Meditation on Communion with God

LIVING| SPIRITUAL LIFE DEVELOPMENT

A life of faith is a life spent close to God. Meditation imagine David, author on God is an ancient and valued practice for seeking of the Psalm, who was a shepherd himself, recitcloseness to Him. I have used meditation in my faith ing these words and 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 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!

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

—JAMES 4:8a

Meditation on Communion with God

GOD … Creator and Lover of the world. ... Worthy of praise! Holy, holy, holy! ... Loving, faithful, merciful. ... All knowing, all powerful, everywhere present and eternal.

JESUS …Only begotten Son of God, Word of God, Immanuel. ... Lord and Savior, Teacher, Light of the world. ... The Way, the Truth, and the Life. ... Friend.

HOLY SPIRIT … Daily Companion, Indweller, Empowerer. ... Guide, Helper, Comforter, Intercessor. ... Convicter of sin, Transformer. ... Director and Unifier of God’s people.

[BELIEVER’S NAME] …Created, known, and loved by God. ... Gifted and provisioned by God, thankful. ... Redeemed, a child of God, a child of the covenant. ... Seeking God’s kingdom first. ... Dwelling richly in God’s Word. ... Servant of God and neighbor, denying self. ... Trusting, persisting, in God’s hands.

COMMUNION WITH GOD … Rest, peace, restoration, joy. ... Empowerment, Christlikeness, partaking of the Divine. ... Walking in the Spirit—loving, looking, listening, hearing, serving. ... Rooted, bound, in the Body of Christ. ... Bearing fruit for God’s kingdom— with God all things are possible. ... In Christ, Christ in the world, Light of the world. (Continue communion with God, in silence).

Related Scripture

GOD: Genesis 1, John 3:16–17, Psalm 146, Psalm 86, Isaiah 40:22–26, Psalm 33, Psalm 139

JESUS: John 1:1, John 14: 7–11, Matthew 1:23, Mark 12: 35–37, Matthew 28:18, John 3:16–17, Matthew 23:8, John 8:12, John 14:6, John 15:9–15

HOLY SPIRIT: John 14:15–18, Matthew 28:20, Acts 1:8, 1 Thessalonians 1:5–7, Acts 9:31, Romans 8:26, John 16:7–11, Ezekiel 36:25–27, Romans 8:3–9, Ephesians 4:1–6

BELIEVER: Psalm 139:13–14, Matthew 6:8, John 3:16–17, Romans 12:3–8, Colossians 3:15, Ephesians 5:20, Galatians 4:4–6, Hebrews 8:6–12, Matthew 6:31–33, Colossians 3:14–17, Matthew 20:25–28, Matthew 22:37–40, Luke 9:23–25, Proverbs 3:5–6, Psalm 31:15

COMMUNION WITH GOD: Galatians 5:22–25, Matthew 11:28–30, Acts 1:8, 2 Peter 1:2–4, Ezekiel 36:27, Ephesians 3:14–19, 1 Corinthians 12:12–27, Colossians 1:9–14, John 15:1–5, Mark 10:26–27, John 8:12, Matthew 5:14–16, Ephesians 2:19–22.

by Sylvia Kuzmak