There is no real change in the life of the believer without meditation in the Word. Meditation means speaking the Word aloud slowly or revolving it around in the mind over and over again. The Word will not affect you until it gets from your head to your underlying thought patterns, called the the spirit of your mind in Ephesians 4:23.
Notice Psalm 1:1-3: Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
Meditation in the Word cause a person’s whole life to blossom like a well nourished tree on a river bank! That’s because meditation moves the Word from the conscious mind to the spirit of man, where these underlying thought patterns are closely aligned. Once the Word replaces these wrong underlying thought patterns, life changes!
Notice Joshua 1:8: This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. I want you to see here that meditation in the Word produces the ability to do according to all that is written therein!
Start in the New Testament with the scriptures that include the Words in Christ, in Him, or in Whom. THese scriptures address who we are in Christ and how we should think of ourselves. You can find them in Kenneth Hagin’s mini book In Him. There they are listed in the back of the little mini-book. Write them down and start to speak them out loud, and cogitate them, that is, let them roll over and over in your mind. Take ten or fifteen minutes a day to meditate on the word in this way.
For me, once I did this, I then began to find scriptures that related to problem areas of my life. Scriptures that had to do with anger, unforgiveness, gossip, healing, answered prayer, faith, finances, marriage, speech, fear, love, purity, etc. I would look them up, write them down, and take them to a quiet place and meditate on them. My life changed!
Meditate in your car, as you go to sleep at night, or take a break during the day. Start with your number one biggest problem area of life. Then, go to a quiet place, close your eyes, and speak the scriptures to yourself that relate to that area of life. Make meditation a daily practice. The Word will begin to replace wrong thinking and believing. The wrong underlying thought patterns will be replaced with the truth of the Word. Your behavior will slowly conform to your new belief system. And you’ll become a changed person! 21 to 28 days begins the formation of new habits. So give yourself a month or so, and you’ll begin to see changes in how you live life.
The Word meditated upon and acted on brings tangible results! Tomorrow, I’ll give you some personal examples of what meditation in the Word has done to change me.