Episode Details

Bible Study 101: What Is Biblical Meditation? Hearing Jesus, Devotional

This episode is a replay from Rachael's biblical meditation series, and it closes out Bible Study 101 by putting you inside the passage you've been studying all week.

The first half is teaching. What the Hebrew word hagah actually means, why meditation is the thing that trains you to recognize God's voice, and a story about the night Rachael got the call about her grandmother. The second half is a guided meditation on John 6:1-15, where you'll walk through the scene as the boy who handed over his lunch, and then sit with Jesus afterward.

There's no closing prayer on this one, on purpose. Rachael reads the passage and then hands the time over to you.

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Chapters

2:17 What this episode is, and why it's structured backward

2:43 Hagah, the second Hebrew word for meditation

3:13 Omnipresence, and what meditation actually creates

3:42 How you come to recognize a voice

4:39 When the enemy sounds a lot like God

5:18 The night her grandmother fell

7:14 I'm not over there, I'm right here

8:38 Meditation is the posture. The interaction is what changes you.

9:05 Why we want someone else to talk to God for us

11:18 How do I know if I'm hearing from God?

11:44 Tip one, pick a Scripture

13:06 Tip two, pick a time

13:58 Tip three, pick a place

14:24 Tip four, your posture

15:23 Tip five, don't give up

15:51 The guided meditation begins

16:21 Using your senses inside the scene

17:36 When Jesus sits down next to you

18:37 Then you ask Him the same question

21:04 Reading John 6:1-15

What is biblical meditation?

It's filling your mind with God's word on purpose and staying there long enough for Him to speak into it.

Meditation is mentioned 58 times in Scripture, and there are two Hebrew words behind it. One appeared earlier in this series and carries the sense of complaining or pouring out to God. The other is hagah.

What does hagah mean?

Hagah is the idea of pondering, imagining, thinking. It's turning something over in your mind, sitting with it, and listening. It's also a dialogue, where you're talking to God and then waiting to hear back.

That's the version of meditation this episode practices. Not emptying your mind, but filling it with a passage and staying in it.

Why does meditation help you hear God?

Because there's a big Bible word, omnipresence, which means God is always with you regardless of where you are or what you're doing. The question isn't whether He's there. It's whether you recognize it.

Meditation creates the emotional and spiritual space where you can hear Him.

How do you learn to recognize God's voice?

The same way you recognize any voice. Time.

Rachael has three daughters, and when one of them calls from another room she knows instantly which one it is. People on the phone can't tell them apart, because their voices are similar. She can, because she's spent years with them. Her sister-in-law can too, for the same reason.

This matters because the enemy often works through your own insecurity or ego, which means the voice can sound familiar. The way you tell the difference is the way you tell the difference with anyone. You learn a voice by sp