Christian Mindfulness

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a cultivated way of being present to ourselves, others, God, and the world around us. It includes the practice of focusing our attention and awareness on the present moment with an appreciative curiosity.

Why are people interested in mindfulness?

A large and growing body of research provides evidence that mindfulness changes both subjective and physiological states. Those who engage in mindfulness practices find feelings of anxiety and depression lessened, experience greater self-compassion, are less reactive, and experience deeper satisfaction in their relationships. Not only does a sense of well-being improve, but overall health improves. Mindfulness is associated with a stronger immune system, decreased blood pressure, better sleep patterns and facilitates changes in brain activity enabling a more calm and focused state of attention.

How does one become more mindful?

There are many ways of becoming more mindful. Growing up in a healthy family, spending time in nature, exercising, patterns of prayer and meditation, and some types of therapy can contribute to a healthy mindfulness. For those who want to develop their mindfulness muscles a bit more, the most common suggestion is to develop a pattern of meditation.

Is mindfulness Buddhist?

Mindfulness is a human characteristic that seems to characterize emotionally healthy and happy people the world over. Since some degree of mindfulness is required by many religious practices, like prayer and reading sacred scripture, you’ll find it has proponents in many faiths. In Buddhism there is a special interest in mindfulness as a strategy for skillful living, but Buddhists don’t have a corner on the market.

Can Christian spiritual practices promote mindfulness?

Yes, most definitely. In the Christian tradition, mindfulness is a by-product of our practices and not the primarily goal. Studies have shown that contemplative Christian practices, where the person praying has the goal of simply enjoying and honoring God’s presence, actually end up making that prayerful person more mindful. These devotional practices have the similar health benefits to more clinically oriented treatments which include a mindfulness component. So mindfulness is not the immediate goal of classic Christian spiritual practices, but an outcome nonetheless.

Biblical Meditation

Meditation is delight-driven pondering of Scripture with a receptive heart in the presence of Christ to foster our love of God and others.

Set forth in the law of Israel was an expectation that Israelites would meditate on God’s Word. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4 NIV) is known as the Shema, the central theological passage in the Old Testament. Immediately after this statement the Israelites were told, “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up” (Deut. 6:6–7 NLT). This passage is a picture of Bible engagement, talking about and repeating the Law; this was an expectation Moses gave to all Israel. In Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2, we find the call to meditate on God’s Law given to those who want to flourish. The command to meditate is given without exceptions. It is not for just men, or priests, or kings, or parents. It is the pathway of blessing for all. God in his grace commands what is within our reach with his help.

Meditation is a life-giving way of relating to God through Scripture that can be done anywhere by anyone. In our culture, meditation is portrayed as an elite activity requiring training or done in special centers for those with time to spare. In the Bible, meditation could be done in a field (Gen. 24:63), wherever one went (Josh. 1:7–8), in the temple (Ps. 48:9), day and night (Ps. 1:2), in times of conflict (Ps. 119:23), at night (Ps. 77:6), and in bed (Ps. 63:6). A friend, as he was recovering from a heart transplant, described with deep appreciation how he was taught to meditate on spiritual truths by a hospital chaplain. Several young parents have mentioned learning to meditate as they sat up late with a fussy infant. One friend described how his jail cell became his monastery as he learned to meditate on the Bible. Meditation is simple—not simplistic or easy, but available to all who seek to meet God in this way. One image of meditation in the New Testament is that of a nursing newborn baby: “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow” (1 Pet. 2:2 NLT). As soon as we are born again in Christ, we have the equipment to meditate and take in the life-giving Word of God.

I suggest that biblical meditation has four elements (easily remembered using the acronym PROD). These are not steps but ingredients (like flour and water in bread) that you should use in your meditation recipe.

Present: We meditate in the presence of God. Our risen Lord promised always to be present with his disciples: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NLT). Paul tells us we are spiritually united with Jesus: Christ is in us (2 Cor. 13:5), and we are in him (1 Cor. 1:30). In meditating, we interact with our risen Lord Jesus and are strengthened, challenged, comforted, and guided by him. The fact that we are fellowshipping with Christ is a distinctive aspect of biblical meditation.

Read: We engage in a slow, repetitive oral reading of Scripture. The Hebrew words translated as “meditate” in the Bible have root meanings of “sing, coo, growl, mutter, or hum.” Make it physical: read aloud, mutter, make up a song or write the passage down, engage your body in the reading process, and read very slowly.

Open-hearted: There are great promises made to those who meditate: “You [will] prosper and succeed in all you do” (Josh. 1:8 NLT; see also Ps. 1:3). The positive change that flows from meditation comes from God working in and with us. Meditation is always a cooperative venture. We are in a listening partnership with God as we sit with his Word. This is not an activity you will master by sheer willpower and perseverance; it is a way of opening yourself to Christ through his Word and truth. Enter into meditation with the attentive posture that you’d bring to any important conversation.

Delight: Meditation grows out of an attraction to and respect for the Word of God. We meditate on what we care about. A delight in the Bible is something that comes as a gift from God that we should seek in prayer. Delight also develops as we read with a sense of marvel and attentiveness to the literary beauty of the Bible. Since meditation is delight-driven pondering, we should start meditating on the Scriptures we already find attractive. The Shepherd Psalm (Ps. 23), the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13), or God’s declaration of love (John 3:16) are favorites of many. It’s best to start off with what we delight in already.

View a sample chapter from my book on meditation, Abide →