Meditation:

Mental Rumination

What the heck is rumination!?

Cows ruminate. A cow has four stomachs: the rumen, the omasum, the reticulum and the abomasum. The initial chewing of food by a cow is limited. They chew only enough to mix the feed with saliva. This forms a bolus which is swallowed and stored in the rumen, the biggest stomach. Later, while the cow is resting, the bolus is regurgitated (spit) back into the mouth for additional chewing. The slang term is “chewing the cud.”

Complete mastication (chewing) is important. Completely chewed food presents a greater surface area than course food. That allows the bacteria in the rumen and the digestive juices in the abomasum to gain maximum nutritional value from the food as it passes through the other stomaches.

That is the process of physical rumination.

Biblical meditation is mental rumination.

I have a brain. It has a reasoning capacity, a long term memory, a short term memory. I consume the Bible through hearing, reading, studying, and memorizing. It gets stored in my short term memory. Later, while I am resting, I chose to regurgitate the stored Biblical content so I can think about it using my reasoning capacity.

I think about it using meditation. Meditation allows me to break down the verses into finer parts. There is more understanding of what it means. I am able to gain maximum life giving “nutritional” value from the Biblical content. Maximum change in my life. Maximum obedience to God's will.

I have learned and taught several methods of meditation over the years. Here are a couple of my favorites.

AEIOU METHOD

This method is good for shorter passages, a few verses.

Ask questions Emphasize words In your own words Other verses Use it / apply it to your life

Lets use it to meditate on one of my favorite verses. Joshua 1:8

“Do not let this Book of the 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, NIV)

1. Ask questions – What is the Book of the Law? Is it just Deuteronomy or does it include the first five books of the Bible? Now does it apply to the whole Bible?

How can I “do everything written in it?” Is that really possible? Or am I just shooting to do my best? What will it look like for me to be prosperous? What will it look like for me to be successful?

2. Emphasize words – I read the verse out loud several times. Each time I emphasize a different word. I say it louder and with more force so I can hear what it sounds like.

Not.

“Do NOT let this Book of the 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, NIV, emphasis mine)

Not – Let –depart – mouth – meditate –night –careful – do – everything – written – you – prosperous – successful. Thirteen words. Thirteen readings out loud to hear how it sounds when each word is emphasized.

3. In Your Own Words – I re-write the verse in my own words using my thoughts from steps 1 and 2.

“I can never forget about the Bible. I need to think about what it says all the time, day and night. I need to figure out how my life needs to change to do what God wants me to do. God promises that I will be successful, if I do that.” (Joshua 1:8, my paraphrase)

4. Other verses – What other verses come to mind why I am thinking about this one?

2 Timothy 3:16;

Proverbs 6:22;

Matthew 6:33.

I look these up and think about them.

5. Use it / apply it to my life – How will I apply this to my life? In the past, I have tried using my subconscious to meditate on the Bible when I sleep. I use a technique I read about in Jim Downing's book, “Meditation.” I will apply this technique again using Joshua 1:8 to see what new thoughts God will give me.

SPECK METHOD

This method is good for longer passages, maybe a chapter.

Sins to Avoid – What sins do I need to avoid? Promises to Claim – What promises can I claim? Examples to Follow – What examples can I follow? Commands to Obey – What commands do I need to obey? Knowledge about God – Is there any new knowledge about God or Jesus?

For example, since today is the 4th, lets meditate on John 4:1-26.

As I read it through the first time, I am looking for sins to avoid.

v. 18 “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have it not your husband.”

[thoughts] “God, is there any dissatisfaction in my marriage? Is there any place where Satan could get in and drive a wedge between me and my wife? Is there any other area of my life where I should be content, but I am not?”

As I read it through the second time, I am looking for promises to claim.

v. 10 “ . . . you would have asked and he would have given you living water.”

v. 14 “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

[thoughts] “LORD, thank you for the living water. Thank you for the eternal satisfaction and peace that comes from that water. Is there any place in my life where I am not allowing your eternal living water to fill? What exactly is the living water? Is it the Holy Spirit? Is it eternal life? Well it can't be eternal life, but it is the thing that wells up into eternal life. I like the thought of it being water. I can identify with being thirsty and wanting water to drink. I can see how my spiritual thirst is similar. I want to drink whatever the water is that quenches spiritual thirst.”

As I read it through the third time, I am looking for examples to follow.

v. 7 “Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

[thoughts] “Jesus took the initiative to start a conversation with some one He did not know. Society said He was not suppose to talk to her. LORD, is there some one I need to talk to? Is there someone you want me to have a conversation with?”

“Jesus started by asking the woman to help Him. God, is there some one I can ask to help me to do something? People like to help. Maybe if I ask someone to help me, they will let me help them with eternal matters.”

As I read it through the fourth time, I am looking for commands to obey.

v. 16 “Go, call your husband and come back.”

v. 24 “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and truth.

[thoughts] “ God, is there anything you have asked me to do where I have disobeyed? Is there any place you are asking me to “go” right now?”

“LORD, how can I worship You better? What does it mean to worship You in spirit? What does it mean to worship You in truth? I think I understand worship in truth better than worship in spirit. Can You help me? Can You give me some other verses that would help me understand “worship in spirit?” Does that mean the Holy Spirit?”

“'Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit.' If I am filled with the spirit, can I worship you in spirit better?”

As I read it through the fifth time, I am looking for anything about God or Jesus I never noticed before.

v. 6 “ . . . and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.”

v. 7 “ . . . Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

[thoughts] “Jesus was a man. I know that. But I forget that as a man, He got tired and thirsty. Just like me.”

v. 25, 26 “The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” The Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

[thoughts] “Jesus flat out said He was the Messiah! The Christ! He did not deny it or hide it. He embraced it. I need to be as bold as He was while He was on earth.”

Go try one of these for yourself!

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