Charles Stanley - Requirements for Effective Meditation (06/20/2020)
Dr. Stanley emphasizes that the most important thing in life is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, nothing compares to it. Drawing from 2 Samuel 7:18, he shows David sitting quietly before the Lord in meditation. He concludes that daily time alone with God through meditation—listening, confessing, and obeying—is essential for every believer's life and eternity.
The Priority of Your Relationship with Christ
When you think about what is most important in your life, I would ask you this: Can you spend it? Do you have to save it? Can you wear it? Can you drive it? Can you go there? What's the most important thing in your life? Well, I want to answer that question. The most important aspect of your life is your personal relationship to Jesus Christ. That's most important of all. Nothing is as important as that. Because your relationship to Him will determine everything else in your life.
And when we talk about that, the whole issue is, how much time do we spend with Him? And we call that meditating upon the Lord, meditating upon the Word of God, which means shutting everything else out, thinking about what He's saying to us, listening carefully, and then deciding whether to be obedient to Him or not. And meditation is what that's all about.
David's Example of Sitting Before the Lord
In this particular passage, I'm just going to read a couple of verses because we have talked about it before. In 2 Samuel 7:18, the Scripture says, "Then David," having listened to Nathan the prophet, "Then David the king went in, sat down before the Lord, and he said, 'Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me thus far? And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future; and this is the custom of man, O Lord God.'"
Here is David sitting before the Lord and listening, thinking about what God is saying to him. And the prophet has spoken to him. And now he has to sort of digest all that he's heard. So, what I want to talk about is the time you spend with Almighty God. We call it meditation.
Why Meditation Is the Most Important Daily Activity
And if you'll think about it, spending time with the Lord is the most important time you spend in any given day. Watch this. You are talking to God who created everything that is, who has all power, He's to be found everywhere. He loves you unconditionally, whether you love Him or not. He's this awesome, indescribable, all-sufficient, eternal, heavenly Father.
And His desire is that you and I fellowship with Him. That we spend time with Him. And when we think about the idea of meditation, we think in terms of shutting everything else out and thinking only of Him and allowing Him to work in our life. It's the most important activity in any person's daily life.
Because the person to whom you are spending time with and giving attention to has absolute control of your life. He's the source of everything you have, everything you will have. And He's the source of your eternity. There's nothing you and I do in a given day equal to or more important than the time we spend with the Lord. And we call that meditation. Spending time alone with God.
Challenges in a Noisy World
And in this day and time, that's not easy. Because the television blares, radio blares, music, you name it, it's hard to be quiet in a world that is so loud. But God says we're to spend time with Him. And the Scripture says in this particular passage that David, the king, went in and sat before the Lord. And then he asked the question and he and God began to speak.
Meditation is that time when you and I get alone with Him, asking Him whatever we need to ask, telling Him whatever we need to tell Him, searching our hearts, seeking His will and His purpose and plan for our life. He's committed. God, Holy God is committed to answering all those questions if we're willing to position ourselves to listen to Him.
Coming with a Receptive and Obedient Heart
Which means if I come to Him, I need to ask my sins be forgiven through the blood of Jesus and yield myself to Him and come with a receptive mind, not with a heart or mind that decides whether I will receive this or not, but whatever God says, I am positioned to do, to listen to, and to obey whatever that is. Most important activity in my life, your life, is our time of fellowship with Him, listening to Him, and deciding in our hearts will we obey Him or not.
And somebody says, "Well, when do we do all that?" That's the priority that is demanded of us if we're going to be real, true followers of Jesus. Private, personal meditation.
What True Biblical Meditation Looks Like
So, when I think about that and I think about oftentimes we think in terms of meditation of people sitting in some place with their arms a certain way or whatever it might be, no, we're talking about you and God in the privacy of your home or wherever it may be, where you and He talk. And you talk and you be quiet. And you listen carefully and God is willing to speak to you.
