Bible study series: week 6: Identity and Prayer/Meditation

Identity and Prayer/Meditation

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn how to live freely and lightly. (Matthew 11:28-30 Message)”

Christian meditation is a deep form of prayer that can lead to direct communion with God. It is not focused on experiences or requests, but on surrender. We are learning the simplicity of being with God. When we emphasize experience too much, we are in danger of developing a consumerist pick n’ mix spirituality, where God’s presents to us matter more than his presence. Christian meditation is centered on listening to God and obeying His word. We are simply following the instruction in the Bible to meditate on God’s word: “Do not let this Book of Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (Joshua 1:8).”

When we meditate, we reflect on the Word of God and allow it to roll over in our minds so we can internalize it…when we meditate we also have to search for God and tune into him, taking time just to be quiet and hear that still small voice of God. But if I hear nothing, I have not failed, because even wasting time with the one we love is valuable.

“Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does he prospers. Psalm 1:1-3” AND “Don’t lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning (Ps 4:21-22).”

When we spend intimate time with God and meditating on Him, we are sending our roots down deeper into the rich soil of his love, and it is there that we are deeply fed and nourished. It’s from this place of intimacy and deep refreshment that we gain inner strength, stability, and clarity of vision.

Action steps:

1. Read Matthew 14:22-36 and see questions below on this passage

2. The following letter from God to us all based on verses from Scripture:

My Dear Sweet Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up…Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways…Ps 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image…Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28

I knew you before you were conceived…Jeremiah1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation…Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book…Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live…Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made…Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother’s womb…Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born…Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who do not know me…John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love…1 John4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you…1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father…1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could…Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect Father…Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand…James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs…Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope…Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love…Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore…Psalm 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing…Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you…Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession…Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul…Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things…Jeremiah 32:41

If you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me…Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart…Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires…Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine…Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager…2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles…2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you…Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart…Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes…Revelation 21:3-4

And I will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth…Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus…John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed…John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being…Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you…Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins…2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled…2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you…1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love…Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me…1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again…Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen…Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father…Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…Will you be my child?...John 1;12-13

I am waiting for you…Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad, Almighty God

Questions:

• What is causing you to look down at water with fear and anxiety instead of focusing on Jesus? (Tiredness and exhaustion, comparing yourself to others, busyness, not spending enough time with God and his word, unforgiveness, rejection, betrayal, disappointment, health problems, self pity, lack of faith and trust, unhealed wounds from the past, false idols in which God is not number one in your life)
• Where are you in your relationship with God right now? (maybe visualize this physically like where is God in relation to where you are sitting or standing now?)
• What or who preoccupies your thoughts to where it is standing in the way of your relationship with God?
• Are there any things that God is calling you to let go of?
• Is God transforming anything in your life? Is there anything new that he is calling you to?
• Do you feel able to allow God through his Holy Spirit to enter every corner of your life, or are there still parts you want to conceal?

Further Questions to think about on your own this week:

• What is God saying to you at this point in your life?
• Can I honestly pray the prayer ‘I surrender myself to you without reserve’?
• Am I willing to let God’s will prevail totally over mine?
• How can I surrender more to you God? Trust you more? Love you more?
• Whose Kingdom am I serving (mine or God’s)?
• What is my motivation for being or doing?

Final prayer:

Lord open my life to your leading

And my lips to speak your truth.

Open my eyes to your presence

And my ears to your voice.

Open my mind to your Word

And my heart to your love

Reasons to meditate:

1.     Meditating on his word helps us to know God and his truth, and how to apply that truth to our lives. It also helps us know the character of Jesus so we can become more like him.

2.     Meditating on his word feeds and strengthens us for “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3).”

3.     The eyes of our hearts are opened so we can be led by God (like Elijah we become sensitive to his still small voice).

4.     helps us to know our true identity in Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).

5.     we are cleansed and purified. “You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you (John 15:3)”

6.     Our faith is built up

7.     God can heal us in that place. “He sent forth his word and healed them (Psalm 107:20).”

8.     Meditating on his word helps us to resist the devil and stand firm because the word has become part of our spiritual armor. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6:17).”

9.     Helps us focus on God and not ourselves

10.  Encourages greater intimacy with God and others

11.  Helps us to accept ourselves.