15 Meditation Techniques to Try Out

Shortly before he was executed by the Nazi’s for his role in the plot to overthrow Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words in the spiritual classic, Life Together. When posing the question of why he meditates, he had this to say: “Why do I meditate? Because I am a Christian. Therefore, every day in which I do not penetrate more deeply into the knowledge of God’s Word in Holy Scripture is a lost day for me. I can only move forward with certainty upon the firm ground of the Word of God.”

For Bonhoeffer, meditation on Scripture was not an optional piece of Christian spirituality; it was vital. In fact, at the underground seminary he began at Finkenwalde, students were required to begin the day with a half hour of meditation. Is it possible that Bonhoeffer’s practice of deep meditation allowed him the courage to move forward with certainty to stand up to the Nazi regime? Maybe his words from Life Together were eerily prophetic and it was the firm ground of the Word of God that gave him the courage to be faithful even to the end.

Consider taking a lesson from Bonhoeffer and consider the following methods for biblical meditation. Most of these are adapted from Donald Whitney’s excellent book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Other methods are from faithful Christians throughout the ages. The goal of utilizing these methods is not to overwhelm yourself with all of them but rather to try a few out and see which one’s resonate best with you. Think of the Bible is an infinitely deep well and these methods are simply different types of buckets to help you draw water. Depending on your strength, season, and personality, some buckets may be more helpful than others.

Practice 1: Emphasize Different Words in the Text

This method takes the verse or phrase of Scripture and turns it like a diamond to examine all perspectives. So a meditation on Jesus’ words at the beginning of John 11:25 would look like this: 

“I am the resurrection and the life.” 

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.”

Of course, the point is not simply to repeat vainly each word of the verse until they’ve all been emphasized. The purpose is to think deeply upon the light (truth) that flashes into your mind each time the diamond of Scripture is turned. It’s simple, but effective.

Practice 2: Rewrite the Text in Your Own Words

From his earliest schooling days, Jonathan Edwards’ father taught him to do his thinking with pen in hand. This was a habit he practiced throughout his life. Meditating with pen in hand or fingers on the iPad can help you to focus your attention on the matter at hand, while stimulating your flow of thinking. With this method, imagine that you are sending the verse you’ve chosen in a message to someone. How would you convey the content of the verse faithfully, yet without using the words of that verse?

Practice 3: Think of an Illustration of the Text—What Picture Explains It?

An illustration is a word picture that explains, clarifies, or confirms the object of your meditation. It can be a personal anecdote, an event in the news or in history, a quotation, an analogy, a song—anything that shines light upon the text. The first thing to do when you want to picture a passage is to consider whether there is a story in the Bible that illustrates the point of the verse upon which you are meditating, or, if you are meditating on a story, whether there is a single verse somewhere in Scripture that summarizes the point of that story.

Consider this example of this method from Thomas Watson as he described biblical meditation itself from the Deuteronomy 6:6. Pretty meta, but you get the point: “Meditation is like the shining of the sun, it operates upon the affections, it warms the heart and makes it more holy.”

Practice 4: Ask How the Text Points to the Law or the Gospel

One way of thinking of the Bible is that it presents us with God’s Law and God’s Gospel. The Law (basically the Old Testament) consists of what our holy and just God requires of people for them to have the righteousness necessary to live with Him in heaven. The Gospel (basically the New Testament) is the good news of how our loving and merciful God has provided through Jesus the righteousness He requires in His Law. I’m using broad strokes here and yes, I know that hints of the Gospel are in the Old Testament. That’s why this method is so interesting though — it actually helps you see the Bible as a whole. With this meditation method, you look for how the text you are considering points to some aspect of the Law, the gospel, or both.

Practice 5: Ask How the Text Points to Something About Jesus

This is similar to the previous method, but it focuses entirely on the person and work of Jesus Christ. So if you remember, after His resurrection, as Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus with two believers, we’re told that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Essentially this approach to meditation attempts to do the same thing — it examines the text to see how it might point to something about who Jesus is or what He did.