You say, "Well, I've never heard God speak." Probably because you've never listened. Or you say, "I've listened and I didn't hear anything." Probably because you were in such a relationship with Him, the first thing He's going to say is, "Let's deal with your sin first."
So, when we think about meditation, it begins with a clean heart of confession of sin and being sure that our heart is right and that we're willing to hear what He has to say. If I begin unwilling to hear Him, He's not going to say anything and He knows whether we're willing or not.
Setting Aside Specific Time for God
So, as you think about in your own mind and heart, "Have I ever had time just meditating upon the Lord?" Yes, you have, but I don't know how you spent the time. First of all, it demands time, a specific period of time. Not how particularly long it is, but some segment of time where you and God are alone.
You say, "But I'm married." No, all of us need private time with the Lord. And so, when is the last time you set aside ten minutes, fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, or whatever it might be, and all you wanted to do was hear from God. You wanted to hear what He has to say.
He says, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find," which is part of a verse. In essence, it means that He's willing to listen to whatever you have to say, whatever you have to ask for. When is the last time you gave Him time to hear you? Or the last time you came to Him for something specifically?
Seeking God's Presence Without Requests
When is the last time you came to Him when you weren't asking for anything, you just wanted to be in His presence. You wanted to sense His presence. Be aware as much as with a husband and a wife, being aware of one another. That's what this is all about.
And when the Bible speaks of it, oftentimes we think in terms of Old Testament characters all the way back from Adam to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Moses to Joshua and David and Daniel and so forth, some of them imprisoned because of their relationship to the Father. Today, you and I have the privilege of fellowshipping with God whenever we choose.
It's the most important activity in your life any time of any day, anywhere, no matter what. The most important.
Jesus' Example of Early Morning Prayer
How do I know that? First of all, Jesus got up early in the mornings and He hid Himself from His disciples so that He could spend time talking to His heavenly Father. Why did God the Son get up early to talk to the Father? Because He understood fully what meditation was all about. Listening carefully, His ears opened to hear all that the Father would say to Him.
And that kind of meditation is the same kind of meditation He wants for all of us, all of us who are His children. And that's what He desires for us, a relationship, a fellowship in which we shut out everything else and spend time with Him.
You can't have meditation with the Lord with the TV blasting or the radio or in the middle of something else. You can't do that and something. You do that or something.
Honest Reflection on Your Quiet Time
And so, ask yourself the question. And let's just be honest. Think not of a sermon but of a relationship now. When is the last time you set aside time and just said, "Lord, I just want to spend time with You. I don't particularly have anything I want to say to You."
Or, "Lord, I have a lot of things I want to say, but I just want it to be You and me. And I know You'll listen. And Lord, I'm listening because You said if I ask, it'll be given to me." And I'm asking for some answers. I need some situations in my life corrected. Lord, so I just want to think and let You speak to my heart quietly.
When is the last time you gave Him time just to do that? Probably because, not that you were too busy, probably because either you didn't expect Him to show up and listen, or probably because you didn't expect Him to show up and say anything in return, therefore you would have wasted your time.
The Requirements for Effective Meditation
But meditation is a precious, God-given opportunity to talk and listen to Your Heavenly Father, who is the sovereign God of this universe, who is willing to listen to You and to speak to You and to answer Your prayers and to give You guidance and direction and to take away Your fears and supply every one of your needs, that's who He is.
And so, it requires time, a segment of time that you set aside. If you...listen, if you don't set it aside, if you don't choose it, if you don't put it on the calendar or have you keep your schedule, if you don't, let me tell you who will. The devil will fill your time so that there's no time for God.
He may fill it with somebody, He may fill it with television, radio, or whatever it might be. You say, "Well, I have to go to work." We're not talking about working days. That's only eight hours a day. There's sixteen more. So, there is no excuse for time.
Time, Stillness, and Seclusion
We have time to fellowship with Him. We have time to love Him and express our love and devotion to Him. We have time to listen carefully. And we have time to search the Word, read the Word, and be sure we're hearing Him.
