10 Simple Ways to Meditate on Scripture

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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. –Joshua 1:8

What is Biblical Meditation?

Biblical Meditation IS the act of carefully considering a passage of Scripture in its original context, mulling over its full meaning, and evaluating its application to our own life.  It is an active process.

The meditation spoken of in Joshua 1:8 is the filling of your mind with a verse or passage and letting it soak in deeply.  It is what God instructs us to do… set your mind on, think on, fill your mind.

Simple Ways to Meditate on Scripture

1. Read it. Read, read, and reread the verse or passage you have chosen to meditate upon. Post it on your mirror or refrigerator. Make it your screen saver. Think of ways to bring the Scripture before your eyes throughout the day so that you can read it several times.

2. Read the Scripture out loud.

3. Sit with your Bible and read the passage you are meditating on several times. Each time you read it, put the emphasis on a different word.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
² So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.    Psalm 63:1-2

First time: O God, you are my God…

Second time: O God, you are my God…

Third time:  O God, you are my God…

Fourth time:  O God, you are my God…

Fifth time:  O God, you are my God…

4. Read with a pen (or set of color pencils) – Highlight things that jump out at you, color code concepts, circle repeating words, draw lines between things that connect, make lists.

5. Mark the different parts of speech. Circle nouns, underline verbs – just like English class!

6. Write the Scripture out by hand. Writing Scripture helps us to slow down and pay attention. It also aids in retention and recall, especially when we write in cursive.

7. Rewrite the verse or short passage using your own words.

8. Verse Map.

9. Engage in a traditional way of Bible reading called Lectio Divina.

10. Read with a friend.