LIVING
SPIRITUAL LIFE DEVELOPMENT
Meditation on Communion with God by SYLVIA KUZMAK
A life of faith is a life spent close to God. Meditation on God is an ancient and valued practice for seeking closeness to Him. I have used meditation in my faith life when I have felt myself drifting away from God. For example, when I have been absorbed in burdensome job obligations, family or organization emergencies or relationship stresses, I meditate by reading or reciting God’s word with an open heart and mind, either aloud or in silence. This is to “feed on” God’s word, digesting it and taking it into one’s heart. Jesus declared, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). After time spent in meditation, I feel spiritually renewed and back in the presence of God. For quite a while, my “go to” biblical text to use for meditation was Psalm 23. I would typically pause on the beginning verse “The LORD is my shepherd …,” as I contemplated what those words meant about who I am and about who God is. I
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imagine David, author of the Psalm, who was a shepherd himself, reciting these words and having their rich meaning flood immediately into his mind. Through meditation, I mentally “unpack” the meaning of the words, thinking of God’s love, caring, guidance, protection, and provision for me, and my dependence on God. For more than a year, I have been a participant in the Cultivate 2.0 spiritual growth program run by the Spiritual Life Development Department of The Salvation Army Eastern Territory. In the introductory module of the program, I read Richard J. Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline, which included a chapter on meditation. About all the spiritual disciplines, including meditation, Foster writes, “The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.” At the time, I felt inspired to compose my own meditation sequence based on
Scripture to use for my own meditation practice to draw close to God. The meditation I composed is divided into five parts: on God the Father, on God the Son Jesus, on the Holy Spirit, on myself as a believer, and, finally, on communion with God. I call it “Meditation on Communion with God” because I find it leads me back into a feeling of close relationship with our triune God, when I experience His love and peace and share in His purposes and His will. Glory to God! Do you have a desire to draw close to God? Perhaps, you feel lost and adrift in life and seek answers from God for the first time. Perhaps you have strayed from God and seek to return to His presence. Or you desire to live out your faith and you have wisely adopted a daily habit of seeking closeness with God. I invite you to try this meditation sequence yourself by simply including your name in the fourth section of the meditation. Let us all draw near to God, abide in His presence, and be transformed even further into His likeness!
Volume 8 Number 1, 2022