Somebody says, "Well, how do I know I'm hearing from God?" Here's the way you'll know. Whatever you hear from Him will be no contradiction to the Word of God. No contradiction. He's only going to say to us what fits what He's already said.
And so, it takes time to listen to Him. Secondly, it takes...listen, not only takes time, but stillness. You can't do this in something else. Watch this. We're talking about time that you value so highly that it has no competition in your life.
We're talking about Almighty God and you together privately, just the two of you. You say, "Well, God hasn't spoken to me." You probably haven't been listening. Meditation is hearing, listening on purpose with a sense of direction in your life that you want to know what He says.
He says, "Be still and know that I am God." Cease striving, He says, so we can concentrate.
The Need for Seclusion with God
And that leads me to the third word, and that's seclusion. Listen, He wants us, He wants us by Himself. If you are married, you do not want your wife never to be alone with you, or your husband, or your children. And so, you set aside time to be sure you have time with them.
And so, that's precious time. Time that you've set aside just to do what? To hear them out. To receive their love and to express your love to them and to hear their needs. And so, when you're talking about getting alone with God, it's just the two of you.
Fellowshipping with the Lord, listening to Him, is the most precious time in your life. It's the time when God says His most to us, the clearest to us, the most powerful to us, if we listen.
Silence, Self-Control, and Submission
But some people can't be alone very long. And so, when you're talking about getting alone with God, they don't know what that means. It means exactly what it says: Jesus got up early before dawn and went away to be alone with the Father.
If Jesus felt the need to be alone with His Father, do and should we not feel the same sense of need to be alone with our Heavenly Father?
And think about this as a dad. You know when your children feel the need of you. They hug you, they grab you around the leg, or sixteen, they sit down and listen to you carefully because they want your undivided attention.
How many times has your child said to you, "Oh, Dad, you're not listening. Mom, you're not listening." They can tell when you're listening. God can tell when you're listening.
Why God Desires Our Quiet Heart
And just as a godly parent knows how to speak to his or her children, and the children know how to listen, and they know whether we've been listening or not. God knows whether we're listening or not.
You can't meditate upon the Lord and listen or do something else. It's time He wants alone with you. To hear...listen, what is it? Think about this. Why does He have time alone with you? He wants to hear your heart. Does He already know your heart? Yes, He does. He wants you to speak it. You to say it. You to share it. You to pour out your heart.
He wants you to feel like and know that you've been listened to and that He's going to do something about it, whatever it might be. So, it's more than just listening, but listening and receiving.
Listen, meditation is a priority. It's a powerful priority. It's you and God. Everything else is set aside. The Holy Spirit who is within you will enable you to shut your mind out to everything else so that you can concentrate on Him and hear Him, listen to Him, because He has something to say to you.
Silence and the Battle for Quietness
That's why we have to set aside time where we have devoted ourselves to hear what God has to say. And oftentimes, the best way to do that is to start with reading a passage of Scripture. If whatever how busy you've been, to get your mind in the direction of the Lord God.
And I would say this: It's in those times we fight our greatest battles, and I think of battles that I fought. Spiritual battles, big-time battles. Battles that involved lots and lots and lots of people. But to be able to get alone with God.
And at one time in my life, I was the president of our denomination. And in the big battles we had, over 50,000 people there voting, the most precious time of it all was what? Being alone with Almighty God and knowing in my heart, "God, there are 50,000 of them. But there's me, and then there's you and me."
Which makes all the difference in the world. Which takes away all fear, all apprehension. And you find yourself absolutely capable of doing whatever needs to be done.
The Blessings of Consistent Meditation
When you spend time with Him, He infuses within your being what you need: courage, strength, know-how, what to do, what not to do, what to say, what not to say, where to go, where not to go.
That is, meditation is not a one-way street. It goes two ways: we listen to Him, He listens to us; we speak to Him, He speaks to us. We have no other relationship in life to equal the awesome, fantastic power of that relationship. We call it meditation. Because that's what it is.
