John Owen (1616-1683)
...Whatever principle of grace we have in our hearts, we cannot easily make use of it for spiritual meditation or for any other spiritual duty without great effort and difficulty…The following is only for those who intend to set apart some time daily for holy duties, such as prayer and reading the Bible.
Choose a time that is free from all worldly concerns. The best time is that which will cost you something. We must not at any time seek to serve God with what costs us nothing. Nor must we dedicate any time that does not demand self-denial. We must not expect to grow in spiritual-mindedness if we only give to God time for worship when we have nothing else to do, or those times when because of tiredness we are not fit for anything. This is one great reason why men are so cold, formal, and lifeless in spiritual duties. When the body and mind are tired, men think they are fit to come to God to learn about those great matters that concern His glory and the salvation of their souls. Yet this is what God condemns (Mal 1:8). Both the law of nature and holy duties require that we serve God with our very best. And shall we offer to Him that time in that we would be unfit to appear before an earthly ruler? Yet such are the times men choose for their devotions… The best time is when the natural strength of the spirit is most free and active. Do not trust to chance opportunities. Let the time itself be a free-will offering to God taken from the top of the heap. Let it be the best time possible.
Take time to prepare your mind for spiritual thoughts. Do not rush into heavenly thoughts without first preparing your heart and mind (Eccl. 5:1-2). Make every effort to understand the awesome holiness of God and the heavenly nature of the things you intend to meditate on, that you may approach God with due reverence and fear, and heavenly matters with a holy and healthy respect. Our thoughts are like Jacob and Esau. Spiritual and carnal thoughts struggle together in the same womb. Often the Esau of carnal thoughts will come out first and for a while seem to carry the birthright. But where reverence for God has “cast out the bondwoman and her son” (Gal 4:30), the mind will be free to fix itself on spiritual things.
Do not come to meditate on heavenly things only out of a sense of duty. We must not meditate on God and heavenly things merely because we feel the need for it, or because we think we ought to do so and that it would not do to utterly neglect it. When the soul has at any time tasted that the Lord is gracious, when its past meditations on the Lord have been joyful, when spiritual things have excited the mind and heart, then the soul comes to this duty with earnest desires to have the same experiences repeated. So, make every effort to enjoy spiritual things, and your meditations of them will be sweet.
But if you still find, after all this preparation, that you are still unable to concentrate your mind on spiritual thoughts, then take seriously the following advice. Cry to God for help. Confess your need for more light on spiritual things to remove the darkness from your mind. Confess your weakness and inability to stop your thoughts wandering when you should be thinking of holy things, and pray that God will strengthen your mind. If your meditations only make you see and feel your darkness and weakness of mind, causing you to cry to God for more grace and spiritual strength, then your thoughts have done a good work, though not what you had planned.
Take king Hezekiah as an example. When his soul made every effort to have communion with God, it sank into broken, confused thoughts under the weight of its own weakness. Yet he still sought God for help. But though his prayer was no more than chattering, it was accepted by God. Hezekiah cried out, “O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me” (Isa 38:14). Likewise, when we are meditating and feel oppressed by the darkness and weakness of our minds, we too should say, “O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.”
...And if in this duty there is a ready mind, it is accepted according to what a man has and not according to what he has not. He that can bring into this treasure only the mites of broken desires and ejaculatory prayers shall not come behind those who cast in, out of their great abundance, much ability and skill. To give up because we are not immediately successful is a fruit of pride and unbelief. If we get nothing out of meditation but a renewed sense of our own vileness and unworthiness, we are still the gainers. But practice makes perfect. Those who conscientiously persist in this duty shall grow daily more enlightened, more wise, and more experienced in spiritual things, until they are able to meditate on them with ease and success.