Practice 6: Ask How the Text Speaks to Your Current Situation

John Flavel said that “the finger of God is clearly seen by us when we pursue meditation.” Suppose the current issue in your life is financial. After you have completed your Bible reading, review what you’ve read and search for any texts that address or might apply to finances. Then consider what the text says. If the immediate concern in your life relates to your family, think about what those verses have something to say about relationships. If you are wrestling with a persistent question, go back over all you’ve read in the past few minutes and scan it for something the Holy Spirit might illumine in relation to the answer. You may be surprised by the Scriptures God uses to give you insight, understanding, or application regarding your issue or question.

Practice 7: Set and Discover a Minimum Number of Observations from the Text

With this method you resolve that you will not stop meditating on your chosen text until you discover at least a certain number of insights. This method is from a legendary assignment in a seminary class originally taught at Dallas Theological Seminary by professor Howard Hendricks. He would tell his students to come back to the next class with at least 25 observations on Acts 1:8. Having done so, they would be required in the next class to return with 25 more observations on that verse. Finally, they were given the assignment to make as many observations as they could beyond the original fifty. Most were thinking they had almost exhausted Acts 1:8 by the first round. That is, until Hendricks told the class with, “Oh, by the way, the all-time record is over six hundred.”

Not every verse in the Bible will be as fertile as Acts 1:8. However, this method is founded upon the belief that an infinite and inexhaustible God has inspired every text in Scripture.

Practice 8: Memorize the Text

Simply put, when you are memorizing a verse, you think about it. The mental repetition of the text required by memorization fosters reflection at the same time. Further, after you memorize a verse of Scripture, you can meditate on it during your commute, while on a walk, as you are preparing a meal, when you are falling asleep, or any other time you choose.

Practice 9: Create an Artistic Expression of the Text

This approach to the text consists of giving tangible expression to your meditations with a sketch or some other material manifestation of your thoughts. You could compose a song or poem based on the text. As Psalm 96:1 urges us, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song.” It doesn’t have to be intricate or lengthy, or even more than one note. Most often it might be entirely spontaneous. You could even take a cue from Martin Luther and adapt the tune of a popular song as he did with A Mighty Fortress. Straight up, Seeds Family Worship does a great job of this with their catchy tunes. Highly recommend.

Practice 10: Pray through the Text

In Knowing God, J.I. Packer asked the question, “How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each Truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.”

Christian meditation is more than just riveted human concentration or creative mental energy. Praying your way through a verse of Scripture submits the mind to the Holy Spirit’s illumination of the text and intensifies your spiritual perception.

The Bible was written under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration; pray for His illumination in your meditation. True biblical meditation must always involve two parties—the Christian and the Holy Spirit. Praying over a text is the Christian’s invitation for the Holy Spirit to hold His divine light over the words of Scripture to show what you cannot see without Him.

Practice 11: Look for Applications in the Text

The outcome of meditation should be application. Like chewing without swallowing, so meditation is incomplete without some type of application. As Maurice Roberts said, “Unhurried meditation on gospel truths and the exposing of our minds to these truths is what yields the fruit of sanctified character.”

So ask yourself, “How am I to respond to this text? What would God have me to do as a result of my encounter with this part of His Word? Is there something to start, to stop, to confess, to pray about, to believe, to say to someone?”

Practice 12: Ask the Philippians 4:8 Question of the Text

Philippians 4:8: says “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Donald Whitney observes that this verse can provide guidance for meditating on any verse of Scripture, as well as for meditating on “life.” Consider this series of questions based upon “these things.”

• What is true about this, or what truth does it exemplify?

• What is honorable about this?

• What is just or right about this?

• What is pure about this, or how does it exemplify purity?

• What is lovely about this? What is commendable about this?

• What is excellent about this (that is, excels others of this kind)?

• What is praiseworthy about this?

So whether meditating on a verse or story in the Bible, or on something in your life—circumstances, an event, an experience, an encounter with someone, the Philippians 4:8 questions can be a helpful guide.

Practice 13: Apply the Ignatian Prayer to the Text

Ignatius of Loyola was a 16th century priest who founded the Jesuit Order within the Catholic Church. He taught his followers to meditate on the Gospels with an active imagination. For example, if you are reading the story of Jesus healing a paralytic in Mark 2, hear it as if you were the paralytic or as if you were a bystander. Feel the heat of the sun, the weariness of a journey on a long road, the shame of exposure, the judgment and condemnation from the religious leaders.