And He's willing if we're willing. Then, of course, there's silence. It takes time to be quiet. When is the last time you knelt before the Lord and said, "Lord, I just want to be quiet, and I want to hear what You have to say"?
And sometimes you have to say that. "Lord, I just want to be quiet." A lot of things to listen to, Lord, but I want You to just shut it out of my mind.
Does that happen immediately? No. It depends upon how busy we are. When you ask God to silence your mind from speaking, that you just want the two of you, He will do an amazing thing. You will be able to shut everything else out.
Self-Control in Your Quiet Time
And the reason He's willing to help you get rid of all of that, because that means He's able to get to you all that He has to say to you. Silence is important. Many people cannot be quiet. They cannot be quiet.
That's why when they walk in the house, they turn on the TV, or they turn on the radio, or they start talking, or whatever it might be.
Does God ever have any time with you where there's no other sound? No talking. Just You and Almighty God. You will be shocked at how beautifully and clearly God is willing to speak to you if you'll be quiet and just listen. Just be quiet and listen.
Some people can't be quiet. There's something going on in a person's life that they have to have the radio, have to have music, have to have people, have to have this, have to have talking, talking, talking, talking, talking, when Holy God, who has all power to give you all the peace and the joy and the happiness that you desire in life if you listen to Him, and you have to turn on something to do what? To fill it.
Watch this. What is it in you that you're trying to fill up? Why do you have to have music or sound or voices? Why can't you walk in and sit down or lie down or whatever and just listen to Him, "Lord, quieten my spirit."
Will He answer that prayer? Yes, He will. Quieten my spirit, God. So that whatever you have to say to me, I can hear You. I don't want to miss anything, Lord, that You have to say.
Submission and Obedience to God's Voice
Is God willing to speak to you? Yes, He is. You say, "But I haven't been a Christian very long." It doesn't make any difference. Holy God is willing to listen to you and speak to you and answer your prayers and meet your needs if you are willing to give Him the time and be quiet and just listen to Him.
Because oftentimes people pray, and as soon as they finish saying all they want to say, what do they do? They get up and walk off. I wonder how many times, holy, loving, gracious, good God, has had something good He wanted to say to you, and you didn't hear it.
I wonder how many times we've missed God's best in our life because we've not given Him the time to tell us what He wanted to do. Meditation is quietness with a listening heart, an obedient heart, a receptive heart. God, what do You want to say? I'm listening.
And so, being quiet. For example, listen to this. My soul waits in silence for God only. From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold, I shall not be shaken. He only. Think about being quiet.
And then, self-control. If you're going to meditate upon the Lord, give Him time with you, there must be...you must be in self-control because, listen, surely if you kneel to pray, the telephone will ring, I guarantee you, or something will happen to get your attention.
Watch this carefully. To meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ, upon Almighty God, the Holy Spirit, you have to take control of your environment. That may sound simple, but it's not simple.
The Transformative Power of Time with God
If you think about your household, or maybe you live alone and you don't have any problem with that. Self-control. In other words, if phone rings, you don't have to answer it. If God had a particular ring when He wanted to get your attention, would you answer that? Well, three of you would. Yes, you would.
Well, there are times when God wants our attention. He doesn't want us talking to anybody else, listening to anybody else. He just wants us all to Himself. And that's something we have to control. We have to decide if He's first and foremost.
Watch this. We have to decide if we think that God has something important enough to say that He wants us to listen to Him and Him only.
Imagine the blessings we've missed because we didn't take time to listen. Imagine the situations and circumstances people have gotten themselves into they didn't intend to because they didn't listen to God.
He's more than happy. He's more than willing. More than we could possibly imagine. But He needs time with us because He wants us to be obedient to Him for our good. Not for His good, for our good.
He wants a listening heart for our good. He wants a listening heart because He's planned the best for us. And I wonder how many times we've missed the very thing in life we've wanted if we had only listened to Him.
And then, of course, there is submission to His will. Whatever He says, His desire is that we commit ourselves to do it. Maybe it's to clear up some conflict you had with somebody else. Maybe it's to share your testimony with someone else. Whatever God requires of you.
