Today, the word meditation can have various meanings from across different denominations as well as different religions. One concern within Evangelicalism is the inclusion of several of these meanings into practices within the church. These practices can cross over from Roman Catholicism or from Eastern Mysticism using the same word, meditation, but whose meaning may be different from the historic meaning within Evangelicism. The subtle this shift in usage, the more easily it attaches itself to the vernacular jargon within the church.
The Dictionary of Christian Spirituality gives the spectrum of meanings of meditation. It tends to promote a more contemplative view as more mainstream but it is a good starting point to understand the meanings of meditation:
(1) Meditation 
Meditation is the spiritual practice of focused attentiveness. Christian meditation has traditionally been focused on the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, read personally and christocentrically.
The practice of Christian meditation is rooted in the practice of Jesus himself. From Jesus’ use of Scripture, especially in his Emmaus Road discourse (Luke 24:25–27), it is clear that meditation on the Hebrew Scriptures constituted an important part of Jesus’ devotional practice. After his resurrection and ascension, believers incorporated the remembered words of Jesus and the words of the first apostles into their worship and meditation (Col. 3:16). The rich use of the OT throughout the NT is evidence for and illustrative of early Christian meditative practice, the Hebrew Scriptures read in the light of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
In the MONASTIC tradition, meditation was an integral aspect of the life of prayer. According to Jean Leclercq, it required the monk not only to think about the Scriptures, but “to practice a thing by thinking of it … to fix it in the memory, to learn it.”
In the 12th and 13th centuries, NEW emphasis was placed on EMOTIONAL engagement in meditative practice, with the person inserting himself or herself into a visualized reenactment of a biblical event. This “meditation of the historical event” allowed the person to imagine, for example, standing in the place of Mary at the foot of the cross, seeking to feel what she had felt, and so to enter into the INNER spiritual meaning of the event. The goal of such meditation was ultimately to EXPERIENCE UNION with God [i.e. the definition of mysticism] . The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (1548) combined such visualization with the examination of one’s own sinfulness, with a view to deepening repentance and enhancing wonder at God’s grace.
After the REFORMATION, Protestant meditation placed a RENEWED EMPHASIS on the BIBLE as God’s Word; the printing press, vernacular translations, and widening literacy made the reading and meditation of the Scripture available to rank-and-file Christians. Following John Calvin’s insistence that every word of Scripture should be received as spoken directly to the reader by the mouth of God (Institutes, 7.1), Puritan meditation was intensely oriented toward the Scriptures, with the intent not merely to memorize and recite the words, but also TO APPLY them to one’s own life.
In recent decades, there have been several developments in Christian meditation.
(1) A return to pre-Reformation sources of Christian meditative practice. SILENT RETREATS, often guided by some form of the IGNATIAN exercises, are part of the spiritual practice of many.
(2) A renewed interest in meditative foci other than Scriptural texts. In Celebration of Discipline (1978), Richard Foster encouraged focused meditation on some aspect of creation as preparation for learning how to meditate on Scripture (24–25).
(3) An increased openness toward some aspects of EASTERN MEDITATION seen to be compatible with Christian meditation. THOMAS MERTON is the primary influence on this turn; the BUDDHIST practice of MINDFULNESS is seen as a way of becoming attentive to the present moment.
(4) A growing awareness of the neurological effects of meditation, with an interest in the therapeutic or cognitive, rather than purely spiritual, benefits it confers, with many therapies incorporating meditative practices.
 Hancock, M. (2011). Meditation. In G. G. Scorgie (Ed.), Dictionary of Christian spirituality (pp. 606–608). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
=> More specifically, does the Bible tell us, as Christians, to meditate? If so, how?
(2) What is Christian meditation? 
To answer this question, we may have to first understand what meditation is not.
Psalm 19:14 states, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” What, then, is Christian meditation, and how should Christians meditate? Unfortunately, the word “meditation” can carry the connotation of something mystical.
- For some, meditation is clearing the mind while sitting in an unusual position.
- For others, meditation is communing with the spirit world around us.
=> Concepts such as these most definitely do NOT characterize Christian meditation.
