Are Christian Affirmations and Meditation Rooted in Scripture?

Christian affirmations and meditation are great ways to dig deeper into scripture.

If you’ve ever wondered if meditation is something that Christians should do, practice, or be involved in we are going to talk all about Christian meditation or Christian affirmations today. When you hear the word meditation, what comes to mind? Do you picture a group of people sitting together on the floor with the lights dimmed?

There’s some weird music in the background. Their eyes are closed, their hands are in the lotus position, and they are chanting some random syllable over and over again. I used to think the same thing, but here’s the truth– meditation is actually in scripture. We are commanded, admonished, or told to meditate as a Christian but it does not look the way it looks in the world.

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Before we get started, I like to be clear about definitions and words. When we talk about meditation all it means is to think deeply about something. This is not emptying your mind and listening for some higher power or being. That’s not it at all. In fact, as Christians, you want to meditate on things that are edifying and uplifting to your souls, hearts, and minds.

You want to fill your minds with the word of God through the process of meditation. If you’ve ever read Psalm 119 about hiding God’s word in your heart and being firmly planted and firmly rooted, it’s talking about meditation.

If you look in Deuteronomy and the command to teach your children diligently, when you’re up, when you’re down, when you’re sleeping, when you’re working, when you come and go, and on the doorpost all of these things are talking about being and living your life in a way where you are constantly and consistently thinking about the things of the Lord.

That is Christian meditation It’s really easy and simple. It’s also important because it links two important disciplines together for the Christian woman who’s going through a hard time. Meditation links prayer and Bible study (and reading) together.

It’s the glue that kind of holds them all together because they’re so powerful when combined. I’m going to share my process for meditation. Feel free to take it, leave it, or change it if it doesn’t work for you.

Christian Affirmations and Mediation Step 1: Start with Scripture

The first step is to start with the truth of scripture. Remember, this is not about emptying your mind. It’s about filling your mind with God, his truth, and filling your mind with the gospel. Start with simply reading a passage of scripture.

Let’s use Psalm 23 as an example. If you decide to meditate on Psalm 23, the first thing that you’re going to do is read the whole psalm. Then go back and read it again slowly and pay attention to the words. Look at the verbs, and things that are opposites, look at the adjectives and nouns.

Look really closely at all the different things that are going on in this passage of scripture. In fact, take it one verse at a time because the word of God is super rich and you can spend more time than you think on just one verse and get so much richness and goodness out of that.

That’s the first thing: read it and pay attention to the different things that are going on.

Christian Affirmations and Meditation Step 2: Consider the Message

The second step is to start thinking about the words you took note of. The Bible is God’s word and it was written by man but inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit. Which means the words that are used are intentional. They’re not random things that ended up on a page because the author guessed it sounded good.

No, they were inspired by the Holy Spirit and are there with purpose. They are there with intention, and there’s power in understanding that. Take the time to think about the words and think about the message that is being conveyed to you from the scripture. Back to Psalm 23.

Verse one says, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want.” You might ask yourself what it means for the Lord to be your shepherd. What does a shepherd do? What is it about a sheep that requires a shepherd? How is God showing up as a shepherd in your real life? What does it mean that you don’t lack anything? What is lack? What’s the opposite of lack, huh? So what does that mean for you in your current situation?

Think about these questions in your quiet time or as you go throughout your day. Really slow down and think about what you’re reading in scripture. Remember, meditation is thinking deeply about or going over things over and over in your mind. It’s not obsessing or ruminating. It’s taking the time to really hear from God about what it is that he wants to say to you from the pages of his word.

Christian Affirmations and Meditations Step 3: Prayer

Step three is prayer. I am really big on praying scripture because when you are thinking about God’s word, it gives you something to talk to him about. Suddenly, there are new conversations that you can have with God that wouldn’t have happened before if you hadn’t spent that time reading scripture, meditating on it, thinking deeply, and asking those questions.

It then just naturally flows into prayer. Any kind of Bible consumption is going to do this if you’re just reading it, digging in really deeply and studying it, or memorizing scripture. Memorizing scripture is a great way to meditate on scripture because you’re going to be reading it over and over again as you are committing it to memory.

Christian Affirmations and Mediation: Renewing Your Mind

One of the benefits that comes from meditation on scripture and writing Christian affirmations is that helps you renew your mind. In Romans, we are called to renew our minds not by thinking about what’s going on in the world but by constantly thinking about what is true.

Your truth comes from God. Scripture is where you learn about who God is, what his character is, what his nature is, what his promises are, what he’s done in the past, and all the things that we know to be true about God.

When life is impossibly hard and all you can think about is what’s hard and how it’s just getting worse, you can begin to meditate on the things of God and that will renew your mind. Doing that will bring you peace, help you calm down, and it will help you keep your focus on where it needs to be (on God), instead of on the stuff that you have no control over or how bad your situation is.

When you are walking through hard things, you need to be thinking about things that are true, honorable, lovely, excellent, and praiseworthy. Think about what is found in scripture because that is going to bring you so much peace.

How to Use Christian Affirmations

Christian affirmations are connected to meditation. When I say affirmations, I’m not telling you that you should walk around going, “I’m going to have a million dollars when I wake up in the morning. I’m going to have a million dollars when I wake up in the morning. I’m going to have a million dollars when I wake up in the morning”.

It’s not going to happen that way. That’s not what I’m talking about here. When you think of Christian affirmations, I am talking about affirming the word of God. Finding those scriptures that really speak to you when you are reading, thinking, and praying.

When you’re meditating on the word of God, there’s going to be something that grabs hold of you and will not let you go. Take those verses or biblical principles and use those as affirmations so that when those negative thoughts and overwhelming emotions try to take over you can fight back. You’ll have truth for that.

For example, I will get up in the morning, and if I’m having a really hard day, I will just encourage myself. I tell myself, “I am the head. I’m not the tail. I am the apple of my father’s eye. I was loved so much that God said, Jesus, to die for me on the cross. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am more than a conqueror. I have been given the authority to trample over serpents and scorpions, and nothing shall by any means harm me.”

That’s what I mean when I say affirmations. You have got to be able to use the word as the weapon that it is, that it was created for you to have. When you’re having those hard moments you might find yourself struggling to do things.

That’s a huge reason I encourage you to make prayer cards. I call these BattleNotes™ because, in those moments when you don’t have time to grab your Bible or look up something on your phone, you have those cards. You can go to war in your mind or heart, wherever you’re at against the things that are trying to drag you down and make you weary. Against those things that make you feel like there’s no hope and there’s no way that anything’s ever going to get better.

Final Thoughts on Christian Affirmations

Christian meditation and affirmations are important, and they don’t look like what you may think of when you think of the world. The world is not doing it right. They’re taking something found in scripture, something that’s biblical, and twisting it, perverting it, and stripping it of all the good and sacred things about it to try to make it work for them.

But you as a Christian know better. You know that you can think deeply about the things of God and think deeply on the word of God. You can use scripture as your affirmations to speak truth over yourself, your children, and your situations.

You can combine those things to strengthen and build up your courage and confidence when it comes to praying and walking through those hard things. Just remember the three steps in meditation: read scripture, think deeply about it, and talk to God about what you are learning and hearing.

Then as he begins to reveal to you more truth and more depth and more understanding, take those verses that you are meditating on and use them as affirmations to speak truth to whatever it is that is trying to rob you of your peace, of your hope and your strength.