According to the Bible, Christians must meditate as a part of their inherent spiritual growth. It mentions that all true Christians must meditate on God's word during all times of the day. The Old Testament includes two Hebrew words for meditation, Haga and Sihach, which respectively mean to meditate or ponder, and to muse or contemplate. These words can also be interpreted to mean as dwell, diligently consider, and heed and prove that meditation indeed is a part of Christianity. Christian meditation recognize three times of the day when Christians can tune into God's Word. These times are just before falling asleep, upon awaking and any other a specific time each day.
Ample historic evidence of the practice of many forms of Christian meditations has been found. A form of meditation that has been used since at least the fourth century is the "lectio divina." Lectio divina refers to sacred reading and involves four stages of meditation, namely lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio. In the first or the lectio stage, mediators choose a passage from the Bible and read it purposefully. The next stage is known as the meditatio stage where meditators ponder over the meaning of the text. The third stage involves oratio or affective prayer where meditators pray to God to reveal the truth. The fourth stage is contemplatio or contemplation and here meditators rest in God's presence. Most Christian leaders describe meditation as a focused thinking process where meditators are required to make a serious effort by selecting a verse and reflecting on it. According to them, it is God's will that His children must think about His word; this makes meditation an important exercise of their minds. Christian meditations are aimed at transformation of life to make meditators like Jesus Christ. The Bible emphasizes a lot on meditation and states the many benefits that arise from those who take the time to reflect on His Word throughout the day.