Christian meditation has NOTHING to do with practices that have EASTERN MYSTICISM as their foundation. Such practices include LECTIO DIVINA, TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION, and many forms of what is called CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER. These have at their core a DANGEROUS premise that we need to “hear God’s voice,” not through His Word, but through personal revelation through meditation. Some churches are filled with people who think they are hearing a “word from the Lord,” often contradicting one another and therefore causing endless divisions within the body of Christ. Christians are not to abandon God’s Word, which is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). If the Bible is sufficient to thoroughly equip us for every good work, how could we think we need to seek a mystical experience instead of or in addition to it?
Christian meditation is to be solely on the Word of God and what it reveals about Him. David found this to be so, and he describes the man who is “blessed” as one whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). True Christian meditation is an active thought process whereby we give ourselves to the study of the Word, praying over it and asking God to give us understanding by the Spirit, who has promised to lead us “into all truth” (John 16:13). Then we put this truth into practice, committing ourselves to the Scriptures as the rule for life and practice as we go about our daily activities. This causes spiritual growth and maturing in the things of God as we are taught by His Holy Spirit.
 Got Questions Ministries. (2002–2013). Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
(3) Meditation after reading Scripture  is as critical as preparation before reading Scripture. One can read diligently, but the reading will bear no fruit if meditation does not follow. Reading may give some breadth, but only meditation and study will give depth. The difference between reading and meditation is like the difference between drifting in a boat and rowing toward a destination. “Meditation without reading is erroneous, and reading without meditation is barren.… Meditation makes that which we have read to be our own. He is blessed which meditates in the law day and night” (Psalm 1).”16
Meditation involves our MINDS and UNDERSTANDING, as well as our hearts and affections. To reach a sound and settled judgment on various truths, the mind must be brought to meditative understanding. Meditation, however, also “digests” this settled judgment and makes it work upon our affections. If our affections do not become involved, our sound meditative understanding will erode away. The Scriptures must be transfused through the entire texture of the soul.
16 Ibid., 393.
 Beeke, J. R. and L., Ray B. (2009). Chapter Seven: The Transforming Power of Scripture. In D. Kistler (Ed.), Sola Scriptura: The Protestant position on the Bible (p. 120). Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing.
As a check, let’s take one more look at an overview of mediation. Christian Research Institute states the following:
(4) CHRISTIAN MEDITATION- Summary
Meditation. Is meditation a non-Christian practice? Or is meditation something the Bible clearly encourages us to do?
CHRISTIAN MEDITATION- Self-Centered Motives
Many people view meditation as a means to develop their natural and psychic powers. In other cases, people practice meditation with the goal of self-relaxation. Whatever the case may be, the fact is, this kind of meditation — that is, EASTERN MEDITATION — is characterized by self-centered objectives. It employs techniques like concentrating on objects, exercising “controlled” breathing, and uttering mantras — all this with the purpose of emptying the mind of all kinds of distractions which supposedly will enable a person to reach an altered state of consciousness, a state of harmony with himself and the universe.
CHRISTIAN MEDITATION- No Blending with Eastern Mysticism
Eastern meditation is very dangerous, to say the least, because it draws people away from God by encouraging them to look inwardly to themselves rather than to God. Additionally, the kind of meditation we are talking about right now is intimately tied to Eastern philosophies which run counter to biblical teaching. Not only that, but the notion of emptying one’s mind opens up the possibility of demonic deception, manipulation, and yes, even possession.
CHRISTIAN MEDITATION- Meditation the Christian Way
Now, we have to be careful not to write off meditation itself simply because it’s practiced by Eastern mystics. Keep in mind that the Bible in no uncertain terms encourages us to meditate on God’s law day and night (Josh. 1:8)! However, biblical meditation doesn’t involve looking within ourselves or emptying our minds for selfish reasons. Rather, it urges believers to contemplate and deeply reflect God’s Person and faithfulness — not only that, it also calls us to look to His Word (Psa. 119), and His creation (Psa. 19, 104). In fact, Christian meditation calls us to look upward and outward to God so that our minds may be filled with godly wisdom and insight, and so that our hearts may be filled with comfort, happiness, and joy. To echo the opening words of the Book of Psalms: “Blessed is the man…[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, who meditates on his law day and night.” (Psa. 1:1-2 NIV). And remember, there is a quantum difference between getting into the Word of God and getting the Word into you — so let me encourage you to hide God’s Word in your heart.