I've been working through a backlog of Charles Stanley's podcasts, and around the middle of May he did a series on the benefits of meditation. Not the stereotypical, cross your legs and chant kind, but the open up the Word and focus until you get it kind. He gave six essentials for effective meditation:
- A season of time
- Stillness
- Seclusion
- Silence
- Self control
- Submission
Stillness - turn off the phone, the tv, the iPod. Stop everything else and focus. This is the most difficult part for me, as even with no outside distractions my mind will sometimes refuse to slow down.
Seclusion - no excuses here. Jesus was the biggest public figure of His time, constantly surrounded by people, and still managed to retreat for some private, intimate time with the Father.
Silence - don't do all the talking during prayer time. Remember Isaiah 30:15, "in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." How can you expect an answer to your prayer if you won't stop talking long enough to get one?
Self control - here, you have to admit that you need to deal with some things in your life. This is the second hardest part for me, and I imagine this is what it's like to say "Hi, I'm X and I'm an alcoholic." Paradoxically enough, any increase in our self control is a reflection of how much we have surrendered to God's will.
Submission - all the prayer and meditation in the world won't make a difference if you have a rebellious spirit. If you don't intentionally submit yourself to God, your relationship can't grow and you will never know His best plan for you.
So, the challenge: try this for a week. Block out a time. Make an appointment to be with God, and only with Him. If you apply these six principles, my guess is you won't want or be able to stop.
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