ESSENTIALS PART 1: MEDITATION AND PRAYER

Here is a recap of Sunday’s message from Pastor Steve, “Essentials, Meditation and Prayer”

We stepped into the new year with a reminder that while God exists outside of time, we live firmly in today. 2026 is a fresh start, a blank canvas for some, and for others it feels like more of the same. But Pastor reminded us that while our lives may look different on the surface, we all share the same access to the Creator of the universe, and the same opportunity to do God’s will. The question for this new year is simple, what will you do with the access you have to God?

od’s Kingdom is not about equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. There are no favorites, no silver spoons, no black sheep. If you want to be close to God, used by God, and on fire for God, the invitation is open to everyone. No matter what 2025 looked like, God is bigger than our mistakes, and His mercy is new.

The central burden of the message was clear, every miracle, breakthrough, season of growth, and moment of revival we long for is directly connected to our willingness to know God through His Word.

Pastor pointed out that you will be hard pressed to find any biblical practice more directly tied to blessing than meditating on the Word of God. Psalm 1 shows us that God delights in those who delight in His Word, and their lives bear fruit, stability, and prosperity in every season. This isn’t a blueprint for the prosperity gospel that gives us the right to name and claim any blessing we want. But it is a promise from God the Father that He will bless those who bless Him.

From there, Pastor introduced the new series for the year, “Essentials”, beginning with the foundation of meditation and prayer. Biblical meditation was clearly defined and distinguished from Eastern meditation. Biblical meditation is not emptying the mind, but filling it. The Hebrew word hagah means to murmur, speak, and utter God’s Word aloud. Meditation is the process of speaking God’s Word back to Him, internalizing truth through prayer until obedience flows naturally from the heart.

Joshua 1:8 made it clear that biblical prosperity is not tied to ambition and goal setting, but alignment. Meditation fuels obedience, and obedience fuels blessing. Psalm 119 reinforced this by showing that meditation produces wisdom beyond experience, discernment against deception, and clarity in decision making. Pastor summed it up powerfully, meditation gives you the lesson without the scar.

We were challenged to see worry for what it really is, meditation on the wrong things. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate. Proverbs 23:7 reminds us that as we think in our hearts, so we become. The invitation was to replace worry with God’s Word, His promises, His commands, and His truth, speaking Scripture aloud until our thinking is rewired to respond according to God’s Word instead of our circumstances.

Two quotes that stuck out:

"Sometimes we don't get it until we fall on our face. Meditating on God's word gives you the wisdom and lesson without the scars."

"When you worry and complain you meditate on the wrong things, meditate on God's word and watch how you run out worries and complaints."

Pastor then brought the message home practically, talking to God about His Word instead of constantly talking to Him about our problems. Instead of unloading complaints, stress, and fear, we were encouraged to open Scripture, read it, speak it, pray it, and ask God what we are missing in the moment. The question was simple, imagine what 30 days, 3 months, or a full year of meditating on God’s Word day and night would do to your life.

The message then shifted into the importance of prayer, both with understanding and in the Spirit. Pastor encouraged the church to pray the Lord’s Prayer as a framework for daily meditation and alignment, not as repetition, but as surrender. He also addressed praying in the Spirit, teaching that praying in tongues is a personal prayer language where the Holy Spirit intercedes through us, strengthening us when we do not know what to pray.

The closing challenge was bold and faith filled, a 30 day commitment to meditate on God’s Word, pray daily, pray in the Spirit, and fast intentionally. Pastor promised that anyone who takes this challenge seriously will not recognize themselves in 30 days, and that personal transformation will naturally overflow into blessing others.

The altar call invited people into fasting not as religious performance, but as God designed it, a fast that breaks chains, brings healing, releases light, and restores strength, as described in Isaiah 58.

Practical takeaways:
• A new year is not about doing more, it is about drawing closer to God through His Word.
• Meditation is not emptying your mind, it is filling it with Scripture until obedience flows naturally.
• If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate, replace worry with God’s truth.
• Speak God’s Word aloud, talk to God about His Word, and let it rewire how you think and respond.
• Meditation produces wisdom, discernment, and clarity without unnecessary scars.
• Prayer anchored in Scripture brings alignment, peace, and power.
• Praying in the Spirit strengthens you personally and allows the Holy Spirit to intercede beyond your understanding.
• Consistent meditation, prayer, and fasting will transform you and cause you to naturally bless others.

Images that stuck:
• A tree planted by a river, stable, fruitful, and unshaken because it delights in God’s Word.
• Worry as meditation on the wrong things, running nonstop in the mind and shaping our speech.
• Speaking Scripture out loud until truth replaces fear and clarity replaces confusion.

Below are the verses that were read during the message.

Psalm 1:1–3 (NLT)
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.

Joshua 1:8 (NLT)
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

Psalm 119:97–105 (NLT)
Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.
I have refused to walk on any evil path,
so that I may remain obedient to your word.
I haven’t turned away from your regulations,
for you have taught me well.
How sweet your words taste to me,
they are sweeter than honey.
Your commandments give me understanding,
no wonder I hate every false way of life.
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
and a light for my path.

Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Matthew 6:9–13 (NLT)
Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

1 Corinthians 14:2 (NLT)
For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.

1 Corinthians 14:4 (NLT)
A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

1 Corinthians 14:14–15 (NLT)
For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.

Isaiah 58:3–11 (NLT)
‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.

You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.