Now imagine Jesus.

What might He sound like? Does He touch you as He passes? Does He look you in the eyes? What do you hear? What do you feel?

Scripture is living and active. It is meant to take root and grow in our mind. Instead of just knowing what the story says, know how it feels and explore what the characters in the story must have experienced when they encountered Jesus.

To do this practice, go somewhere where you can avoid interruption.

Set a timer on your phone. A timer frees you from worries about length. Put your phone on do not disturb, and put the timer out of view. When the alarm rings, you have finished. As you initially try this practice, start small—just a few minutes. However, as you get more comfortable with it, add a few minutes at a time. Practices like this should be structured with a routine that your mind and body learn and can easily step into.

Begin by taking a moment to calm down your mind and body. Sit in a chair or kneel on the floor, and open your Bible. Take a short passage from one of the Gospels, such as any of the stories in Matthew 8. Read the passage a few times and allow your imagination to start filling in the details: the scenery, the weather, the sounds in the background, or the smell of the sea. Imagine the nervous expression on the face of the centurion. After a few readings, let your mind wander into that world. Focus on senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, taste.

When the timer goes off, take another moment to pray and reflect. What struck you? What part of the story might be worth coming back to later in the day?

This is a practice that gets richer with repetition. You are training your mind to imagine, and in doing so, you’re liberating yourself from the need for spectacle and external stimulation.

Practice 14: Use “Palms Up, Palms Down” with the Text

The practice of “centering down” has been used by Quakers to meditate for centuries. It is a time to become still, to enter into the silence, and to allow the fragmentation of our minds to become centered. There is a physical element to the practice as well called: Palms Up, Palms Down.

Palms Down

Begin by placing your palms down as a symbolic indication of your desire to turn over any concerns you may have to God. Be honest about your guilt,  frustrations, struggles and anxieties. Examples of inward pray could be something like the following:

“Lord, I give to you my anger against ________.”

“I release my fear of ________ today.”

“I surrender my anxiety over not having enough money to pay  for _________.”

“I am frustrated  about not being able to ________.”

“I am guilty because I _________."

Whatever it is that weighs on your mind or is a concern for you, just say, “Palms down.” Release it. 

Palms Up

After several moments oof surrender, turn your palms up as a symbol of your desire to receive from the Lord. Meditate on what God has promised in His Word.

“Lord, you say in your Word that you are love. I would like to receive your divine love for _______.”

“You say in your Word that whenever I am afraid, I should trust in you. Please help me to trust in you instead of giving into fear.”

“You say in your Word that because of Jesus’ work on the cross, you have cast my sins  as far as the East is from the West. Please allow me to feel freedom from my guilt.”

“You say in  your Word to cast my anxieties on you because you care for me. I would like to o experience your care for me.

After centering down, spend some time in silence. Allow God to commune with you.

Practice 15: Use Breath Prayers to Re-Orient around the Text

Breath prayers are exactly what they sound like: prayers that can be said in a single breath. To practice this discipline, you simply take in a deep, calming breath and, while exhaling, pray quietly or aloud a simple phrase meant to reorient you to God’s presence and His kingdom. This is a practice that brings the whole person back to an awareness of God.

You might take a favorite verse of Scripture and adapt it. For example, Matthew 11:28 can become, “Lord I am weary, give me rest.” Romans 8:1 can be prayed as a reminder that “there is no condemnation.”

Still other ways to utilize breath prayers are through songs or hymns. The line “Let me hide myself in thee” from Augustus Toplady’s classic hymn, “Rock of Ages”, is an effective way to re-orient your day around who you are in Christ. On the other hand, if you enjoy more contemporary music, the line “You turn graves into gardens, you turn bones into armies” from Elevation Worship’s appropriately titled, “Graves into Gardens” reminds us of God’s power in the world and in us. Really, the creative possibilities are endless because each phrase is like the tip of an iceberg: it reaches back into a deeper, richer story and roots us in a larger, God-filled world.

The beauty of this practice is in its portability. There is no place, no meeting, no encounter in life where one can’t stop and take a slow, deep breath. If you practice it regularly, you’ll find yourself whispering prayers without having to think too much about it and they will simply be part of life.