14. Practicing disciplines of mindfulness, inner awareness, and meditation, and developing my reflective capacity will help me learn to hear God.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
Does it seem true to you that we can work to develop an ability to think deeper, below the surface of our external lives?
How would developing this “reflective capacity” be good, helpful, and healthy for you?
Think of something that you would like, such as a possession, an experience, or an accomplishment. Now ask yourself why you want that. What will it bring you? Keep asking why, even to the answers you think you have found. Invite the Spirit to show you the answer to your deeper “whys.”
“Examen” is an ancient practice of reflecting on the past day, week, month or year. As you reflect, you ask yourself, what gave you life, what made you smile, what lifted you? Then you reflect on what took joy from you, what put you down. Be OK with just noticing what you were experiencing. Consider making a daily practice of reviewing each previous day in this way.
Our culture is growing more and more dependent on technology that entertains our minds. We seem to be losing the capacity to be quiet, with no outside stimulation. God gave us minds capable of thinking and processing surface level activities—things we can see, touch, feel, and so on. But He also designed us to be able to focus our minds on spiritual” things including our inner world and the world of deeper ideas and realities.
The people of Jesus’ day may not have had the distractions that we have, but it seems as though their minds also tended to focus on the material, surface things in life. Jesus often accused people of thinking only about their physical life instead of their spiritual one.
It appears that in all of history, the human tendency has been to prioritize the immediate and physical while living mostly oblivious to the spiritual world. I believe that the “narrow gate” Jesus referred to in Matthew 7:13-14 is about those who have developed the ability to “hear” and “see” the deeper realities of their lives, the spiritual world of their minds in which they connect with God. This is our reflective capacity. It is in this space that we will hear God.
So how can we grow our ability to notice the inner life, to hear spiritually, and increase our reflective capacity? Certain disciplines can be helpful in this. Meditating on Scripture is one discipline that will deepen this awareness. David says in Psalm 1 that he meditates on God’s law almost constantly.
Meditating on Scripture is not the same as reading Scripture for information. It is more about letting Scripture read us, teach us, convict us, and encourage us. Memorizing Scripture is another discipline that increases mental awareness. Questions are yet another way to develop our reflective capacity. Asking ourselves questions, like, “Why do I feel this way?” “Why is that so important to me?” “What are my motives?” “What do I long for and really desire?” helps develop self-awareness and mindfulness.
This meditating is not the emptying of our minds that some Eastern religions suggest but is rather an intentional looking into our minds with a desire to understand, discover, know ourselves, and hear and know God. As we learn to hear God, we can invite His Spirit to assist us as we reflect on our inner life. This is also what David advises in Psalm 139:23 when he says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.