Deliberate and Occasional Meditation

The Puritans got it right.
So they spent at least a period of time every day in what they called deliberate meditation – where they would deliberately get along with God.

They go through an eight step process where they would:

1. first read scripture,
2. memorize something,
3. they then meditated on everything they knew about it,
4. they’d go to prayer,
5. they then make holy resolutions how to change their life,
6. they record things in their diary,
7. and then they sing a song before they finish the meditation.
8. and finish with pray and give thanks

They also practiced what they called occasional meditation. That was throughout the day.

I mean, if I’m sitting here and I might look over there at the door and I might start thinking about Christ is the door and everything I know about doorways and entrances – entrances into heaven or into hell. I just might meditate, in the two minutes available, on how a door is symbolic of a lot of spiritual truths – just feeding my soul with good thoughts.

The Puritan said when you’re close to God these spontaneous occasional meditations will naturally spring up and you. And you should you should feed your mind with them through your deliberate meditation so you can just kind of meditate your way through the day at appropriate times.

(a general transcription taken from above video)