Meeting: Bible Study
Date: 27th March, 2026
Message: Developing a Culture of Meditating on God’s Word
Minister: Pastor Laide Olaniyan
There is a difference between reading and studying. We can read and not study. In studying, we have to do in-depth research. Research means to search again. One of the hallmarks of research is asking questions about our assumptions, understandings, and conclusions to know if they are true and to discover their impact. In reading, however, we enjoy the sweetness of the story or line of thought. But in studying the Bible, we have to search again, confirming and reaffirming some assertions, and try to validate, not just with our minds, but spiritually. Furthermore, studying means we ask questions, which we might sometimes need to write down and consider again so that we can fetch new judgment.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)
The Bereans, for example, received the word with all readiness of mind, and much more, they searched the scriptures daily. This search is not just reading, but a re-search. Paul had expanded the word to the Bereans. So it wasn’t a fresh search, but rather, a re-search to affirm and to own what Paul was teaching. Not that the Bereans thought Paul was lying, but they searched to see for themselves and to own it.
One of the things Satan has done to discourage believers from studying the word is the notion that it is exclusive to ministers and that if we study too much, we will become Pastors. This makes us shy away from the truth and paints the notion that the hope of studying is to become a minister. The reason for diligent study is not to be a minister.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
A workman is not only a minister but also refers to a man who is mindful of the work that is being done within him. The quality of work done within us is highly correlated to how well we have searched the scriptures. Even if we have been taught well, we still need to search again to hold and own what we have been taught.
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. [14] Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. [15] Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (1 Timothy 4:13-15 KJV)
Scriptures admonish us to read. But not just reading, but studying.
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; (1 Thessalonians 4:11 KJV)
There is a gravity that depth gives us. In natural parlance, an empty container makes the loudest noise, so also, a lot of the gymnastics we see around spiritual things is because of a lack of depth in us.
One of the signs that serves as an ancient path, which is fastly being eroded in our age, especially in our fast-paced generation, filled with distractions, is the art of meditation.
Growing up, there was virtually nothing we learned and imbibed without meditation. Meditation is a simple secret. If we practice it, it can help us take flight in the spirit, but if we despise it, it can keep us limited.
Meditation is the art of pondering, revolving in the mind, questioning, and eventually muttering, for the purpose of laying hold on a reality that is beyond the obvious. The end product of meditation is that we mutter or speak to ourselves until a particular joy springs up in our hearts. It also means to muse, i.e., to contemplate over, to draw inspiration.
Meditation is deeply spiritual, and for us to prosper in the Spirit, we need to meditate. Every religion does it; witches and monks meditate a lot because it’s a capacity in every soul.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8 KJV)
Meditation is crucial to the soul’s ability to carry out what is being read. One of the principal warfare of Satan is to make us unable to retain God in our minds. Again, meditation, in simple terms, is the art of discipline and exercise of our minds and hearts to be able to retain God. Satan does not want us to achieve this, inasmuch as when we come into an awareness of the truth, he wants it to leave our souls as quickly as possible, so it doesn’t become a consistent pondering in our minds. Satan doesn’t want us to exercise our minds in retaining God.
Memorising scripture is good. It’s just the first step towards retaining God in our minds. The next step is to ponder. In fact, we can’t really begin meditation until we have a little knowledge and memory by heart. This is why we need to acquaint ourselves with the Scriptures. What we know is the basis, the foundation upon which we ponder. If we don’t know the Bible, we can’t ponder or meditate on it. To be able to exercise our minds in the word, we must do much more than read the scriptures, but also commit them to memory. We should exercise our minds after we read Scripture for the purpose of retaining it in the heart.
One of the trainings we had growing up was storing memory verses in our minds. Memory verse isn’t the final work, but it gives us something to ponder. It can sometimes look idle or inefficacious, but the truth is, it’s doing something to our minds with time. The exercise of memorizing scripture will frame a mind in us that allows us to live a life of the words we have memorized.
Satan wants us to be busy even while we are reading our Bibles. He makes us read it for religious purposes and enjoy the storyline. But he prevents us from giving thoughts and pondering upon it to draw inspiration.
We are meant to meditate at every level of the word. We cannot prosper in spiritual growth if we are not given to meditation. One of the quickest ways to garrison our mind is to keep revolving scriptures within. This exercise will help keep sinful and unwanted thoughts away.
The truth is, we mediate everyday, we meditate on movies, skits we’ve previously watched, and even market runs. Also, worrying is a form of meditation. Worrying occurs when we meditate and give thought to our fears. That’s why the more we meditate on our fears, the bigger they get. Satan does a lot to ensure we expand our minds in meditating on unprofitable things. God’s desire for us is to meditate on the word.
Hearing twice isn’t just hearing a message again but engaging the word scripturally and prayerfully. In hearing twice, we should stop and think, take notes, and endeavor to remember what we have heard. Most times, we do other chores while listening to a message. However, we cannot say we hear twice when our mind is more engaged in the chores we are doing than in the message we are hearing. We shouldn’t deceive ourselves. We should remember that the essence of hearing twice is to give word resources to the heart, to lay hold on a reality of life. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. (Psalm 62:11 KJV)
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; [2] To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. [3] Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. [4] Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. [5] My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: [6] When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalm 63:1-6 KJV)
Meditation gives us the recourse to go over again God’s faithfulness and the validity of his word. A reason why we don’t do well with prayers of thanksgiving is that we don’t meditate. This is a culture we have to trust the Lord to restore. For example, taking an audit of our day before bedtime is a form of meditation. If we think over our day activities, and take an audit, we will be able to identify the goodness of God we’ve enjoyed, and we will also see areas where we disobeyed his commandments.
