Ancient Spiritual Disciplines:
Lectio Divina

Two ways to read scripture are first, as a student studying an ancient text, and second, as a disciple listening for what God has to say to you now.  We need both ways of reading.  Lectio Divina is a way of doing the second, experiential way of reading, where scripture meets the present moment.  Give yourself permission to be “inefficient” for 10 minutes!  Try these five steps with this week’s scripture:

 

1. Silence – Find a quiet place to be, and then quiet your mind.  Put your worries and concerns to the side for 10 minutes so that you can encounter God’s word.  Ask God to open his Word to you.

2. Read – a piece of scripture slowly, carefully, not like the newspaper, but like you are encountering a mystery or relishing a love letter.  Savor each word.  Read it out loud to yourself.

3. Meditate – Read it out loud a second time listening for a phrase or word stands out to you.  Stop and notice what images, feelings or implications come to you in that word or phrase.  Daydream on it.  What might God be trying to say to you about your own life?

4. Pray – Read the scripture a third time.  What feelings has the text aroused in you?  Name where you are resistant or want to push back.  Turn the phrase or your thoughts about it into a prayer to God.  Talk to God about what you are thinking and feeling

5. Contemplate – become silent again and rest and wait in the presence of God.  Allow time for the word to sink into you.  Yield and surrender yourself to God.  Give yourself some time to wait and be still before you renter life as usual.  Before you leave consider a reminder that can help you dwell on what you have encountered in God’s word through out the day. 

You can experience a new Lectio Divina exercise everyday by clicking on This Week and then selecting Quiet Time - take me to today's MEDITATIVE devotional.