As the first speaker during the school of the Spirit on day 7, Pastor Cyril Yerifor taught on the The Art of Meditation.
However before he began his focal message, Pastor Cyril shared briefly what he thought would be useful to some members of the congregation. Using Matthew 12:25 he implored, “don’t divide your house, don’t disdain your colleagues because they are different from you.”
Using Pastor Efe as an example he demonstrated how Pasotr Obuke’s parents both demonstrated their love and care for him differently. His father enquired about the trip and its developments. His mother on the other hand showed her care by asking him to eat, shower and rest. Since people are different their care and love will be shown in various ways as a result.
Pastor Yerifor kicked off the main thrust of his message by defining meditation as – to murmur in pleasure or anger. To ponder in pleasure or anger.
Joshua 1:8
With reference to Joshua in the context of his situation at that point in time, good success was the successful completion of his given assignment. As a soldier involved with territorial warfare, map reading is essential in order to know and understand the terrain. Thus Joshua was made to understand that by meditating in God’s Word he would be able manoeuvre his troops advantageously.
The Hebrew word translated as meditate also means to murmur in pleasure or anger. The concept of murmuring is familiar to everyone, especially in terms of complaints and anger. However, by murmuring God’s Word we can take this negative act and make it positive.
Psalm 1: 1-3
The man described in this Psalm is transformed through meditating in the Word of God. As people give themselves to murmuring the Word day and night it brings great changes into their lives and relationships.
Giving the example of a woman that gets anxious when her husband does not come home at the usual time and as a result of being unable to reach him and verify his whereabouts she gets anxious and agitated. She begins to murmur and will probably be emotionally charged by the time he gets home. The state in which she finally ends up is a result of the fruits of her meditation.
Taking to oneself is actually meditating. When this is done long enough, the spirit and soul get calm and become quiet. This is the same thing that happens once enough time is spent praying in tongues i.e. the spirit calms down. One of the more powerful things about meditation is that it makes the practitioners listen to the Word of God much longer than the pastor can preach or mentors can advice or colleagues can encourage.
The word of life that makes all the difference is put there deliberately. The Word doesn’t enter the spirit by chance but by deliberating speaking it to oneself.
This is achieved by meditating in the word of God. To be filled with the word of God is analogous to filling the belly with food, a spoonful is taken each time until the person is completely full.
Keep sowing the Word and sowing until the spirit is filled with the Word. It’s through meditating the Word that capacity is built and it involved the process of time. It is time that believers should quit looking for quick fixes to every issue. It is time to mutter, ponder, utter and imagine the Word of God. That is meditation!