The following excerpts were copied and pasted from: Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 56-58). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.
[Comments in square brackets below, emboldening and underscoring are mine. Additionally, I divided his text into shorter paragraphs.]
“Select an Appropriate Passage
The easiest way to decide what to meditate on is to choose the verse, phrase, or word that impresses you most from the passage of Scripture you’ve read. So, after your reading, return to that which attracted your attention and meditate on that. Obviously, this is a subjective approach, but any approach is going to be somewhat subjective. Besides, meditation is essentially a subjective activity, a fact that underscores the importance of basing it on Scripture, the perfectly objective resource. Verses that conspicuously relate to your concerns and personal needs are clearly targets for meditation.
Although we don’t want to approach the Bible simply as a digest of wise advice, a collection of promises, or an “answer book,” it is God’s will that we give our attention to those things He has written that directly pertain to our circumstances.
[For example] If you have been struggling with your thought life and you read Philippians, then you probably need to meditate on 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Is the salvation of a friend or family member on your mind? Should you encounter John 4, you could profit from meditating on Jesus’ manner of communication there and drawing parallels to your own situation.
Sensing distance from God or a dryness in your spiritual condition? Looking for clues to the character of God and focusing on them is a good choice.
One of the most consistently profitable ways to select a passage for meditation is to discern the main message of the section of your encounter with the Scripture and meditate on its meaning and application.”
“Meditation Method #1: Emphasize different words in the text:
This method takes the verse or phrase of Scripture and turns it like a diamond to examine every facet. A meditation on Jesus’ words at the beginning of John 11:25 would look like this: [Emphasize each underlined word as you read the sentence each time.]
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
Of course, the point is not simply to repeat vainly each word of the verse until they’ve all been emphasized. The purpose is to think deeply upon the light (truth) that flashes into your mind each time the diamond of Scripture is turned. It’s simple, but effective. I’ve found it especially helpful when I have trouble concentrating on a passage.”
“Meditation Method #2: Rewrite the text in your own words
From his earliest homeschool days, Jonathan Edwards’ father taught him to do his thinking with pen in hand, a habit he retained throughout his life. Meditating with pen in hand or fingers on the keyboard can help you to focus your attention on the matter at hand, while stimulating your flow of thinking. With this method, imagine that you are sending the verse you’ve chosen in a message to someone. How would you convey the content of the verse faithfully, yet without using the words of that verse?
Paraphrasing the verse you are considering is also a good way to make sure you understand the meaning. I have a friend who says that paraphrasing verses after the fashion of the Amplified Bible is the most productive method of opening a text for him. The very act of thinking of synonyms and other ways of restating the meaning of a part of God’s Word is in itself a way of meditation.”
“Meditation Method #3: Formulate a principle from the text—what does it teach?
While this method can work when you are meditating on a section as short as one verse or as long as a chapter, it works especially well when your focus is on more than just a sentence or two. Think of it as a type of summary of the main message of the passage. This method might be compared to developing a thesis statement for the section of Scripture you’ve read. Thus a principle derived from Matthew 6:9-13 [the Lord’s prayer] might be stated as, “Jesus teaches His followers how to pray,””
Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (pp. 56-58). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.
[End Quotations]
Donald Whitney listed 17 different ways to meditate on a selected passage of scripture. He indicated that his readers would likely find some forms of meditation more useful than others…. I plan to write a couple more posts on the various ways of meditation, highlighting 2-3 forms in each post.
The last ten pages of chapter 3 are on application; obviously, that must be covered also, as it is the purpose of meditation. So this series will probably require 3-5 more posts to adequately convey the basics of chapter 3 to readers. I am not sure if I will do any posts on chapters 4-13. If you find this book beneficial, then purchase a copy for your Christian library.
For curious readers, I pasted in the content page below:
Chapter 1: The Spiritual Disciplines . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 2: Bible Intake (Part 1) . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 3: Bible Intake (Part 2) . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 4: Prayer . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 5: Worship . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 6: Evangelism . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 7: Serving . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 8: Stewardship . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 9: Fasting . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 10: Silence and Solitude . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 11: Journaling . . . for the Purpose of Godliness Chapter
12: Learning . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
Chapter 13: Perseverance in the Disciplines . . . for the Purpose of Godliness
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
I recommend reading all the posts about Dr. Whitney’s book, at least part 1, 2 and 5.
In part 2, Dr. Whitney gave a wonderful example of how to pray using scripture, he used Psalm 23; that example was the last 5 minutes of the 13 minute video in part 2.
All the parts of this series are listed at, Categories: Spiritual Disciplines