Bill Johnson - Meditating on God's Word Until it Becomes Part of You
Honestly, it has been my life source to take what God has said, review it over and over again. I don’t care if I’ve read the verse a thousand times; I need it one more time. I had a challenging physical issue several years ago when I had a growth in my small intestine. I reached a point where I couldn’t eat, and eventually, I couldn’t drink. I sat in a recliner for days, finally moving to a hotel in San Francisco and then into a hospital room. My practice was to sit with the scripture and either sit with my iPad to watch or listen to prophetic words over my life. This biblical meditation is what has kept me alive. My sanity might be questionable for some of you concerning me, but we’ll leave that word at least in my version of sanity.
Honestly, it has been my life source to take what God has said, review it over and over again. I don’t care if I’ve read the verse a thousand times; I need it one more time. You take that verse, and you begin to pray it. He says in His word that no one is able to remove you from my hand. God, I give you thanks that my life is firmly in your hand. Your strength protects me; your grip on my heart keeps me safe. God, I honor you as the Father who delights in me as a son. You take this; you process it. It’s more than a two-minute moment in the morning; it’s a lifestyle that starts affecting how we think, how we pray, what we declare, and what we say. I sat there by the hour, just reviewing, reading it again, watching the video again, turning to Joshua 1, which I did again and again, reading this Psalm that has been such a life source for me, repeatedly. I’m telling you, it’s a source of mental health for us forever, but especially in this season.
All right, Psalms 1:1: «Blessed is the man or woman who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.» My grandma, my mom’s mom, would quote this verse all the time. I can hear her saying it as I’m reading. I think she’s a little concerned about me because she would quote this one a lot: «nor sits in the seat of the scornful.» Yes, Grandma, yes, Grandma, yes, Grandma, I’m telling her right now, yes, Grandma, I’m doing my best.
Verse 2: «His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; whatever he does shall prosper.» This is a tandem passage to Joshua chapter 1. Now, we’ve heard recently that the drought in all of California is officially over. Thank you, Lord Jesus! But I’d like to suggest to you that the trees along the Sacramento River were never informed that there was actually a drought. The trees along the river never knew there was a drought. The one who meditates on the Word does not go through the seasons of drought that others experience because the roots start reaching down into the subterranean streams and tap into the rivers of God, where there is always more than enough.
The word of God flows from His heart towards you and me continuously; it is 24/7. It’s why David would say, «I wake in the night watches and consider your works. I awaken in the night watches while I lie on my bed; I consider your word.» He meditates and prays over these words that have been spoken over his life. If you wake up at night, you might as well make it useful. I do! If I have a verse that I’m pondering—let’s say Psalm 127—I’ll wake up in the night and say, «God, I just thank you; you are providing for me even right now while I sleep,» or whatever verse seems to fit your situation. You take that, prayerfully consider it, and pray it. It’s better to wake up with a purpose than to wake up in anxiety and fear. I’ve said it many times: we’d have better days if we had better nights. This biblical meditation on scripture, engaging with the presence of the Spirit of God, is a huge part of our personal triumph and victory.
So here he says, «His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law His word he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season; the leaf never withers; whatever he does, he prospers.» Again, I want to connect the bounty of the soul to biblical meditation on His word. It’s the groaning, the muttering, the praying, the quoting, the declaring, the broadcasting, the singing, the rehearsing—every application of what God has said over your life. Something happens to the heart of faith in that atmosphere.
There are three things I’m aware of this morning that we have been given an invitation and a command to meditate on: one is the word of God. Whatever God says, mark it. I can take you to portions of scripture; I’ve got one in the book of Nahum that the Lord spoke to me in August of 2009. I have a little date next to it. There’s a passage there that I will pray, sing, and declare; I will do all those things because He spoke to me, highlighted it. Have your history with God in that word. So we meditate on the word, but the second thing is that we meditate on His ways.
David would talk about waking in the night and considering the goodness of God, the greatness of God, whatever it might be. He would contemplate the person of God Himself who had chosen him, who has chosen you, who has chosen me. He would consider, for example, the mercy and kindness of God: «God, you are so kind. You could have rejected me a thousand times, and yet instead, you showed kindness to me. You were patient with me when I was impatient, and when everybody around me deserved to be impatient, you were kind and patient with me. God, the way you have treated me is like I’m a treasure, and yet I would have been happy just to be an outcast, some distance from you. That could just at least live and not die. Yet your kindness changed who I am, changed how I think, changed what I believe. For it was your kindness that made it possible for me to have a hope-filled future. God, your ways are beyond measurement.»
What’s happening there? You’re interacting; your soul has become interwoven with His own word, with His own nature, His own heart. So we meditate on the word, we meditate on His ways, and then David would say in the night watch, «I consider your works.» That’s the things that God does. It’s the pouring in of the presence of God into this dear one who has suffered for 38 years, only to watch the crud that had afflicted her for all those years to no fault of her own. The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, and the Holy Spirit just pours out upon her, and we watch as He kept pouring, and eventually, none of the crud at the bottom of the vase was left; it had all been washed out. It was one of the most simple moments of my life, watching Him come and flutter. You think it’s amazing—it’s amazing how you do this, it’s amazing!
And the end result is 38 years of affliction is over. You amaze me. What’s happening? Heart, mind, emotion—everything about us is just becoming interwoven with this very fabric of His own nature, of His own being, as we interact with the greatness and significance of God. I’m telling you, biblical meditation—this little sliver of instruction—is the key to making your own way prosperous, finding your own way of success, and accomplishing what God has left you on the planet to accomplish. Jesus didn’t go through what He went through so we could sit in a pew and wait for the rapture. He is asking us to be overcomers and conquerors, but I’m telling you, it is not possible without embracing the tool He gave us called biblical meditation.
Pretend in your heart. Help me, Jesus! Yes, help me, help me right now, Lord. I do pray for an unusual gift of grace. Remember, part of the word of that Dick Mills definition meant to rid ourselves of distraction so we can actually give ourselves. What happens is we try to meditate when we’re in the middle of chaos. Start with the meditation so it shapes the remainder of your day. Father, I pray for this unusual gift; may a gift of biblical meditation be imparted now through the word to every person and to our online Bethel TV family. The same thing in every home, every church where this is viewed. Let there be an anointing for biblical meditation that changes how we think and how we interact with your word. Thank you, Lord.