Lynne Baab

Prayer and the purpose of Christian meditation

Lynne Baab • Tuesday August 8 2023

I’m going to give you a quotation with words deleted in two places. I’ve marked those two places with X and Y. As you read the quotation, think about what you would put in place of X and Y.

“Christian meditation is the filling of the mind for the purpose of X. It is a means of learning by repeated exposure to the same ideas. It involves study, reflection, and rumination. . . . Christian meditation sees understanding as the product of thinking on whatsoever is virtuous (Phil. 4:8). Christian meditation is not an end in itself but is intended to Y.”
—Jen Wilkin, author and speaker, in an article in Christianity Today [1]

I read and re-read Wilkin’s article, thinking deeply about what X and Y have been in my life. I turned to my favorite resource, The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Adele Ahlberg Calhoun gives this definition: “Meditation is a long, ardent gaze at God, his work and his Word. Slowing down and giving one’s undivided attention to God lies at the core of Christian meditation.” Here is her statement of our desire when we meditate: “to more deeply gaze on God through the written Word and the created order.” [2]

Calhoun’s statements do not give a purpose for Christian meditation, so we can assume she believes its purpose is the same as other spiritual disciplines. Early in her book, she writes that spiritual practices give people “space in their lives to ‘keep company’ with Jesus.” [3] Meditation, then, like all spiritual practices, helps us experience the presence of Jesus.

The subtitle of Calhoun’s book is also instructive: “Practices that transform us.” In all my teaching and writing about spiritual practices, I have focused on two ways spiritual practices bless us as articulated by Calhoun: they help us experience God’s presence with us (“keep company with Jesus”) and they enable us to participate in our transformation into the image of Christ through the Holy Spirit’s work in us. Both of those purposes — presence and transformation — connect to prayer. When we have a sense that we are keeping company with Jesus, of course we want to talk with him, listen to him, and enjoy his presence. When we become more like Jesus, we are being shaped into the image of a man who prayed, who relished spending time with his Father.

I have engaged in Christian meditation in several forms, both alone and with others, including lectio divina, pondering a passage of scripture that I memorized, mulling over the words to familiar hymns and praise songs, and reflecting on God’s presence in nature. Based on my experience, if I were to complete the sentences I quoted above from Jen Wilkin’s article, I can image so many things I would put in place of X and Y. Here are some of them. “Christian meditation is the filling of the mind for the purpose of . . .”:

• Pondering passages of the Bible so I can understand God’s character and values better
• Slowing down, breathing deep, and recognizing God’s presence with me and God’s action in my life
• Experiencing God’s peace
• Being challenged to grow into Christ’s image
• Experiencing Jesus’s companionship in my daily life
• Becoming more like Jesus and bearing the fruit God wants to bring forth in me
• Marveling in God's truth and beauty
• Allowing God to call me to prayer through pondering God’s truth and beauty

Here’s the original quotation from Jen Wilkin, with her words in the place of X and Y, and with the addition of a scripture verse:

“Christian meditation is the filling of the mind for the purpose of acting. It is a means of learning by repeated exposure to the same ideas. It involves study, reflection, and rumination. . . .  Christian meditation sees understanding as the product of thinking on whatsoever is virtuous (Phil. 4:8). Christian meditation is not an end in itself but is intended to yield the fruit of right living. In Joshua 1:8, God tells Joshua, ‘Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.’”

I agree with so much of what she has written, and yes, obedience to God and “the fruit of right living” are wonderful outcomes of Christian meditation. I worry, though, that she has missed a step or two, especially when we consider that many readers of Wilkin’s definition might define “acting” as doing something visible and measurable. Christians through the centuries have meditated on scripture and the splendor of God’s creation first and foremost to enjoy God’s presence and beauty. Christian meditation helps us praise our Creator and Redeemer, rest in God, and receive renewed direction, focus, and strength from the Holy Spirit. And yes, those lead to action and fruitfulness, but enjoying God's presence with us is desirable on its own.

If we go straight from meditating on who God is to visible action — without prayer, the experience of walking with Jesus, or reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance and power — then our fruitfulness might be short-lived. And we will probably experience so much less joy in our serving. God’s beauty and companionship, which we often experience in Christian meditation, bring such joy. And God’s beauty and companionship call us into life-giving prayer.

Resurrected Jesus, walking with you is our greatest joy. Help us spend time pondering your truth and beauty so we can love you, enjoy being with you in prayer, be transformed into your image, and serve you.

(Next week: more on Christian meditation and prayer. This is the 13th post in a series on spiritual practices and prayer. If you’d like to learn more about spiritual practices, the first post of the series is here. That post also has a list of all the posts in the series. Illustration by Dave Baab: Lake Manapouri, New Zealand. If you’d like to receive an email when I post on this blog, sign up below under “subscribe.”)

Two stories about the fruit of Christian meditation:

• Seeing people through the lens of Jesus’s cross
• What I learned from Bishop Aiden of Lindisfarne

Some practical ideas: How to meditate on the Bible

[1] Jen Wilkins, “When We Set Our Minds on Things Above,” Christianity Today, March 2021, 26. Italics in original.
[2] The section on meditation in the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us is pages 191-193. (Adele Alhberg Calhoun, InterVarsity Press, 2015 edition.)
[3] Calhoun, 19.

Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is a teacher and writer. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »

Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her 2024 book, Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide, illustrated with her husband Dave's beautiful watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed book. Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian  Life,  available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her best-selling book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.

You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.

Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills. 

Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.

"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader

"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping