Editor’s Note: Joel Renner is the CEO of RENNER Ministries. Alongside his father, Joel has actively participated for many years in nearly every facet of the daily operations of the ministry. Joel resides in Moscow, Russia, with his wife and two sons.

How to Meditate on Scripture

After times I hear people say I am meditating on a scripture. I used to wonder what does mediating on scripture look like?

Do you sit in a dark room and drink tea in silence and wait for revelation to come? Or do you cross your feet at the fire with coffee and fall asleep in meditation?

I have to say for me to mediate on scripture sounded kind of touchy feely until I saw and heard how my mother would describe meditating on scripture.

Mom wouldn’t use the word meditate (that probably helped me) but she would describe things like this “Joel, I am reading 1 Peter again and I just can’t move on. I am really thinking about the words in 1 Peter. Can I share with you some of my thoughts and the scriptures that I going over” or Mom would say “The words in Revelation that Jesus said to the churches are very strong. I want to understand what Jesus is saying, I am going to study that part of scripture.”

Ask Mom would explain these things to me I learned that to mediate on scripture means to study the word of God. There is reading the Bible and there is studying the bible. They are connected but very different.

We all need to read the word of God on a daily bases but to meditate on scripture means studying a part of scripture. To think about what you read and study who was being spoken to in the text and what is the history around the text and the deeper meaning of the words spoken. This is not going through a daily Bible reading plan. This could be studying the book of Romans and listening to expert teachers on Romans and taking your time to really understand what is being said in the Romans.

In review I believe both daily reading and bible study (mediating) are needed in a Christian’s life.

God bless,

Joel Renner