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Lectio Divina,meaning divine reading or spiritual reading, is an ancient Christian way of prayerfully reading the Bible that arose out of the ascetics and monastics of early Christian society, and is mentioned in the various Rules (guide books for living in monastic communities) of important monastic figures such as St. Pachomius, St. Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Benedict. The particular method of Lectio Divina is one that has been developed within the 1500+ year monastic tradition in the West, and is by no means the only way to prayerfully read the Bible, but many Christians of all backgrounds find it one of the most easy and rewarding ways to read Scripture. I thought I’d share with you all the general method of how to do this.
Where to do This: Preferably, one should do this in a quite area without distractions. You want to be away from phones, music, television, the internet, etc. Try to find some place where you are not likely to be interrupted my siblings, parents, friends, or even pets. Sometimes it is important to find a room in your home, or maybe a corner in your own bedroom, that doesn’t have things like distracting images (like music posters, cluttered book shelves and desks). You could do this outside on a nice day, but nature can be really distracting sometimes! This whole practice could take anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour or even longer. It all depends on you and your ability to stay focused.
Before You Start: First, you want to find a passage of the Bible to spend your time with during this exercise. Don’t pick out your favorite passages at first, but try reading a book in the Bible from it’s beginning to it’s end over a period of time. For each time you do this practice, limit yourself to a manageable number of verses, so that you are no trying to digest so much at once. A selection of passages such as John 1: 29-34 is about the right size. Think of this as a spiritual meal. You want to take a bite that you can chew, swallow, and digest easily.
Begin: Open with a prayer. It is appropriate here to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that he may help you understand what you are about to read in Scripture. Any prayer is good, though some find the Doxology to be a good start: “Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever and ever. Amen”
1. Lectio (Read)
This is the first part. Read the scriptures over once or twice to get the general gist of what is being said in the passage. This is for the basics, a sort of fact-finding mission: what is being done, who or what is doing it, where is this happening, what actions or dialogues are going on here…
Ponder over it for a few minutes.
2. Meditatio (Meditate)
Read the passage over once more. Think about God’s presence in the text here. What key phrases or words seem to pop out at you? What is the Holy Spirit drawing your attention to? Why might the Holy Spirit choose to prompt you to ponder these specific things? What is it that God is trying to say to you here; what has he to say about your life in this passage?
Meditate upon this passage for several more minutes that in the Lectio stage. Ponder God’s word.
3. Oratio (Speak)
Read the passage again, noting those key words or phrases and the message you believe God has for you in this passage. This is where you hold a sort of dialogue with God, taking your understanding of the passage and message, and speaking to God about it through prayer. Here, ask God your questions, ask for his guidance, thank Him for his Word. This is a time to trust in God and in his Word.
This reading and dialogue with God should be followed by more silence and meditation upon the Scriptures, for a little longer than time spent in the Meditatio stage.
4. Contemplatio (Contemplation)
Read the passage again for a final time. This is the stage after having meditated upon the Word and responding to the Word in prayer. Now comes the time to rest in the Word.
Be still. Be silent. Bask in the presence of the Word of God. Surrender yourself to God’s presence and merely think about Him. This can last for as long as you feel is necessary.
Conclusion: End with a prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is often used, but it can be any prayer thanking God for his Word that you feel is appropriate.
Note: When you first start doing Lectio Divina, it may be difficult to do the first few times, but continual practice will prove that it becomes easier and more natural of a thing to do. It is normal to feel distracted in the beginning. It will become more comfortable and almost second nature as your relationship with God deepens. People who have been doing this their who lives often spend several hours in Lectio Divina. The whole point of it is to read the Bible and to come to understand God’s Word in his Scriptures on a deeper level. A helpful hint for some is to practice Lectio Divina with something to look at, like a picture of Jesus, while pondering over the Scriptures so that if your mind is prone to wandering, you can have something to focus your attention on that will still remind you of God. Try to do this at the same time each day and in the same place each day, that way it will become like a natural part of your daily routine.
