The key to meditation is simply to dedicate a specific amount of time each day—a daily commitment is important—to talk to God, about things that are important to you, and about His perspective on things. At least ten minutes is recommended. Consider working up to twenty or thirty minutes. Once the habit is formed, the time flies by, and the lasting fruit for one’s life seems almost to appear out of nowhere—even when we’re not successful in avoiding lots of involuntary distractions and as such feel like we haven’t “done our part.”
Some people start their daily meditation with acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity: “Lord, I believe in You. Lord, I hope in You. Lord, I love You.” (Maybe elaborate a little on each of these statements: “Lord, I believe in You. I believe that you are my Creator and Redeemer. I believe…”)
To meditate on “God’s point of view,” Scripture is unbeatable—especially the readings of the daily liturgy.
If you dedicate the time and are of good disposition (i.e. free from serious sin and putting in a real effort), you almost can’t go wrong, because the real heavy lifting is done imperceptibly by God. So, the points that follow are just tips.
1. Set aside the time. No, really.
Try to avoid interruptions of any sort, including of a mental or electronic nature. Distractions will come; fostering them won’t help you.
2. Invest for the long haul.
Daily Catholic meditation, together with active sacramental life, avoidance of sin, and effort to say “yes” to God through loving daily acts, is a guarantee of a profoundly fruitful and enriching relationship with God. But some days you won’t feel it at all. Some days you may find your prayer an interminable slog. Other days, you might get something surprising, concrete, and illuminating. There have been saints who have gone through years of “dryness” in prayer. Whatever the outcome of any given day, God is drawing near to you—perceptibly or imperceptibly—in response to your investment in prayer. Never base your consistency in your commitment to prayer on perceived outcomes. Which leads us to:
3. Trust in God!
The holy grail of the Catholic prayer life (no pun intended) is Trust. Trust in God grows through daily prayer. Trust is closely associated with Hope, one of the three theological virtues (together with Faith and Charity), and growth in these virtues is one of the primary long-term fruits of daily prayer. But commitment to daily prayer is also an act of Trust. It means letting God do His thing in His time, certain that the investment of part of our life—our time—will be worthwhile.
For more on how to meditate, see the short, accessible, and altogether fantastic book on the topic by Jacques Philippe: Time for God.