man and instill fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is being terrified to be without His presence in your life! 

Grow in How You

Connect with God.

Encouragement

Give yourself freedom to pause when you are reading Scripture. It is not about how much you read, but how God is speaking to you. One verse has unlimited revelation that He wants to reveal to you. In Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel is commanded to eat the scroll. Likewise, when you are meditating on God’s word, you are eating His words to fill your belly, digest it, and allow it to transform you. Meditation is like eating healthy. Your mind gets renewed as you reflect on Scripture, but eating one healthy meal doesn’t make you healthy unless you continue to make it a practice. Keep returning to God and His Word, continue to take every thought captive and align it with Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you make your thoughts like His. 

Suggested Activities 

  • Reflect on each word in Scripture like it is pregnant with revelation. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and show you what He wants to teach you.

  • Memorize Scripture.

  • Meditative Prayer—this is a prayerful reflection of a biblical text or theme/use of something you can see, taste, touch, hear or smell (Lecto Devina - place yourself into the passage).

  • Create declarations based on Scripture to meditate on.

  • Close your eyes, imagine yourself doing the things you read about in Scripture. 

  • Declare out loud who you are and what God says about you according to Scripture.

  • In your daily encounter, stop when something stands out and meditate on what God is imparting into your heart.

  • Try to intentionally insert Scripture you have memorized into every day conversation. This is how you apply Scripture into your daily life.

  • Think and direct your mind towards God and the things of God. Philippians 4:8-9 tells us to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, if there is any excellence, things that are worthy of praise. Think on these things and put into practice what the Holy Spirit tells you. 

Scripture

Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1, Psalm 62, Psalm 119, Isaiah 55, Jeremiah 15:16, Timothy 4:15, Matthew 6: 5-8, Colossians 3:1-13, Philippians 4:8

Books

  • Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey Into Meditative Prayer by Richard J. Foster

  • Ancient Paths by Corey Russell 

Mix It Up

Learning how we connect with God shows us how we can enter into His presence daily. While you may best connect with God through one or a few ways, remember that you can connect with God in all the ways! Use this guide below to help you grow in connecting with God through Meditation by pairing it with your favorite way.

  • Sing the Scriptures you are reading. By singing the Word, you are meditating on His word and allowing it to resonate within you. Keep returning to it! Meditate on Psalm 147.
    “My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding; I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.”  Psalm 49:3-4

  • Connecting with God through Fasting and Meditation expedites the process of renewal! If there is a thought that does not partner with what God has said about you, take it captive and fast the thought. Meditate on 2 Corinthians 10:5.

  • As you connect with God through Meditation and Creation, meditate on specific scriptures that you attach to your encounters outside. When you see a tree, meditate on Psalm 1. When you see birds, meditate on Luke 12:22-34. Meditate on Psalm 8. 

  • We all have movements we do daily that don’t take intentionality (breathing, walking to the same places every day, pouring a glass of water, etc). In these spaces, meditate on a scripture that the Lord brings you to each day. Incorporate a specific verse to meditate on while doing ordinary movements every day. Meditate on Psalm 90:14. 

  • Use your creativity to imagine what is happening in Scripture. Engage the Word by meditating on Scripture as you create. Creating something with the Lord out of a place of meditation is how you allow His words to renew your perspective. Focus on a verse and ask God how He wants to create this within you.  Meditate on Exodus 25:8-9. 

  • Connect with God through Meditation by slowing down to read Scripture. When something stands out to you, begin a dialogue with the Holy Spirit. Ask Him questions. Don’t move on to the next thing until you engage in a dialogue to seek and find the revelation God is wanting to give you. Meditate on Jesus’ conversations with God the Father in John 17. 

  • Meditate on the moments that Jesus, Paul, Hannah, John, Anna, Deborah were in solitude with the Father. What came out of their solitude? Mission? Vision? Direction? Writings? Revelation? More intimacy? When in solitude, be intentional to focus on what God is highlighting to you in Scripture. Meditate on Matthew 6:6. 

  • Ask the Holy Spirit what you need to learn this week and what questions, Scripture or facet of God to focus on. Have the perseverance to push past familiarity and knowledge and into revelation. Don’t meditate on your opinions or perspectives. Seek the Lord’s heart and mind, then ponder on what the Lord is showing you! Meditate on 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

  • In your daily encounters, allow the Scripture you are reading to reform you. Take time to sit and slow down when you are reading your Bible. Become the very words you are reading in Scripture as you seek God’s heart for reformation and heavenly justice in the world around you. Pray Scripture over the injustices that you are seeing around you. Meditate on Isaiah 61. 

  • As you meditate on scripture, allow the Holy Spirit to do a work in you first before you go out and serve others. Connecting with God through meditation will draw you into serving the people around you. Slow down, pause, and reflect. As you work with your hands and go about your day, pick different verses to focus on with each task. Steward the Lord and His word through the works of your hands! Meditate on Matthew 25:31-46.

  • Remember the first time the Gospel came alive to you, the healing Jesus provided for you, or the miracles God has revealed to you and others in your life. Meditate on God’s faithfulness and what Scripture says about Him and His testimonies. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Meditate on Psalm 119.
    “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.” Psalm 119:99

Don’t know how you best Connect with God?