I hope this is helpful to some of you (all of you, preferably!) It is not the only way on earth to prayerfully read the Bible, but I think it is certainly a good and useful way. Have any of you ever tried this or anything similar to it? If so, did it work well for you? What other methods do you find most useful?
Where to do This: Preferably, one should do this in a quite area without distractions. You want to be away from phones, music, television, the internet, etc. Try to find some place where you are not likely to be interrupted my siblings, parents, friends, or even pets. Sometimes it is important to find a room in your home, or maybe a corner in your own bedroom, that doesn’t have things like distracting images (like music posters, cluttered book shelves and desks). You could do this outside on a nice day, but nature can be really distracting sometimes! This whole practice could take anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour or even longer. It all depends on you and your ability to stay focused.
Before You Start: First, you want to find a passage of the Bible to spend your time with during this exercise. Don’t pick out your favorite passages at first, but try reading a book in the Bible from it’s beginning to it’s end over a period of time. For each time you do this practice, limit yourself to a manageable number of verses, so that you are no trying to digest so much at once. A selection of passages such as John 1: 29-34 is about the right size. Think of this as a spiritual meal. You want to take a bite that you can chew, swallow, and digest easily.
Begin: Open with a prayer. It is appropriate here to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that he may help you understand what you are about to read in Scripture. Any prayer is good, though some find the Doxology to be a good start: “Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever and ever. Amen”
1. Lectio (Read)
This is the first part. Read the scriptures over once or twice to get the general gist of what is being said in the passage. This is for the basics, a sort of fact-finding mission: what is being done, who or what is doing it, where is this happening, what actions or dialogues are going on here…
Ponder over it for a few minutes.
2. Meditatio (Meditate)
Read the passage over once more. Think about God’s presence in the text here. What key phrases or words seem to pop out at you? What is the Holy Spirit drawing your attention to? Why might the Holy Spirit choose to prompt you to ponder these specific things? What is it that God is trying to say to you here; what has he to say about your life in this passage?
Meditate upon this passage for several more minutes that in the Lectio stage. Ponder God’s word.
3. Oratio (Speak)
Read the passage again, noting those key words or phrases and the message you believe God has for you in this passage. This is where you hold a sort of dialogue with God, taking your understanding of the passage and message, and speaking to God about it through prayer. Here, ask God your questions, ask for his guidance, thank Him for his Word. This is a time to trust in God and in his Word.
This reading and dialogue with God should be followed by more silence and meditation upon the Scriptures, for a little longer than time spent in the Meditatio stage.
4. Contemplatio (Contemplation)
Read the passage again for a final time. This is the stage after having meditated upon the Word and responding to the Word in prayer. Now comes the time to rest in the Word.
Be still. Be silent. Bask in the presence of the Word of God. Surrender yourself to God’s presence and merely think about Him. This can last for as long as you feel is necessary.
Conclusion: End with a prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is often used, but it can be any prayer thanking God for his Word that you feel is appropriate.
Note: When you first start doing Lectio Divina, it may be difficult to do the first few times, but continual practice will prove that it becomes easier and more natural of a thing to do. It is normal to feel distracted in the beginning. It will become more comfortable and almost second nature as your relationship with God deepens. People who have been doing this their who lives often spend several hours in Lectio Divina. The whole point of it is to read the Bible and to come to understand God’s Word in his Scriptures on a deeper level. A helpful hint for some is to practice Lectio Divina with something to look at, like a picture of Jesus, while pondering over the Scriptures so that if your mind is prone to wandering, you can have something to focus your attention on that will still remind you of God. Try to do this at the same time each day and in the same place each day, that way it will become like a natural part of your daily routine.
I hope this is helpful to some of you (all of you, preferably!) It is not the only way on earth to prayerfully read the Bible, but I think it is certainly a good and useful way. Have any of you ever tried this or anything similar to it? If so, did it work well for you? What other methods do you find most useful?