Post by herb on Jul 27, 2018 6:18:59 GMT -5
Meditation/Contemplation is something that God may choose to draw you toward in your Christian journey. When discursive prayer(prayer using words) begins to become dull and lifeless after months or years of daily practise, but you still long for God, you may find yourself, as countless others have before you, inexplicably drawn to contemplation. This is the work of the holy Spirit.
God seeks to draw you to Himself, and when you naturally begin to desire to sit in mental silence with a simple loving intention toward God, rather than talk to Him and ask Him for things, this may be God's way of leading you to meditation. If this is the case, I recommend you obey the impelling of the Spirit of God, and begin to seek help learning Christian Meditation.
Centering Prayer, the Jesus Prayer and Christian Meditation are three subjects that you should then research as all three have vast amounts of excellent advice about how to practice and succeed. I myself have learned from all three of these sources and then combined what I learned, as the Spirit led me, into deeper and deeper levels of meditation.
After several months of dedicated practise, you can expect your meditation to "break out" of your twice-daily formal sitting practise and begin to open up into a state of regular spontaneous practise throughout your day from the time you wake up, till you fall asleep. This is a great way to fulfil St Paul's request that we "pray without ceasing."
Side benifits, besides the most important one of experiencing more of God in your life, will be greater freedom from sin, more peace and joy, more love and compassion for others, and way more patience, gentleness and kindness. Less struggle with negative thoughts and depression and the new-found experience of abiding joy and happiness are two more side benifits.
But these side benefits should never become your reason for meditating. One should always meditate to commune with God, to pray(meditation is a form of prayer) for God alone and not for yourself.
🙏❤️herb
God seeks to draw you to Himself, and when you naturally begin to desire to sit in mental silence with a simple loving intention toward God, rather than talk to Him and ask Him for things, this may be God's way of leading you to meditation. If this is the case, I recommend you obey the impelling of the Spirit of God, and begin to seek help learning Christian Meditation.
Centering Prayer, the Jesus Prayer and Christian Meditation are three subjects that you should then research as all three have vast amounts of excellent advice about how to practice and succeed. I myself have learned from all three of these sources and then combined what I learned, as the Spirit led me, into deeper and deeper levels of meditation.
After several months of dedicated practise, you can expect your meditation to "break out" of your twice-daily formal sitting practise and begin to open up into a state of regular spontaneous practise throughout your day from the time you wake up, till you fall asleep. This is a great way to fulfil St Paul's request that we "pray without ceasing."
Side benifits, besides the most important one of experiencing more of God in your life, will be greater freedom from sin, more peace and joy, more love and compassion for others, and way more patience, gentleness and kindness. Less struggle with negative thoughts and depression and the new-found experience of abiding joy and happiness are two more side benifits.
But these side benefits should never become your reason for meditating. One should always meditate to commune with God, to pray(meditation is a form of prayer) for God alone and not for yourself.
🙏❤️herb