How to Meditate God’s Word

4 Responses to How to Meditate God’s Word

1. Dorothy J. Mathis says:

   April 5, 2010 at 7:10 am

   The first two chapters offered basic information on how to meditate on God’s word. But as I progressed through the later chapters I was disappointed with the message. Dennis Burke appears to offer a “health, wealth, and prosperity” gospel that is not biblical.

   For example, he says in chapter 3 titled, Spiritual Imagination, “Begin to picture yourself in the setting of God’s desire for your life. He wants your body well and whole, free from pain. He wants your family to be united in harmony. He is eager to see your financial standing on the rise.” This is hardly the truth. God allows pain and trials in our lives so that he can bring about spiritual growth and work all things together for good. The inference in Burke’s meditation is that someone who is lying in bed suffering from the pain of cancer has not pictured health well enough. And what about the quadraplegic who has been without the use of his limbs for years? Does this mean that God has abandoned him or that he is outside of God’s will? Absolutely not! The bible is clear that as Christians we will endure trials, and that God will be with us through those trials. I thought that this book was going to be about meditating on God’s word…..not meditating on future things we have no control over.

   In chapter 4 he goes even further by writing, “If you listen to some religious tradition that says, “God will heal sometimes, but he doesn’t heal everyone”, that will affect how you view God’s word on healing. But when you continually hear, “Jesus healed them all”, you can rest assured that healing is for you.” Wow. That is a setup for a big disappointment and even disillusionment with God. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t pray for healing or believe that God can and will heal someone, if it is his will. But it often is not his will. God does not promise to heal everyone. I just lost my mom to cancer a few months ago and a woman from my church died yesterday from cancer. Both my mom and this woman from church had a strong faith in God, yet both were willing to lay themselves in God’s hands and trust in his will for their lives. If we meditate on anything, we should be meditating on the bible, not on our own imaginations. Consider Job, who lost wealth, health, prosperity, and the lives of his dear children. Was this because he didn’t meditate on health and happiness? No, it was because God allowed him to go through a great trial so that his faith would be proven in the end.

   Some of Burke’s philosophies remind me of the current popular teachings called “The Secret”, which has a mystical tone to it and a non biblical direction. He writes in chapter 4, “If you can see it, you can have it. If you can see health in your body, you can have it. If you can see prosperity in your life, you can have it. Whatever you can truly imagine on the inside can become a reality on the outside. If you cannot see it on the inside, you are hindered from ever experiencing it on the outside.” While there is truth that we often act on things we picture in our minds, it is crazy to think that you can have everything you picture. And I’m left wondering how this doesn’t conflict with yielding ourselves to God’s will, not our own will. We may want things, but that doesn’t mean that it is God’s will for us to have them. I had a desire to learn more about how to meditate on God’s word and this book did not help with that.

   Some verses that come to mind include:

   Job 2:10b “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?”

   Job said in Job 13:15, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him”.

   Isaiah 14:24 “The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand”.

   Isaiah 14:27 “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched out hand, who can turn it back?”

   Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, `My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.”

   Job 23:13-14 “But He is unique and who can turn Him?
   
   And what His soul desires, that He does.
   
   “For He performs what is appointed for me,
   
   And many such decrees are with Him.”
2. Carolyn D. Blount says:

   April 5, 2010 at 9:21 am

   He hit all areas about meditating that I didn’t know about, this is a very good book and recommend it.
3. Anonymous says:

   April 5, 2010 at 9:29 am

   I gave one of my most treasured books away yesterday to a precious lady, who is suffering horrendous pain constantly with no doctor being able to help and they don’t even no what is causing the pain. It was this book “How to Meditate God’s Word.” I have referred to it a number of times. It is one of a few “absolutely cannot live without” books that I had. It has helped and blessed me so many times.
4. Anonymous says:

   April 5, 2010 at 10:54 am

   I just read the book on How to Meditate God’s Word. What a blessing! It was written with simplicity. It was something that I could understand and refer back to time and time again. What insight!