And most of the time, I believe, not always, in your time with the Lord, He's going to have something for you to do. It may be something for you to do just between you and Him. Or it may be something you need to do between you and somebody else.
And one thing for certain, if you're meditating upon the Word of God and your fellowship with Him is not right because of jealousy, envy, or strife, He's going to bring it up at some point.
And so, when you say, "Well, I don't want to think about that. That's not what I knelt for, Lord." No. God wants to clean us up so we can hear from Him and hear from Him very personally.
How Meditation Impacts Others
I'm simply saying, "This is the most important thing in your life, barring none." Not second, first. And, watch this, it affects other people. Because whatever God does in your life, it will bounce off. It will reflect onto somebody else.
And they may say, "Well, you seem to have an awesome sense of peace about what you're going through." Yes, I do. And here's the reason. All of us have a silent witness and all of us have an audible witness. Somebody's listening, somebody's watching how we live our life. Not purposely, but it's just there.
So, Jesus said it was so important to Him in order for Him to do what the Father called Him to do, He had to get up early in the morning before the disciples could find Him with that list of things He ought to do.
That's sort of the way it is for us, is it not? Somebody has a list for us. God has a list and on the top of it is time we spend alone with Him, listening, talking, meditating, just thinking through all the things that are so very necessary.
Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's Leading
Then, sensitivity. That is, I have to be sensitive to what God says. And that's why the Holy Spirit who lives within us will make us sensitive, that He's the one who will bring it to our mind. He's the one who interprets what God is saying to us in our quiet time.
Whether you spend ten minutes or twenty minutes, or whether you spend an hour, it's the same Holy Spirit who indwells us and seals us as a child of God, who also interprets God's Word to us as we're listening.
And He doesn't say the same thing to everybody. Think about how awesome God is. Of the billions and billions of people in the world, holy God can speak to every single individual according to that individual's need.
Is that absolutely beyond human comprehension? Yes, it is. But we're not talking about human, we're talking about God. And being so capable and powerful to be able to know and to be able to do what is good in every person's life, think about your Heavenly Father loves you enough that He deals with you on a person-to-person basis.
God will never say to you, "Sorry, I'm busy. I've got so-and-so here." No. He's a Heavenly Father who's listening in order to work in your life, to meet your needs, to give you guidance and direction, and more than that, to conform you to His likeness.
The Eternal Anchor in Christ
Think about this. He says...watch this carefully...He predestined us. He predetermined. He set us His goal to conform us to His likeness in character, in our actions, in our attitudes, what we do, how we look at things, how we see things, how we spend the time. He's predestined us.
And so, if He's going to accomplish His purpose, He needs time. In our thinking, in our feeling. An awesome God who loves us enough to willingly spend time with us in order to help us to become the persons God wants us to be.
So, when you think about meditation, think about it in this light. It's my time to have a conversation with God.
Think about this. Think about people who don't believe in God. How empty their life is. No matter who they're married to and how much money they have, where they go and what kind of popularity and what kind of reputation they have, it's empty.
This is why they get into all kind of trouble, all kind of marriages, all kind of sexual deals, drunkenness and drugs and all their things. There's only one person who can satisfy your life, and that's Jesus.
When you're meditating upon Him, He keeps you on course. There are lots of people who'd like to draw you off course. But remember this, your anchor, like putting your feet in a big block of cement, your anchor is your relationship to God to keep you walking straight, keep you listening to the truth, keep you doing His will, and keep you making your life fruitful every day of your life.
If you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior, it won't work. But you can by asking the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin, surrender your life to Him. And the moment you do, you are tuned in. You'll have to learn a few things, but you're tuned in. He's listening. And your life will change forever. Amen.
Father, I pray that You will lock this message into every mind and heart that has heard it today, that our personal, intimate relationship with You is the most important thing in all of life. Seal this message wherever it's heard. Make it a life changer, God, is my prayer, in Jesus' name. Amen.