Koinonia (fellowship) is borne more in the place of mediation. What makes us tied to God and feel His heart beat, and feel His feelings is meditation. Exercising our minds to know what is in the heart of God will enable us to be able to feel His heart. Meditation requires time. That’s why when we meditate on movies or a person, time flies surprisingly.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. (Genesis 24:63 KJV)
We saw Abraham teach his son, Isaac, how to meditate. After the hard labours of the day, he went to the field to meditate and clear his mind. We should imbibe the practice of dedicating time to meditate and fix our minds on God daily. Everyone who has prospered in God meditated so much that they came into a reality. For instance, before some broke into divine healing, they had to spend their minds concentrating and contemplating on scriptures until they came into the reality of healing. We should wade off distractions and gird up the loins of our mind when engaging God in our thoughts.
Meditation is the art of exercising the mind to retain God and his word. It’s an exercise; we need to train our minds to hold God’s word and not turn from it. This exercise again begins with committing the word to memory. Then the next step is to ruminate on it.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. [2] But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2 KJV)
It’s noticeable that David was a word guy. He was dedicated to searching out the word and holding the truth of God until it became tangible to him. We learned from our Father David Oyedepo, who has a thinking room where he spends days meditating on scriptures.
The present systems of the world, movies, and technology are designed by the thoughts and meditations of men’s minds. It’s good to know that all the innovations of the world are the brainchild of men. When we meditate well, the reality of our world, too, will break forth.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: [6] When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalm 63:5-6 KJV)
The satisfaction of our soul should be tied to meditation. We shouldn’t be satisfied with just hearing but also with meditation. We should meditate till we come into fullness and catch the reality of a Person. When this happens, we will break forth in songs and bubble out in fullness. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (Ephesians 5:19 KJV) we can meditate so much that we become full.
The process of meditation begins with committing to memory, then we proceed to shut out distractions physically around us, and also shut out the distractions and many voices within our subconscious mind. We need discipline to achieve this, and it’s made possible by exercise. Satan will fight us seriously; it’s at this point that he brings the most irrelevant thought to take us away. When this happens, we should fight to bring our minds back. In meditation, we do not necessarily have to say anything; we can simply behold the face of Jesus as David did in Psalm 27:4 KJV One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple… A big part of meditation is our imagination. We can do this by painting the imagination and reality of the words in our minds.
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all day. (Psalm 119:97 KJV)
Meditation is also called the art of regurgitation. One thing that makes some animals clean before God is that they can regurgitate their food. When they eat and swallow, they bring it back to their mouth to eat it again. The cleaner we become, the more our ability to eat again and ruminate. Beasts that are accepted in the most Holy are cloven-footed and ruminate; other animals that do not have this practice are unclean.
Tongues and Interpretations (1)
I am giving you wisdom on how to eat again and chew again
For to taste and see
Many times, we have eaten without tasting, but I am giving you wisdom for your guts to be cleaner, so you can chew again
You will begin to taste, and come into the reality and understanding of what you have eaten
I want you to taste
If so, been that you would have tasted, you would have seen
But you have eaten in a hurry. Many times you have eaten in a hurry just to fulfil an obligation of hearing
But I want you to be tasters
Indeed, there are more ingredients than you think
You think you have an understanding of what you have eaten? Then eat again
Then you will begin to see the intricacies and see that every meal that I have is wholesome, but you will not be able to discover it if you eat in a hurry.
The reason you do not observe to do is because you’ve not stayed on what you’ve heard, for you can only handle if you have looked upon not just one glance, but to stay looking upon and beholding.
And beholding is in eating again, chewing again and tasting again
I am giving you wisdom on how to eat again and chew till you can draw out all that I have kept in the meal that I have delivered.
Message continues…
We should pause, think, and meditate. That’s what it means to Selar. We shouldn’t eat God’s word in a hurry. God’s word is too large; it can occupy our thoughts 24/7, all the days of our lives, and yet we won’t exhaust it. There are things we have yet to search out about God.
Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. (Psalm 119:98 KJV) Our enemies are ever-present with us; they are in our thoughts.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. [100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:99-100 KJV)
We can reprogram our subconscious by staying and focusing on the word. We can focus on God so much to the point that it will change our minds to compulsively stay on God with the help of the Spirit. Praying in the holy Ghost supplies the spirit that arrests our mind to commune with the person and reality of God.
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; [27] That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:26-27 KJV)
We can feel after God. To feel after God is to grasp and gravitate towards His person. So meditation is an exercise in trying to reach a reality much more than what is obvious. God can be so near, yet so far, if we do not reach out in our thoughts to find him. The meditation of our heart is personal to us; we are responsible for it. Our meditation is what we offer as incense upon our souls. When we meditate on scripture, we offer sweet incense unto God. We should desire that wherever we go, God’s truth and word will govern our minds and change our reality.
When we sit well with the Scriptures, God can come to teach us. This doesn’t mean we won’t attend meetings again. Our Pastors are ordained by God to guide us in the way to experience a reality in God until we can learn for ourselves to navigate that way in the spirit and not be lost. The teachings of our Pastors shouldn’t replace our personal devotion. In fact, we do not own the revelations we hear until we digest them in our thoughts. We should pray that the Lord brings all our thoughts to the mediation of God’s word and truth.
One benefit of meditation is that it helps us resolve dark and grey areas of knowledge. We might think we understand, but when rolling it over in our minds, we will begin to see areas we are not certain of. Meditation helps us to resolve dark areas.
Message ends…