Lesson Topic: Meditation and Praise
Introduction: This lesson on meditation and praise is designed to teach a classroom size of 25 adults (ages 25-40) to convey to them the significance and the benefits of meditation and praise as they relate to the spiritual life of the believer.
Objectives: After going through this lesson of meditation and praise, students will learn:
- The definitions of meditation and praise
- The relationship between meditation and praise
- The significance and benefits of meditation and praise
- How to slow down their lives for 10-15 minutes to concentrate on God
- How to use their imaginations to develop a worship atmosphere during prayerful moment
- How to use scriptures to lead people into an appreciation of the attributes of God in a realistic spiritual environment
- The kind of music a worship leader uses taking into account a specific attribute of God that he or she wants to convey through the leading of the Holy Spirit
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to make the believer develop and practice daily exercises of meditation and praise thereby making him or her to achieve spiritual height in God within twelve months period.
Lesson One:
The definitions of meditation and praise and their relationships
Meditation: The Bible uses two different Hebrew words to convey the idea of meditation, and together they are used some fifty-eight times. These words have various meanings which mean listening to God’s word, reflecting on God’s works, rehearsing God’s deeds, ruminating on God’s law (Foster, pp.15). Meditation is not in itself prayer, but it is the prelude to prayer (Fleming, pp. 23). This implies that mediation and prayer are interconnected; therefore, there is an existence of a chain in a realistic spiritual environment whenever there is an initiation of prayerful moment.
Praise: Praise is an expression of admiration toward someone or the divine of what he has done and will continue to do. The expression of praise of admiration of what God had done in the days of old and now is proven in scriptures (Psalm 92:1; 147:1; 1:38:5; 145:3; Daniel 2:20, I Kings 8:56, Luke 19:40, Philippians 2:10-11
Their Relationships: Meditation is the act of slowing down to atoned oneself before God with the aim of hearing his voice (audibly, intuitionally, or by vision). In meditation, we remain silent; on the other hand, praise becomes also an act which draws us to meditation. It depends on the individual involved. ((Joshua 1:8; Psalm 19:14; 119:15, 97; Philippians 4:8). Psalm 1:2 says).
Lesson Two:
The significance/benefits of meditation and praise:
- Meditation and praise make us grow in a familiar friendship with Jesus (Foster, pp. 19).
- Meditation and praise open us door to receive revelation from God (Rev. 5:12; 4:11; 7:9; 17:11, I Pet. 1:7).
- Meditation and praise create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart (Rev. 3:20).
- Meditation and praise transform the inner personality. We cannot burn the eternal flame of the inner sanctuary and remain the same, for the Divine Fire will consume everything that is impure (Foster, pp. 20).
How to slow down their lives for 10-15 minutes:
Dr. Billy O. Fleming, in his book entitled, “Prayer: The Adventure: A Six-Step Program for Developing the Habit of Prayer” mentioned three things when it comes to meditation. They include focusing the will, focusing the mind, and focusing the creativity (pp.24-25). To slow down, these elements must be in place to enable the believers obtain a successful mediation before God. To focus the mind as to slow down for at least 10-15 minutes, a believer should do the following (Fleming, pp. 25):
- The mind must rest first.
- Deep questioning of what is going on around you should be avoided.
- Using single word of scripture is best.
- Word used should be short enough to fit into a single, slow breath, repeated over and over.
- Use a song and not complex hymn etc.
Group Exercise:
Students will be divided into five groups led by a group leader to lead group members how to slow down during a prayerful moment.
Using the Imaginations to Develop Worship Atmosphere
Imagination is the powerful force which enables an individual to paint a picture of the object he or she tends to concentrate on. It is a deep concentration which involves the human mind. It must be accomplished through the initiation of spiritual and discipline exercise to achieve it to the fullest. These exercises are discussed in “Prayer: The Adventure” (pp. 28-29).
Group Exercise:
A group of 25 students will be divided into five groups to discuss three methods of how imagination is carried out to develop a worship atmosphere in a realistic spiritual and worship environment.
Lesson Three:
Using Scriptures to Lead People into an Appreciation of God’s attributes
Scriptures are used in the form of music to express God’s attributes during the time of mediation and praise. These songs can be melody, harmony, rhythm we speak to express our emotions before God regarding his goodness toward us. The book of Psalm 150 expresses God’s attributes:
Praise the Lord,
Praise God in his sanctuary;
Praise him is his mighty heavens,
Praise him for his acts of power;
Praise him for his surpassing greatness,
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
Praise him with the harp and lyre,
Praise him with tambourine and dancing,
Praise him with the strings and flute,
Praise him with the clash of cymbals,
Let everything that has breathe praise the LORD,
Praise the LORD (Fleming, pp. 41).
Group Exercise:
A worship leader should lead the group to sing this scriptural song for at least 10 minutes after the lesson is taught.
Kind of Music Used to Appreciate the Attributes of God
Music used to express the attributes of God in a realistic spiritual environment can also be inseparable from the scripture used to lead the group worship. The book of Psalm 150 expresses omnipotence of God.
Music/Song:
Praise the Lord,
Praise God in his sanctuary;
Praise him is his mighty heavens,
Praise him for his acts of power;
Praise him for his surpassing greatness,
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
Praise him with the harp and lyre,
Praise him with tambourine and dancing,
Praise him with the strings and flute,
Praise him with the clash of cymbals,
Let everything that has breathe praise the LORD,
Praise the LORD (Fleming, pp. 41).
Bibliography
Fleming, Billy O. Prayer: The Adventure: A Six-Step Program for Developing the Habit of Prayer. Lexington: RevPress, 2012.
Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipleship: The Path to Spiritual Growth: IL: HarperSanFransciso, 1993.
Prepared and compiled by Jallah Yelorbah Koiyan
Praise Ministries International Resources Blog 